Sitting for tea

How it has changed my life

"In my own hands I hold a bowl of tea; I see all of nature represented in its green color. Closing my eyes I find green mountains and pure water within my own heart. Silently sitting alone and drinking tea, I feel these become a part of me."
-Soshitsu Sen : Grand Master XIV/Urasenke School of Tea

When I think of my tea ceremonies, the first thing I think of is the wealth of gratitude I have for the discoverers of it. It must be noted that the first written account of tea ceremony was 1200 years ago during the Tang Dynasty in China. This practice during the Tang Dynasty meant mindfulness, presence, and peace; with immense emphasis on the presentation, preparation, and composition of tea. The phrase that emerged during this era was “Cha Dao”(茶道) , or “ The way of tea.”

Fast forward to how tea is nowadays, where it is more of a quick commodity, a way to wake people up in the morning, or a fun mid day treat. You can buy tea anywhere with very little focus on where it is being sourced, who is sourcing it and forgetting entirely that tea is straight from nature (I.e. dried leaves from living trees, bushes, botanicals etc…"). I can go on a whole rant of how devastating I find our food systems and the lack of connection between the soils and ourselves, but I will spare you the complaints, haha.

Keep in mind while continuing to read this, that I am just a student of tea, with no formal training, and not a teacher of it. My friend, Rachel, received training in Taiwan and educated me on the basics. What I am sharing is my personal feelings towards the practice of what I have been taught.
Anyone can sit for tea, but I think it’s important to give credit to the origin of the practice, for they are the true teachers of it. Their root knowledge is so important, powerful and special! I will provide a “Basics to tea” in another post but keep in mind; it is beautifully basic.

I typically sit for my tea right in the morning. It is this nice moment where I am in a fluid mental space; half in sleep mode/half in awake. This mental space means it’s a moldable time for my brain, so typically this really sets my day and ground me.

The first thing I feel upon sitting down is excitement for the fact that the next 20-60 minutes (depending on how much time I have), I surrender to tea. My sole job is to sit. When you have no other job than to sit, your whole reality becomes the art of noticing. Notice what you may ask?
- The incense burning slowly as its smoke dances around almost like it chose its path and eventually making its way into my nose. Deep breath in.
- The water droplets on the inside of my glass kettle slowly melting down into the hot bath below that will soon be poured into my bowl. Deep breath in.
- The tea leaves swirl around like a mini whirlpool in my bowl with every pour from my left side handle pot. Every tea leaf doing its own dance. Deep breath in.
- The feeling of warm earth water touching my lips and then feeling the warmth floating down my throat. Deep breath in.
- At some point, I come to the realization that the fundamentals of nature and I are sharing a space in this very moment of existence - and that we become one with every bowl.

There are honestly a million other things I can notice during just sitting in this space, but the biggest thing I have realized is how simple this act is, yet how profound. It is the true essence of presence, the embrace of nature and how the moods in your brain can access different parts of these in different tea sittings.

Do not get me wrong, some times if I have way too much on my mind, the entire sitting is just offloading mental gossip, ideas, stressors, etc… but even then, it feels so therapeutic. Imagine all of those stuck thoughts finally being released into a safe space and turning into incense burnt, warm tea sips, and big deep breathes.

All in all, there are so many ways to ground down in this existence. As much as I love the other ways that allow me to reprieve and awaken, I think the top one is tea. If anyone is interested in the basics of starting a tea ceremony for yourself, let me know! I would truly love to guide you to the basics and answer any other questions you may have. Until next time! <3