Get Up and Go Sometimes/Slow Down and Notice Other Times

When I was at my Chi Gong teacher certification training a few weeks ago, we enjoyed a tea ceremony every day after lunch.  In this ceremony, a special tea from a special place in China is served.  It's called puer tea.  It is the gold standard in the tea world and sells by the small brick for many thousands of dollars.  It can be presented in a wooden box for safe keeping and is aged over years.  It is precious, but it is also an every-day thing.  There is a lot more to the story, and I am still learning.  However, like wine--it has a special place of origin that carries with it the properties of that geographic place.  This is part of what makes it life giving.  By partaking of this tea, the earth energy and all it brings with it, comes to you. 

During the tea pouring, we sat in a circle as Master Lee broke off (sometimes with a sharp blade) some of the tea leaves from the block of puer tea.  He placed them in a small tea pot after pouring boiling water over the pot (marking cleansing) and let it steep and quickly discarded this first small pot.  Then he did it again.  The tea cups were slightly larger than egg cups.  No handles despite the fact that the tea is very hot.  (It may have been the British ladies who added handles to their tea cups.) Very little tea gets shared at one time, because the cups are so small.  We learned that by having a small cup, you are forced to pay attention to the tea, how it makes you feel, to what is going on, to what you are doing.  No one is getting jumbo anything here.  After the first pot is poured and drunk, then the pourer makes another pot with the same puer tea leaves still in the tiny tea pot.  Now the leaves are getting yet another steeping and distribution.  This could go on for quite some time--perhaps even twenty steepings of the same tea leaves during this one ceremony.  The pot itself gets refreshed with hot water--cleansing. 

The tea is served on a wooden tray with a built-in drain that keeps that clean as well.  There is talk.  There is joy.  There is feeling differently because of the properties of the tea.  Most importantly, there is noticing.  This was such a nice way to slow down and enjoy the moment, to find balance.  I have to confess that I miss this ritual. 

I start the day with one cup of strong black coffee that I make at home.  I still like that single cup of coffee for the day, but that is for "getting going."  For calming and relaxing and enjoying, it's tea.  I am committed to learning more about this ritual and how it can help create balance in daily life.  Let's face it, that is when and where we need it the most. 

Master Lee Holden also talked about the polarity in all things.   In modern life we are faced with an overabundance of choices.  From the 200 food decisions we make regularly to what to watch on our devices to what to block out on our devices, we are swamped.  It's too much for the brain--and too much for the body to take in.  By slowing down long enough to notice your tea, your wonderful strawberries, your body and how it feels today, you can create a mini shift into a much happier existence.  This, we have at our disposal.  It comes from our desire for more.  Paying attention to both the form and the formless--as in the clouds in the sky and the space between the clouds-- allows us to notice all of what is there.  Sure, I may not be having as many cocktails as my friends--but look at what not having as many cocktails as my friends does for me.   I may not be eating portions as large as I used to--but look at the "room" that creates in my life to get more of what I really want.

The more I know, the more I keep learning.  I am glad to share this with you.