Tea InfusiastThis post explains how I understand a gratitude practice and why I am offering a meditation and gratitude series that begins on September 13, 2024.
I avoided starting a gratitude practice for years. I mistakenly believed that consciously embracing gratitude involved denying or downplaying the hard and painful parts of life. In fact, I have heard people talk about gratitude that way. Some have suggested that it trumps or should dissolve most pain and hardship.
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Hi, Tea Friend! Hope you have been steeping up and sipping down lots of good tea lately. This post shares a confession about tea steeping temperature.
BesTea is a “tea bar” with loose-leaf teas and really fun decor in Babylon, New York (on Long Island) that is connected to a boutique, Hitch, that carries goods to support “local makers and artisans.” This post shares what I saw, sipped, and learned during my visit to BesTea (and Hitch).
A visit to Gryphon–a beautiful café with afternoon tea in Savannah, Georgia–brought brunch, tea and a surprise discovery about our family’s ancestry!
On a recent trip to Savannah, Georgia, I was determined to finally visit Gryphon–a café that also serves tea and scones. On previous trips to the city we weren’t able to visit.
The Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) runs Gryphon, which is situated in an historic building. It’s on Bull Street right along Madison Square, one of the lovely historic squares in the Savannah.
We were hoping for a nice brunch, tea, and scones. We received those things AND a big surprise at Gryphon!
Friday Morning Meditation and Gratitude Practice Series, September 2024
Interested in exploring what a conscious gratitude practice and gratitude-focused meditations could do for you? Or, maybe you already have a gratitude practice and would like to deepen it with meditation and the encouragement of community. Either way, you are warmly invited to sign up for my September guided meditation series focusing on gratitude!
In honor of the second birthday of a tiny clay turtle generously gifted to me, I am sharing a few lessons from my tea pet.
Bonsai is my tiny turtle tea pet. She’s slightly smaller than a quarter. If you aren’t familiar with tea pets–which are used by some people who drink tea in a style where they pour out the first rinse of some teas–my previous post on tea pets could be helpful.
Michell Hovey made Bonsai (and other clay tea turtles). She is a tea lover brimming with kindness and affection for small things. Many of us first learned about the sweet clay tea pets she made through the Instagram tea community by following Herb the Traveling Tea Turtle. (Find out more about Michell and Herb in this earlier post.) You can also follow Herb on Instagram.
Welcome to the July 2024 edition of Tea Infusiast News–a newsletter for tea lovers to connect with and through tea. This is the 19th edition of the newsletter.
To start off, I’m pleased to share my review of the NYBG Wonderland Exhibit and Afternoon Tea. (The exhibit runs through October 27, 2024.)
Review of the NYBG Wonderland Exhibit and Afternoon Tea. The exhibit runs through October 27, 2024.
In June, I joined members of my local botanic garden, Clark Botanic Garden, for a visit to a much bigger nearby garden–the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG).
A guide led us through their their Wonderland: Curious Nature plant exhibit. Afterwards, we enjoyed an afternoon tea. The story of Alice in Wonderland inspired both experiences.
The plant exhibit was beautiful and thoughtfully curated. You start by walking through a Victorian garden–the world Alice belonged to before going through the rabbit hole. Then, you walk through a door representing the rabbit hole. Fantastic, almost otherworldly plants great you on the other side. I saw so many wonderful plants and flowers!
The Amazon water lily pads and the spotted begonias were among my favorites! Read more for garden and afternoon tea photos…
NOTE: I added some updates to this post since I graduated from the training.
I’m about 80 percent through the Inner Illumination Meditation Teacher Training with Shawn J. Moore through Sankofa of Yoga. [Update: I graduated from the program in July 2024.] This training has been a fabulous journey! I’m learning so much from the practices, classes, readings, assignments, and small group work.
I met Shawn at a retreat with Tracee Stanley in Summer 2023. (The photo is from that experience.) His sound baths and meditation sessions were absolutely transporting!
So, I subscribed to his newsletter and attended a few of his online experiences. (You can subscribe to his newsletter at the bottom of his page, located here.)