Tea as an aid to meditation is historically intimately linked, and there is a purification that takes place on the energetic level, in both these practices.  Whilst tea isn’t quite the same as meditation - in the sense of integrating the personal with the universal; its gentle, refined and grounded energy is both supportive to the process and enjoyable.  Like meditation, the tea practice allows us to slow down, and cultivate a sensitivity and clarity that can encourage an availability to follow the more subtle and harmonious heavenly impulses.  In the Chinese cultivation of Yang Sheng, 1591. Tea dinking is seen as part of the ‘commentary of peace and happiness in daily life’ and is mentioned in ‘The quiet appreciation of leisurely activities’ which include calligraphy, music and tea.  There is a beautiful refinement in these gentle and health promoting ways of life, and it reminds us that lifestyle is a contributing factor to health, both of the person; and socially, and spiritually.

The daily tea practice has an influence and affect on my own energy, the essence and body light, or Jing and Shen.  Elizabeth Rochat de la Vallee. (2010) describes them as ‘the expression of heavenly shen with the earthly jing that creates life within a human being.  They represent the coming together of yin and yang, heaven and earth, space and time; to create life’.   She goes on to say that ‘Jing is the foundation of all transformation and manifestation; the spirits - Shen - give heavenly inspiration, allowing the heart to guide each individual towards their best possible natural fulfilment - their destiny.’  

There is a reification through the aesthetic of the tea practice, and also through the culture; it’s very respectful and considerate.  People in tea talk about purity of the water, both in the tea drinking process and also in the environment the tea plants grow in.  A lot of small tea producers are pesticide free, and they respect and steward their tea gardens, as an integral aspect of the tea producing process.  As a drinker of tea, a sensitivity and awareness grows, a sense of social consciousness and a connection to the health of the world we live in, through the way we approach our tea practice. Energetically the Green teas are cooling, so best to drink in the summer; where as the Oolongs are more neutral, and Puher is warmer.  One of the properties found in tea is L-theanine, which has a calming effect on the nervous system. It releases a neurotransmitter called GABA, which reduces stress and lowers anxiety, and can help with relaxation. Like meditation, it encourages an alert and relaxed mental state.  

With both the tea and Qigong, it’s lovely to take the practice outside.  There is a direct connection between the person and the natural environment that lends it self to an appreciation and enjoyment of the world around us. I wonder if once we emerge into health, and adult life, our own endeavour to both develop, and simultaneously let go of a lot of the things we identify and hold on to as ‘us’; the freshness of the world, in its beauty, can be enjoyed appreciatively, each season revealing its own secrets and lessons lightly.  Our connection to it deepened, as our respectful treatment of the other than human entities, including plants, establishes itself.  David Hinton (2022) states that ‘self cultivation and self realisation’ offer us ‘the way to understand ones deepest nature in its most expansive form: wild mind integral to wild earth’ he goes on to say ‘it turns out this cultivation of wholeness for self, is miraculously, also cultivation of wholeness for the planet’.