Who Are You?
- Catrin Abrahamsson-Beynon
- May 4
- 5 min read
When starting out with yoga and mindfulness, this question might come across as very odd. But the deeper you go into your beingness, the more interesting and relevant it becomes.
In yoga, we connect deeply to our breath and sync it with our movements (this is what vinyasa means). We focus our attention inwards, and through this practice, our minds become still, and our nervous system drops into a state of rest. Here, we can truly and deeply relax and become aware of a presence that exists before thoughts. The witness to our breath. Yoga in this sense is meditation in movement.
We can also enter meditative, restful states by walking silently in nature, or by being fully aware and present while doing any other peaceful activity. Preparing tea in a gong fu style can be such a practice. The Gong Fu Cha outline below is partly from Solala Towler, one of the many excellent teachers on InsightTimer (one of the world's largest meditation apps). Much of the material on InsightTimer is free, but this tea course by Solala is part of the Plus material that requires a premium subscription. I highly recommend you taking this course if this topic of tea and mindfulness is of interest to you.
Tea in China is deeply rooted in Daoism, a 5,000-year-old tradition that encompasses all aspects of our emotional, spiritual, and psychological life. Tea is different from many other noble drinks in that you, who prepare the tea, are a co-creator of the final liquor. The energy and attentiveness that you bring to the process of preparing tea will highly influence the outcome of the drink and the harmony and wellness it provides. to yourself and your guests.
Cha Dao can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty (that ruled in China from 618 to 907). Cha means tea, and Dao is the natural way in which the universe and all in it unfolds. So, Cha Dao, or the Tao of Tea, can be translated as the way of tea.
Gong Fu means to prepare or perform anything with care, so Gong Fu Cha is when you prepare tea with lots of care, paying attention to the details. But you do so in a natural, non-hurried, relaxed, and flowing manner, not in a stiff or tense way. You simply try to be one with the natural elements. This, of course, can require lots of practice, to return to one's natural state, in today´s hurried society. Very much like the practice you undertake in martial arts, qi gong, tai chi or yoga to come back to who we truly are.
So, what is needed for a Gong Fu Cha Ceremony?
It starts with fresh, great-tasting water. After all, tea is 99% water. Then you need premium tea, selected with care to suit your guests, the season, and the occasion. You need a skilled tea master who has the right knowledge of preparing tea, and you need interested and open-minded guests to attend.
This is how you can do it:
- Select a neat, clean, and peaceful space.
- Get the best-tasting water you can find, a kettle, and great tea (select the tea with the same care that you would for a great wine or other fine drink).
- Gather your tea utensils: a fine teapot, a pitcher, small teacups, your tea pet, and place it all on a tea tray. Also, find a proper wastewater collector (if you do not have a tea table with drainage handy).
- Cleanse and heat up your teaware in boiling hot water, both the inside and outside, so they are nice, clean, and warm.
- Show the tea you have chosen to your guests by letting it go around so that each person can take in the beauty of the leaves and smell the dry leaf aroma.
- Place the tea leaves in the heated pot, cleanse the leaves in hot water, discard the water into the cups, pitcher, pet, and empty the water out.
- Now steep the tea leaves by pouring hot water over them into the pot and on the outside of the pot to maximize the extration of flavor. If the tea is a bit sensitive to heat - like a green tea you can avoid pouring the water directly onto the leaves and instead along the inside of the rim. Pour in an anti clockwise circular motion if you are right handed, in a clockwise motion if you are left handed.
- When the tea has steeped the correct time (ca. 15-20 seconds, a few slow breaths, depending on the type of tea), pour the tea into the warm pitcher and from there into the cups. The pitcher or fair cup mixes and airs the liquor (and infuses it with more qi) so that each cup tastes the same.
- Fill each cup 2/3 - to allow for three sips.
- Pick up the cup with your thumb and index finger; your ring finger stabilizes the cup from below.
- Bring the cup to the center of your chest / heart chakra in yoga - send gratitude to those who have produced the tea, for your guests, and the moment.
- Then admire the brightness and color of the tea with your eyes - your shen - this creates a connection between your heart and your spirit.
- Then take in the fragrance of the tea liquor - this activates your qi / energy with the tea.
- Now it's time to taste the tea - you connect it to your physical body - to the earth element.
-Taste your tea in three steps:
First, with the tip of your tongue - here you feel its sweetness.
Then, taste with the middle sides of your tongue - here you feel the iodine and acidity.
At the back of the tongue you feel the bitterness - in the middle of the tongue, you will feel the umami quality.
- Repeat this process of steeping and serving tea as many times as the tea allows and the guests are happy and content.
- The ritual of drinking and enjoying tea with full awareness and gratitude brings us back to the present moment, to our authentic humanness. "The true taste of tea is that of human affection."
Would you like me to help you organise a tea tasting event/ceremony? Welcome to contact me and I will be happy to propose how to do it, combined with a yoga session or not. Here you can follow and contact me on instagram. I look forward to hearing from you! "
Tea is an act complete in its simplicity." - Thich Nhat Hanh.
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