Tea Therapy: Heal ourselves with Tea and Nature.
“From the realms of the human world, the sky dwellers, the water beings, forest creatures and all other forms of life, the beautiful Mother Earth gives birth to, nurtures and sustains all life. She provides us with our food and clean water sources.”
- Indigenous wisdom of the First Nations peoples of Canada.
In our ever-growing consumptive world that values so much on productivity and material growth, have we ever stopped for a moment to just re-think what we have done to our home, namely Planet Earth so far? We continue to be free-loaders and reap harvests of our Nature in unsustainable ways, so naive to think that we could later find solutions to revert those irreversible consequences we have implanted. We tend to think in a tunnel vision, as if our Nature is bountiful to an extent that we can unlimitedly take from Her without returning. What happens when we continue to destroy forests, wildlife habitats, mass produce and create tonnes of toxic wastes that not only harm our natural environment but also driving many animals to extinction? According to WWF (World Wildlife Fund), humanity has wiped out 60% of animals on Earth between 1970 and 2018 through many human activities such as deforestation, killing for food, overfishing, building pipelines, burning fuels that lead to climate change that is accelerating at an exponential rate. Have we ever thought of what our Earth has become as a consequence of our irresponsible actions?
It is never too late to re-evaluate our lifestyle to see how we can be a better, responsible player as a small part of this world-wide-web: an intricate, interconnected web of relationships with all beings of life. For instance, instead of seeing climate change as a battle, we can view it as an “extension of our collective imbalances, so we can better address both its root (largely inner) and branch (largely outer) causes”-Jack Adam Weber. So, where to start now? We can first examine our yin/yang balance by paying attention to ourselves. Through mindful brewing of teas, we can cater all that attention we often give to things outside of us back to ourselves. This is the highest form of compassion we can cultivate in ourselves, just like how we would trim and water our plants everyday. We can give ourselves space to understand and learn about what our needs, likes and dislikes are, etc. in order to facilitate personal expansion and growth.
When we start to water our roots of well-being with more care and love through mindful living, we begin to notice things around us and we can in turn share that love we have within us with other people and beings outside of us. Instead of going shopping and buying more things we do not necessarily need, why not brew ourselves some teas at home or bringing that into nature? Maybe taking a trek into a nearby fresh green forest and indulge in the mesmerizing symphony of natural sounds in Nature? When we grow more love for Nature by appreciating what She offers us, we then find ways to protect Her as much as we can. It starts from taking small steps. For example, we can choose walking or biking over driving on most days or we can use more eco-friendly and sustainable products that will produce less wastes for our Earth. So are we going to take the initiative today to embrace a green living, Earth-friendly lifestyle?
Can you think of ways to connect more with yourself and Nature?
Happy Brewing!
