This post shares how a long-term, mindful tea practice might help with equanimity in tough times.
For some weeks, I’ve felt like the volume has been turned up whenever I feel sadness or frustration. I still feel other emotions–even good ones–but they don’t feel amplified like the sad ones recently. Given my emotional state, my reaction in the face of a recent disappointing outdoor tea session was hard to explain. But, let me try. I think it speaks to the grounding magic and support of having a regular tea practice.
This is a story of how I grew up paying attention to the mouthfeel of tea, lost it, and am getting it back. This post also explains mouthfeel.
Early Experiences with Milky Teas and Mouthfeel
Until I went to college, probably 99% of the tea I drank was Lipton black tea with milk. Back then, I could tell by the color of the tea or the way it felt in my mouth whether it had the ratio of milk to water that I liked. I was always a fan of thicker mouthfeel for tea with milk (as long as the tea was strong enough).
To this day, if I am making a tea latte, my love of texture usually nudges me to take the time to froth milk. I just love that frothy, thick mouthfeel.
I’ve offered dozens of online events over the past few years–many solo, some collaborations. These online offerings have included my Virtual Tea Table series, Build Your Own Rest Practice workshop, Story of a Teacup, and so on.
Last weekend, I was very excited to finally lead an in-person tea event. I ran a workshop, “Tea as a Gateway to Mindfulness.”
This post shares some words to live by for a Happy International Women’s Day 2024.
International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8th.
It’s a day to uplift what women have accomplished and what we do, while also raising awareness about oppression and barriers that impede women’s progress. (You can read more about the day and its history here.)
To honor a Happy International Women’s Day 2024, here are a few words to inspire us.
Welcome to the March 2024 edition of Tea Infusiast News–a newsletter for tea loversto connect with and through tea.This is the 15th edition of the newsletter.
It seems like every month, tea shares another lesson about rest with me!
As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I’ve had to cut back my tea consumption. These days, I’m usually only drinking tea in the morning. The process of reducing my tea intake has made me confront one way I used tea that was denying me the fuller rest I need.
Tea Can Give Us Restful Pauses
Before I share this insight, I would like to emphasize that I regularly incorporate short, mindful tea breaks into my days. They feel gentle, affirming, and restorative. A day with these tea-and-rest pauses is so much better than a day without them. I still interact with tea this way almost every morning. I used to integrate afternoon tea pauses into my day, too.
My experiences with tea have shown its generosity as a gateway to rest and mindfulness. That’s one reason why, for example, I’ve offered tea and rest experiences. Registration, in fact, is open for my online Spring Rest Kit for Tea Lovers. (It’s my second online Rest Kit. Alas, I accidentally overwrote the post about the first rest kit.) But, I do want to share some limitations, in my opinion, of *only* using tea as a rest practice.
Join Taniya Gupta from YogaTeaPoetry and Traci Levy from Tea Infusiast for an online International Women’s Day Celebration with Tea and Poetry!*
Background
International Women’s Day, officially honored every year on March 8th, was created in 1911. It’s a day to focus our attention on creating, “a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination…that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive.” It promotes “a world where difference is valued and celebrated” (InternationalWomensDay.com).
This post shares 5 tips for attending tea festivals–how to prepare, what to bring, and an important thing to plan to do during festivals.
What Is a Tea Festival?
Tea festivals are events open to the public (often requiring attendees to purchase tickets) that feature vendors and artisans (sometimes even producers) who sell tea, teaware, accessories, and related merchandise. They also usually sell tea sweets or other food items.
Additionally, the festivals usually feature tea professionals who offer workshops on topics that range from Tea 101 to specific types of tea, tea and meditation, cooking, history and culture, and so on. They are a great opportunity for tea lovers to try new tea, see teaware, learn, and connect with others.
The USA features a number of tea festivals–including, but not limited to: Chicago Tea Festival, Midwest Tea Festival, Northwest Tea Festival, Pennsylvania Tea Festival, TeaFestPDX, etc. Other countries have tea festivals, too.
(Photo: Me at Tea Fest PDX in July 2022. This festival was held mostly outside in Portland, Oregon. I’ve written before about some of my delightful experiences with tea in Portland in this post, “Tea in the Canyon.”)
Overview of the 5 Tips
After returning from Canada and attending the wonderful Toronto Tea Festival, I reflected on tips for attending tea festivals. Here, I’ve gathered a few–including some from tea friends!
My 5 tips are:
Bring empty, refillable bags for tea
Bring a backpack or tote
Bring a water bottle and a few napkins
Eat before you attend
Plan breaks
(In this Toronto Tea Festival Photo: Marco from Steap’d, me–Traci from Tea Infusiast, Taniya from YogaTeaPoetry, and Mona from Chai Affairs.)
