Monday, November 26, 2012

Tea for Teacher

How about an apple tea for the teacher? That would work.

I enjoy the idea of tea being a part of my job title. Tea. Hm. Has a lovely ring to it. I've always thought of my tea as a cup of soothing nutrition, with its phytochemical, fat melting magic people run for. It is also intense, meditative, quiet, and wreaks of wisdom.

The etymological meaning of the word teacher, is one who teaches. If Sanskrit is considered, then the word 'teacher' becomes 'guru.' Guru is a teacher, though its meaning also points out someone who is to be treated with great reverence and authority. It is someone who aligns with a more transcendental reality, someone who ultimately knows that there is the literal interpretation of things, and then there's that place that takes traditional learning beyond barriers and limits to understand a more ultimate reality.

This is how I sometimes see myself.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Oolong too long

Wow.

This is gonna be a short post, because I'm drinking Tulsi tea, which gives me all around good benefit without the caffeine, but I realize I am actually sleepy. I've been drinking those huge cups of oolong, about 24 oz., and I'm putting in a tablespoon of tea leaves, so I'm having a good cup of overstimulation. No wonder I was feeling good to burn the midnight oil just a little bit longer.

Now I know that if I drink the oolongs or black teas too close to bedtime, I'll suffer from interrupted sleep. This is a no-brainer. The revelation for me, is that my low grade oolong packed enough punch to keep me going. Now that it's not there for the last two days, I am realizing just how much I overdid. I also noticed that I woke up well without having excess caffeine in my system.

 Sleeping is so new to me, I'm going to go try it. I wonder what happens to my writing groove, if I sleep at night...
....and good night. zzzzz

Friday, November 16, 2012

Tea Chases Coffee

When tea chases coffee, tea wins.

Drinking a cup of coffee on those days when you "just can't stand it," never really seem to work, for all the work to get it released from the system. And I may have done a bad thing, to add coffee to an already fatigued day. Sounds like a really great way to more deeply rush in fatigue. I haven't been drinking coffee, except for the very occasional cup, when tea is either not worth it, or not available. Anyway, when coffee is all you have, get tea's help at the next turn, into your system, as soon as you can.

Coffee's caffeine has a very strong, potentially damaging effect  on the nervous system. As I have read, coffee caffeine will begin to place miniscule holes in the tissue walls, thereby damaging the nerve bundles. If one would like to avoid this from occurring or at least stave it off, it is advisable to make a cup of green tea and use it to chase the coffee. L-Theanine negates the effects of the caffeine, just like a caped crusader rushes in to save the day. That's right folks, green tea, Gyokuro Sencha in fact, is best at this bond, seeing as its L-theanine levels are said to be higher than other teas.

I've just finished an herbal cup, which is usually not my thing. After winding up a little too hard on the coffee and 1-2g creatine, which I never do, I decided that yoga and herbal could really make the evening swell. It was also a wake-up call to the idea that I actually made a strong Goddess oolong brew in my favorite Tea Station cup, and got myself a bit caffeine intoxicated. It's okay though, because I am ushering it out with water and this herbal mix of lavender, chamomile, peppermint, blackberry, hibiscus, rose, and tulsi.

I am yawning.
Good sign.


Thursday, November 15, 2012

The real TEA-cher is the tea.

Tea is just too important to take a backseat in another blog, so I must begin this new blog, complete with all that I possess. Tea represents all that I am, and more: health and nutrients, earth, air, roots, transformation from fresh leaf to kettle, all the time it spends in transition, the history, lessons, and wisdom of the tea, all speak to me through the tea. Whether I am having a whimsical moment or a profound one, the tea and I cannot be separate.

The moments between tea and I have always been profound. Tea had been a part of my life since college, but in full effective since my health took fire in the summer of 1994. I used it to inspire long nights of studying, and long days in fitness utero, classes and certifications flying. It wasn't until I became pregnant and had Kai in 1999, before I realized that tea got me through arguments, celebrations, frustrations, sleepless nights, and successful days.

Once I became a trainer in 2001, making the leap (pun intended) from dancing to the fitness industry, I saw the need for tea become more poignantly necessary than before. Study after study indicated that anti-illness and anti-aging benefits were proven, and the adverse effects of caffeine were completely eliminated in the tea. So again, the tea won.

I have been in deep relationship with the tea for so long, and I miss the manifestations of it: tea ceremonies, time spent in Monterey Park, staying up with a friend drinking tea, marrying a half Chinese man with a father from Guangzhou Province, feeding tea to sick family, watching them heal through the deep love of the tea.

I hope to share deeper reflections and my favorite tea drinks as time and blogs progress. Right now, I am indulging in a delicious formosa oolong brew. I call it utiliTEA because it is a low grade, 2.50 for 8 oz. of tea. It still has a nice and calming taste, with a mild body. I can drink it for hours without feeling the tannins overtake me. I serve it in a huge 24 oz. cup I purchased from Tea Station just this past Sunday. It's really a tea bowl. It was so majestic that I had to buy it. In fact, I think it asked to go home with me.

If you sit quietly and listen, the tea will speak.