Practice mindfulness in every day activities -art of making green tea-

I have written that making a few cups of fresh brewed green tea is a part of my self care ritual. I incorporate mindfulness during the process of making a cup of green tea and drinking it, especially the first sip!

I will get my favorite cup ready and pick types of green tea I want to drink for the day (I have several) and mindfully use a tea spoon to pour it into my tea cup while making hot water. It is not regular practice to use hot boiling water for green tea, but I love using hot boiling water for my tea and I will wait for my hot water to be ready while looking outside of my kitchen window.

When the hot water is ready, I mindfully pour the hot water into the tea cup, swirl the water around the cup, listen to the water pouring, look at the tea leaves soaking into the hot water and watch the hot water fill the tea cup up to the top. When I’m really in the mood for practicing mindfulness, I warm up my favorite cup with hot water, feel the hot water in my cup and close my eyes and breathe- I skip this process a lot- I get lazy sometimes or impatient. I will wait 1-2 min for my tea to be ready (I love bitter green tea), and carefully pour the green tea into my cup, I look at the dark green tea pouring into my cup with steam, attempt to smell the tea and hear the sound. Before I sip the green tea, I feel my hands warmness/hotness in my cup, looking at the beautiful green color in my cup and feel the steam in my face (please be careful not to get burned. I don’t recommend this to anyone) and slowly have my very first sip of the green tea. I close my eyes and enjoy the taste of bitter green tea. It is very therapeutic and relaxing.  And it helps me to get motivated to start my day.

This can be done with anything- making coffee, cooking, or eating.

We tend to do rush doing things during our busy lives, but we can start practicing mindfulness one small process at a time.

Om shanti, shanti, shanti.