My Pallet in the Pines: Notes from a tea ritualist.

Outside the garden gate, just inside the forest. I have placed a packing pallet decorated with pots of herbs and flowers and a colourful sarong. I cart a sheepskin and cushion out there, light a candle, burn incense and sip tea.

Inside my cup is the reflection of the tall hoop pines that surround me. I sit with my tea and my breath, just the way I suggest you do. I gaze at the colour and the texture, inhale the fragrance and sip slowly, mindfully, tasting my herbs and feeling warm liquid become me. 

With eyes closed much of the time I listen to the guided virtual tea rituals from The Tea Break Series. Depending on what calls me in, I might sit with grace or gratitude, groundedness or some other quality available in the libary. I find these help me to easily drop into stillness. I don’t need to think, I simply let myself be guided.

When I open my eyes, I feel different, restored. Something has shifted for the better. I can go about the rest of my day carrying this inner resolve, strengthened by this powerful pause. 

Do you have a place you like to sit? Is there somewhere you can simply be with your tea and your breath, a place you can go to regularly that can hold you in stillness and reshapes the direction of your day?