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.