WHAT IS A TEA CEREMONY?
A Tea Ceremony is a sacred space of receiving warm bowls of Tea (Camelia Sinensis) to connect to ourselves, to nature, to one another, and to All That Is.
Tea is gentle plant medicine who embodies the essence of nature. She is a wise and gentle teacher guiding us into harmony and healing of body, mind, heart and soul. Tea has a long and vibrant history as a medicine and an ally for cultivating meditative presence by the Daoists and Sages of ancient China. She is lauded today, all around the world, for her powerful healing and spiritual properties.
During a ceremony, we sit silently with music or the sounds of nature, drinking bowl after bowl of Tea, allowing our inner and outer experience to unfold organically. We are invited into a state of receptivity as the Tea Spirit moves through our consciousness and guides our journey.
We feel the qi (energy) of the Tea somatically moving through us, awakening our own energy and inviting us on a meditative journey through the subtle inner worlds.
When we sit with this medicine, we are reminded that we are nature, and that our deepest essence is one that remembers and embodies this connection.
During ceremony, one may expect to experience a wide range of emotions and sensations as the Tea works in the body energetically, including tears, laughter, yawning, sweating, etc.
One may also feel enhanced receptivity, presence, creativity, healing, soul remembrance, connection to nature and Spirit, relaxation, grounding, inspiration, teachings directly from the Tea, and more.
Tea is intelligent and adaptogenic, meaning she meets us where we are, with the medicine we need. Each ceremony and every Tea is unique and provides us with the perfect experience for the Now moment.
“The practice of tea has changed my life and taught me so much. It has unlocked so much that has been bound up inside of me...inner child healing, shadow work, presence I could only ever access through deep, uninterrupted mediation. Now I find perfection in every moment I sit with tea, despite interruptions.
I learned through this medicine that there is something valuable to be learned in all moments. Miracles are constantly afoot.”
-Tea Ceremony Participant
When we work with Tea as a medicine, we are experiencing her powerful physical healing qualities, and also the essence of her spirit, which communes with the part of us who is also spirit.
Experiences in Tea Ceremony with these very special leaves can often contain a quality of ineffability, as we connect to the mystical nature of plant intelligence and realms of consciousness that transcend the ordinary mind.
I am also available to travel to your retreat or private space to host group Tea Ceremonies. Please contact me to discuss group bookings!
I express deep gratitude to my Tea teacher Ashley Smith, creator of the Elemental Energetics Tea School and catalyst of the flourishing Tea community in the St. Petersburg area. I bow to all of her teachers and carriers of the Global Tea Hut lineage, including Wu De, and to all the masters, teachers, and Tea lovers who walked before us.