A Tea Time Kind of Mindfulness

Those of you following me on Instagram know that lately I’ve started making my own masala style tea at home. I’ve always been a big fan of spiced tea, but in the past I never made my tea from scratch. I would always buy a chai latte from Starbucks, and when time became a factor I started buying Starbucks Tazo Chai Tea Latte Concentrate at the grocery store and mixing it with milk at home.

After some consideration, I decided it would be worthwhile to do a little research and attempt making my own masala chai recipe despite my unfamiliarity with the process. And I am so happy I did. I am now completely enthralled in the tea making process. It has become a part of my daily routine that I look forward to so much that if I skip my morning tea ceremony it leaves my day feeling a little off track.

It’s funny sometimes how life’s little moments align and give something meaning in your life. In addition to picking up tea making as a hobby, Matt and I have also been learning about the benefits of mindfulness and how to apply it to everyday life. Up until now I had been struggling to fully understanding what it meant to be mindful. Even though I was able to define it, and I understood in some abstract way that it meant being aware of your own thoughts, the concept of being mindful remained esoteric to me which made applying it to my everyday life difficult. Tea making changed that for me.

Perfecting my chai recipe over the past few weeks helped to ground the concept and clarified my understanding of mindfulness. This is what making chai has taught me:

• How to fully engage in the moment
• How to focus on essential components
• The value of slowing down
• The value of doing one thing at a time (as opposed to multitasking)

Mindfulness to me is living in the moment; it is engaging wholly in the present. Tea making and mindfulness go hand in hand- they are synonymous.

The other day I read a quote about tea making that said, “It’s like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony.” This is so true for me. The tea ceremony is just what I needed to understand and appreciate the benefits of being mindful.

I am also thrilled that tea making is helping me to be mindful in other areas of my life. The power of slowing down, engaging in the moment, and prioritizing the things that matter most is very valuable in all parts of my life right now including, work, play, health, etc.

One more thing. I should also give credit to a few books (and to Matt- seriously, you guys he helps me to be a better person) for helping me understand and further appreciate the value of mindfulness:

• The Confidence Gap: A Guide to Overcoming Fear & Self Doubt by Russ Harris
• Unfu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head & Into Your Life by Gary John Bishop
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson
• Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (I’m currently listening to this one now) by Greg McKeown

…and just like that these are my first “thoughts” on my blog. I hope you liked them and were inspired to find your own “tea ceremony” via your own hobbies and interests. I’d love to know what you look forward to everyday and your personal version of a tea ceremony. What helps you to be mindful? Please share below.