Hi,
My name is Tommy and I'm a mindfulness teacher and forest bathing guide.
I often recommend to those who participate in groups with me in person to use the breaks in the sessions as a way of connecting their mindfulness practice with their life by using seemingly innocuous things that many of us do every day like having a cup of tea.
It's going to be a little different to do this remotely so let's just give this a try.
First of all,
I hope that you've got some hot water to hand but somewhere that even if you did knock it over you're not going to scald yourself or damage your electronic devices.
It's good to be mindful of this before we're mindful of the tea itself.
So let's start by recognising that this practice is offered as an invitation to focus on our senses and to notice how it makes us feel emotionally to pause and do something really nourishing.
As this is just an invitation,
Feel free to only do what you feel comfortable with and remain in choice.
Let's start with the tea itself,
Bringing a sense of gratitude and appreciation.
Seeing the tea with fresh eyes,
A beginner's mind and an open heart.
Look at it closely,
Whether it's in a bag or loose,
Noticing its shape,
Its colour,
Its very form.
Maybe with a sense of where it might have come from,
Its journey,
Its transformation from what it was into what it now is.
Notice how it feels with fingertips,
Any textures,
Sense of temperature,
Of weight,
Maybe resistance to your touch.
Springing the tea towards your nose or your nose towards the tea.
What aromas are here?
Does it smell like tea or like something else?
As best you can just noting whatever aroma,
Whatever smell,
Whatever sense you have of your tea.
Now let's combine our tea and our water just as we might combine body with breath,
Stillness with movement or potential with energy.
Whether you're using a teapot,
A strainer or something else.
Just add the water and the tea together.
Seeing the change in form,
Change in pattern,
In colour,
In movement,
The dancing of the steam,
Swirling of the water.
Notice this sense of transformation,
Of alchemy.
This transformation may be experienced not just through your senses,
But also through your thoughts and emotions,
How these also seem transformed and energised or calmed and satisfied.
Seeing the sense of the warmth and the sense of nourishing.
Taking time for yourself.
The time that the tea is giving to us by taking its own time.
Sitting in no hurry to taste or indeed to finish this perfect moment.
So please enjoy your tea in silence now,
Experiencing the flavour,
Savouring the experience with a sense of gratitude and appreciation for something so simple.
