Tea InfusiastTea, flowers, and happiness can help me slide more easily into presence. Please allow me to explain.
In my regular meditation practice, I meditate in all kinds of spaces–my living room, a doctor’s office, in a meditation center, and in my car. The list goes on.
One of my favorite places to meditate when I am not practicing with others is at my kitchen table in the morning with my tea things. Taking a few minutes to set up this space is a great enhancer of the experience.
Recently, I led a tea meditation on the campus where I teach. It was an honor. The Mindfulness Center organized the event and invited me to offer it in their serene space. I have experience offering tea meditations online and in person. In person is trickier in the sense that I often have to bring some of the tea things. So, for this event, I needed to think about what items campus had, what I must provide, and what I might also bring to enhance the experience.
CANCELLED DUE TO LOW ENROLLMENT–FIRST TIME HAVING TO CANCEL AN EVENT FOR THIS REASON. All ticket holders have been emailed and refunded. My sincere apologies.
Join me at my online workshop, Tea with Your Inner Critic.
Are you tired of battling or feeling belittled by your “inner critic?” I was!
For some time, I’ve worked to pay attention to that critical voice I often hear inside my head–the voice that critiques, questions, and makes me feel or act small. What’s more, I’ve managed to befriend my inner critic.
A question from another tea lover on Instagram inspired me to write a post about how to get started and get what you need to steep tea gongfu style!
Gongfu cha (skillfully prepared tea) is a style of brewing tea that originated in China over 1,000 years ago. It involves using a higher ratio of tea leaves to water than Western-style tea brewing. Small steeping vessels–teapots or gaiwans–are used with small cups. (A gaiwan is a kind of Chinese bowl with a lid.)
My monthly newsletter, Tea Infusiast News, is subscriber-only AND free.
In the January 2025 edition, No. 25:
The Tea Infusiast News No. 25 edition shares a subscriber-only tea giveaway in honor the second anniversary of the newsletter. It also launches my Winter Rest Kit for Tea Lovers (online kit) and my Tea with Your Inner Critic online workshop. The newsletter is also where I first announced some very exciting new about the Toronto Tea Festival. AND MORE.
The link to subscribe is below!
Make it easy to enjoy restorative and mindful tea sessions with my online Winter Rest Kit for Tea Lovers!
I was blessed to enjoy a spontaneous session of tea with a Buddhist Sister at a recent mindfulness retreat.
Last weekend, I had a profound experience attending a two-day retreat. Adelphi University, near me, organized a program on its campus with monastics from Blue Cliff Monastery. The monastery “is a mindfulness practice center and monastic training center founded by the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, author, and peace activist…Thich Nhat Hanh.”
I’m sharing some ideas to invite stillness into your life. These tips are for anyone who finds it challenging to meditate or “be still.” Maybe that’s you most of the time. Maybe only sometimes.
Difficulty with being still in meditation is something I have had to tackle in my own practice. My body and mind have often (and continue to, at times) struggle to remain still. For me, part of this challenge is nervous energy and part is physical stiffness.
Two ways of thinking about the challenge really helped me. First, reframe the issue of stillness. Recognize that stillness can be “absolute” or relative.
Secondly, conceptually and physically separating forms of stillness can also be helpful. You can be (relatively) still in body and/or mind. Either and both can be healthy and are worth cultivating.
Here are some ways to invite stillness into your life.
In honor of the second birthday of a tiny clay turtle generously gifted to me, I am sharing a few lessons from my tea pet.
Bonsai is my tiny turtle tea pet. She’s slightly smaller than a quarter. If you aren’t familiar with tea pets–which are used by some people who drink tea in a style where they pour out the first rinse of some teas–my previous post on tea pets could be helpful.
Michell Hovey made Bonsai (and other clay tea turtles). She is a tea lover brimming with kindness and affection for small things. Many of us first learned about the sweet clay tea pets she made through the Instagram tea community by following Herb the Traveling Tea Turtle. (Find out more about Michell and Herb in this earlier post.) You can also follow Herb on Instagram.
This post reviews a balbali portable electric kettle (AKA mini kettle) and shares some different approaches to traveling with tea. [Post Updated February 9, 2025.]
