This post shares four tips for restful tea time!
Restful tea time can be as simple as bringing your awareness to the present while enjoying a cup of tea.
Or, you can spend some time setting up the experience to make it more intentional and restorative.
There’s no right or wrong way: there’s the way that works best for you on any given day.
I’ve pulled together a few tips and questions to help you customize a restorative tea time that works for you.
Essence of Restful Tea Time
To me, restful tea time means that I am interacting with the tea and my surroundings in a way that invites my body, heart, and mind to relax. That’s it. That’s the essence.
As you think about integrating more restorative tea breaks into your life, I suggest considering a few key elements. These include:
- Gentleness
- Scheduling
- Choosing your location
- Enhancing the experience
Tip 1: Gentleness
Modern life makes many demands on us. These demands can feel relentless. What’s an essential component to relaxing? In my experience, gentleness is key. Remembering gentleness is my most important tip for restful tea time.
By gentleness I mean: Invite yourself to relax. Don’t demand it. Give yourself the opportunity.
Your experience can fluctuate. Sometimes you might slip right into a relaxed state. Other times you may notice dropping in and out of it. Some days, you might not feel any release or softening. It’s all okay.
Be gentle with yourself: try not to judge how you respond to the experience of a rest opportunity. Making time and following through are accomplishments in this busy world. (See my post on our culture of scarcity for more on that!) And, if we don’t at least give ourselves these opportunities, we have very little chance of actually resting
Tip 2: Scheduling Tea Time
Scheduling is key to developing and sustaining healthy habits like restful tea breaks. “Sometime this week” or “when I have a spare moment” or “when all my work is done” are ways of thinking about tea breaks that will make it harder to have these relaxing experiences.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t remain open to spontaneous opportunities: it’s great if you can work in an unexpected opportunity to relax! Relying on “sometime” or “the spare moment,” however, makes it far less likely to happen. And, by telling yourself you must finish all your work first, aren’t you suggesting that you need to earn time to rest? We all need and deserve rest! We–and that includes you–don’t need to earn it.
So, as you schedule your week or month, I suggest you schedule–actually put on your calendar–the day(s) and time(s) you will enjoy restorative tea breaks. You can start with once a week, or be more ambitious. I find keeping something either the same day(s) of the week or the same time every day helps me keep a practice. What usually helps you follow through with a scheduled practice? Think about that, then schedule your restful tea breaks!
Tip 3: Choosing Your Location
You can have mindful tea wherever you are and with very little preparation! You really only need tea. There are a few questions that you might find helpful to consider, however, as you schedule and prepare for your mindful tea time.
INSIDE OR OUTSIDE?
For example, if you have the opportunity and access to a peaceful outdoor space, you might enjoy a mindful tea session outside.
Weather permitting, I love packing my tea things (or even just a thermos of tea) and going to my local botanic garden. Sometimes, I stay even closer to home, enjoying mindful tea in my own backyard when the conditions are right.
IF INSIDE, WHICH ROOM?
If inside, which room or space in your location (if you have a choice) would be most peaceful for the time of day you plan to enjoy your mindful tea time? For example, my family members usually leave for work and school before me. Once they are out the door, the morning sun comes in through my kitchen window and shines on my kitchen table. I love having tea there with the morning sunshine.
At other times of the day, or if people are home, I have a tea nook in my home office where I enjoy mindful tea time. If I’m at my workplace, there’s really only once place I can have indoor mindful tea. So, it’s an easy choice!
Tip 4: Enhancing the Experience
Making a habit attractive, according to renowned habit expert James Clear, is one of the keys to helping us establish and keep it!
What might make restorative tea time extra pleasing to you? What could enhance the experience?
Some examples to consider:
- Could you play some relaxing music or nature sounds?
- How would it feel to place a favorite plant or fresh flowers in your tea space?
- Could you choose a beloved teacup, mug, or bowl for your restorative tea time?
Taking a little extra effort (but keeping it easy) could make it extra enjoyable and increase your chances of keeping the practice.
Closing Thoughts
I could share many other tips for restful tea time. But, too much information can be paralyzing rather than helpful, so I’ll stop here for now.
If you are interested in having curated resources for convenient and inspirational tea time emailed to you, you might like to check out my February Rest Kit for Tea Lovers!
I hope you found this post helpful.
Which of these tips do you think you most needed to hear or be reminded of? I would love to know, Tea Friend!
6 replies on “Tips for Restful Tea Time”
Beautifully put together, Traci ❤️
Thank you so much, Taniya! That means a lot that you say so. <3
Thank you !
Look so forward to getting started in two days!
So excited you signed up for February’s Rest Kit for Tea Lovers, Colleen! 🙂
“No, tell me more! Overwhelm me with advice on stopping being overwhelmed!”
–Me, who needs to chill out
Lovely post, Traci!
Darci–Thank for taking time to comment and for your kind words. I love proof that people read something on the blog. And, knowing it resonated is always nice. Your response about needing to chill out is very relatable, too! Maybe there is a follow-up post forming in my brain. 😉