For thousands of years Tibetan and Buddhist monks have used tea within their spiritual practices. The South American Indians had a variety of teas used their esoteric traditions. Martial artists throughout China and Japan use teas in before and after their practices. Indian Yogis are avid tea drinkers as well.
Why? The answer is simple: the Qi otherwise known as “Chi”. It all lies in the Qi of tea. Many people who talk to me about this subject say they feel a caffience buzz from tea, but that is different. When you drink real tea that grows out of volcanic rich soil, with roots growing deep into the ground you are drinking a real tea with real Qi. That Qi feeling will be distinctly different from a tea that is mass farmed whose roots are shallow and soil is chemical fertilizers. For those you will only be feeling the caffeine “buzz”. I have studied with Taoist monks at a temple in Wuyi Mountain, China who grew their own tea to align with certain constellations at picking time. They believe that even the star constellations energy is connected to the tea. When studying Qigong healing, my master and I would drink strong Wild Snow Oolong and then begin to practice on each other. Then we would take a break and drink more. To bring a balance to our Qi energy when the energy needed to be more grounded we drank an ancient tea tree fermented Puer which was earthy energy.
Tea Qigong Before Your Practice:
What you want to do is before you begin your practice whether it is yoga, Qigong, martial arts, meditation or whatever is have your cup of tea. Don’t do it fast! Brew it consciously, mindfully and sip slowly. Follow the fluid as it enters your mouth, swish it a little, notice the taste. The slowly let it flow down your throat. Follow the feeling down all the way into your stomach. Now notice the subtle feelings in your body. Do you feel warmth? Do you feel a rising feeling? Maybe a sinking feeling? Where do you feel the energy going? Notice that and then put the energy back into your Dan Tian (3 inches below your navel) by resting your palms on top of it and breathing gently into it. Now begin your practice letting the Qi flow.
In Good Tea,
JT Hunter
Everything we touch, breathe, eat, absorb and interact with directly affects us. Every muscle fiber, fascia layer, blood cell and molecule in our bodies is one with all life. Many people do not stop to think about this. We are sponges and our environment helps create our bodies and minds. With the sheer amount of global pollution it truly is amazing that any of are still alive. This fact alone should show each of us how resilient the body can be. Now place this into a healing context and the potential is truly unlimited.
Tea is a spirit in itself and every plant in which specific teas come from is a living being filled with vitality and its own unique gifts to the world. The world is filled with abundance if we are open to it from within our core. The very nature of tea is one of ancient healing and the maintenance of the body and mind. Many cultures held tea in great respect and consumed it with a deep sense of reverence because they understood its power. This isn’t only true for ancient Oriental cultures but also Siberian, Jungle, Native American and many Island cultures as well. This attraction for tea is global and has long ago brewed its way into many modern cultures. The spirit of the tea, the understanding of the tea energy however, has become something forgotten by many.
With the high speed movements of the technological world the nuances of life have been set aside as an inconvenience. People have misplaced the knowledge that it’s these very subtleties that rule the existence of this physical life. The slight breath of wind through autumn grasses and the gentle shift of the currents deep in the oceans dictate more than most modern people have any awareness of. The tiniest position of the sutures between the plates of the human skull can completely change our reality from emotion to thought, movement, balance, sense of well being and so on. These are but a few minute examples of how subtleties control our lives on this earth. Tea holds the essence of these things within its aroma, quality, brew method and time, season of harvest, time of day or night, age of plant and even down to how it is drunk and when. I agree completely Jay in what you have written. Tea can be used as a tool in order to enhance the abilities of mind, body, emotion and spirit. We only need to listen to the plant in which the tea comes from and hear our body’s reaction as it unites with the properties of the tea itself. Tea, mind, body, emotion and spirit become one with every sip.
It is good to see that you are trying to connect the ancient methods of growing and harvesting the plants with the modern world of tea drinkers. You are correct in that mass growing and harvest by large corporations and businesses depletes the very essence as well as nutrients and benefits from the tea. Continued education and the awareness of such essentials to what we are all in contact with in life we can only hope that the preciousness of old traditions will return. Even if it is in pockets around the world, these pockets would be some of those nuances that help support life.
White Wolf Von Atzingen
Wow! I could not have said it any better White Wolf! I hope more and more people can open to these ways and bring consciousness to what they are drinking and receiving.