DRINKING YOUR BUSY MIND
Anyone who knows me knows I ♥️ my morning coffee, and even better if it’s at a café. I have a lovely nourishing morning ritual with my coffee. It’s a ‘slow coffee’ practice: I read something short but meaningful, I reflect, breathe and start my day well. When I can. Some mornings are busier, so I try to achieve the same ritual in some way, even if later in the morning.
When I drink my coffee or tea in the morning, or herbal tea later in the afternoon (I avoid consuming caffeine after 12 noon – caffeine has a half life of 6 hours and affects sleep quality and disrupts sleep cycles), I try to be conscious of each sip, each breath, aware of the sensations drinking the hot beverage – what does it taste like, how does it feel in my mouth, swallowing, warming my belly, relaxing into the experience. I try to drink my coffee or tea like a tea meditation. Slow tea. Sitting with the breath in the here and now.
Buddhist and Zen masters say that very few people actually drink their tea or coffee, when they are drinking their tea or coffee. Instead, they are drinking their worries, their anxieties, their busy thoughts and feelings and daily plans. How many of us truly drink our tea or coffee, in the moment? Sit in a café and watch people. How many people can you see genuinely slowing down to slowly sip their drink and enjoy each mouthful and the now moment? We don’t drink our tea or coffee. We drink our busy mind.
There is great medicine in slowing just enough to breathe and sit with each sip, right here, right now, and truly drink our tea. Food (or drink) for thought. ❤️
