Let me share my great experience presenting at the Toronto Tea Festival!
I was delighted that the Toronto Tea Festival organizers accepted my workshop proposal: “ConnectiviTEA: Tea Lovers Unite” for the 2025 event.
When I attended festival the previous year, I noticed the challenges of integrating tea into presentations. Also, thinking about how caffeinated we all get sampling at the festival (IYKYK), I knew I didn’t want to serve tea at my 2025 event. But, I definitely wanted to do something meaningful to help participants connect with and through tea.
Short Tea Meditation
Using the theme of connection, I focused on two main activities at my workshop. First, I drew on my meditation teacher training to lead a short tea meditation. It centered around encouraging people to draw on their experience as tea lovers to visualize or sense being in front of a cup of tea.
Photo taken by: Lauren of @steepedintea_ (Cropped by me.)
I also integrated some of Thich Nhat Hanh’s verses about tea into breathwork during the meditation. Several people told me afterwards they found the meditation helpful to bring a sense of calm after the (happy yet) frenetic energy of the festival’s main floor–exactly what I hoped!
I hope to eventually record this meditation to share.
Small Group Activity
My other goal was to facilitate connections between tea lovers at the Toronto Tea Festival. I take particular joy in creating connections like this–for example, my online Story of a Teacup events. So, I designed a small group activity that encouraged people to bond over sharing their tea experiences, loves, and wishes.
Two friends helped me distribute cards I designed with a list of tea-related prompts to serve as conversation starters. (Thanks Taniya and Mona!) Folks could either decide which prompts they wanted to answer or use an 8-sided die (provided by me) to make the choice random. The goal, I emphasized, wasn’t to answer all the prompts. The goal was to use a few of them to facilitate a discussion.
Most groups got very chatty! A few folks arrived late–in the middle of the small group activity. They looked a little discombobulated. I did my best to explain what was going on and to help them get into the activity.
Reflections on Presenting in Toronto
I loved the experience presenting at the Toronto Tea Festival. It’s electrifying to be surrounded by so many tea lovers! What’s more, it was gratifying to look into the audience and see a mix of people–some who were already friends and many that I didn’t know yet. And, it was wonderful to see the stillness during the meditation part and the eye contact and chattiness during the small group activity.
I think the meditation and the small group activity worked well! If I had a re-do, I’ve already thought of a few tweaks that might enhance the experience during and after the group activity.
I wish I could have heard every conversation the groups were having! Groups looked like they were having fun. A few people shared bits of their conversation with me afterwards. It sounded so interesting!
Gratitude for the Tea Festival Experience
I will end this post like I ended the event, with a pause for gratitude. I’ll highlight three things here.
I’m grateful for the Toronto Tea Festival folks who organized everything and provided support to make sure the event ran smoothly. (Tech support was great. And, the person who introduced me and thanked me at the end was very gracious and encouraging.)
I’m grateful for my family (💕 Mom!) and friends who attended. Additionally, I so appreciate the friend who couldn’t attend but who gave me great tips on presenting in that space! (Thanks, Soo!)
Last but not least, I’m grateful for the tea lovers attending the festival who saw an event called “ConnectiviTEA: Tea Lovers Unite!” and thought “I want to attend that.” And, did!
Last but not least, I’m grateful for the tea lovers attending the festival who saw an event called “ConnectiviTEA: Tea Lovers Unite!” and thought “I want to attend that.” And, did!
The experience presenting at the Toronto Tea Festival has inspired me to look for more in-person workshop possibilities!
Subscribe to My Monthly Newsletter
Subscribe to my monthly newsletter, Tea Infusiast News, to get blog updates, notice about events, tea content, and occasional giveaways.
You can unsubscribe at any time.