Tea and Mindfulness. Drinking a 2018 wild black tea and finding focus

Feb 1

Feb 1 Tea and Mindfulness. Drinking a 2018 wild black tea and finding focus

Hello, tea lovers and welcome back to The Tea Squirrel! This is episode number three of my series on tea and mindfulness. If you’ve missed the first two parts, you can check them out here and here.

Let me briefly recap what this is all about. Being present in the moment, enjoying the beauty of little things, being intentional with one’s thoughts and actions are all things that tea lovers can easily teach themselves by cultivating a tea ritual, however simple or elaborate. My goal for this series is to practice mindfulness more consistently and explore it in a creative way. Are you ready to join me?

The prompt I had selected for this week was “take three deep breaths.” This is from the list of prompts by The Good Trade, a resource for sustainable living I read on a regular basis (link at the end of the post). Did you know that you can use breathing techniques to calm and focus the mind and to be fully present and engaged in the moment?

Tea and Mindfulness. Drinking a 2018 wild black tea and finding focus. The Tea Squirrel

The following are some of the mindful breathing techniques I’ve personally tried and used, but there are a lot more out there and I invite you to be curious and try out a few to find the one that works best for you:

Box breathing (great for concentration and stress relief). Deeply inhale through the nose for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, deeply exhale through the mouth for 4 seconds. Hold your breath for 4 seconds before repeating.
Alternate nostril breathing (relaxing) - I usually practice this technique when doing yoga. While sitting in a crossed-legged position, exhale deeply and then use your right thumb to close your right nostril. Inhale through your left nostril and then close the left nostril with your fingers. Open the right nostril and exhale through this side. Keep breathing like this for a few minutes.
Lion’s breath (energizing) - I usually practice this technique while doing yoga, often in conjunction with an pose called “cactus arms” (arms open wide to the sides, elbows bent and hands stretching upwards). Inhale deeply through your nose. Open your mouth wide, stick out your tongue, and stretch it down toward your chin. Exhale forcefully. While exhaling, make a deep “ha” sound. Breathe normally for a few moments. Repeat.

Mindful breathing techniques and tea consumption are closely connected to meditation practices. Historically, tea was used by Buddhist monks as a meditation aid to promote focus. The reason? Some natural compounds it contains, including L-Theanine, EGCG and caffeine, which together are responsible for a state of calm alertness.

Today I’m having a 2018 wild black tea from Wuyishan, China, the area in Fujian province known for its Wuyi oolong teas (yancha). The dry leaves are sweet and fruity on the nose, with distinct notes of stone fruits and some herbaceous notes. The color of the brewed tea liquor is dark crimson. On the palate, this tea is sweet, spicy and woodsy with a strong returning sweetness and pleasant citrus peel after taste.