Re: Tea

[Guest guest]

Interesting ... I always would like to learn about alternatives are that will bring similar quality of "non-verbal presence" other than tea. To me, it's not exactly an experience of joy. Rather, a very precious feedback system. Apparently, a focus on something, when done on a mindful stance, will make it easier for me to distance myself from thoughts and be aware of bodily sensations.MerlinPowered by Telkomsel BlackBerry®Sender: ACT_for_the_Public Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2011 08:17:00 +0000 (UTC)To: ACT for the Public<ACT_for_the_Public >ReplyTo: ACT_for_the_Public Subject: Re: Tea Merlin, your tea "ritual" sounds like a joyous mindful experience. I'm not into tea, but my sister enjoys it much as you do. I need to find an activity that I can engage in mindfully, much as you do with tea. Well, maybe interacting with my two cockatiels and one cat would qualify. I find such peace and love in those little creatures and totally forget myself when I am caring for / playing with them. I do set aside 'attention sessions" in which I focus solely on them and it is indeed a joyful experience in which I mostly forget about me. It's nice that they love me back, too, which is something tea can't do : ) Thanks for sharing your experience! Helena To: "ACT for the Public" <ACT_for_the_Public >Sent: Wednesday, July 6, 2011 12:57:13 PMSubject: TeaHi All,Just would like to share this nice, simple experience. Hopefully it's going to be useful for some of you ... Back to the days when I just started learning about ACT, I used to frown when I read at the book about the exercise to be really present when drinking tea. My thinking self was upset, "How the heck is this supposed to alleviate my anxiety??"And then I forgot totally about it, moved on with ACT, then about last year I started to have regular tea sessions for enjoyment. It was a visit to a friend's house that inspired me. I enjoyed the way he prepared tea the traditional Chinese way - doused the pot with hot water, poured the tea, and so forth. The drinking part was no less interesting: The sniffing, appreciation of color, and sipping, all contribute to making a different tea experience. So I started my 'tea journey' - bought the utensils, tea leaves, and set a space for tea at home. Here's the part that I think makes a good ACT practice session. Some teas like white teas or certain green teas are quite delicate; their subtlety could provide quite a challenge for a guy like me who's used to having things instant and stimulating. It would be quite tempting for me to just sip the whole cup in a gulp(traditional cups are SMALL), but then I would be missing the point. Curiosity did most of the job to keep me 'working on my tea taste' - thoughts like 'how come Joe likes this tasteless crap so much?', 'why do some people like this dull stuff better than sweet and stimulating coffee?'So I put ACT into practice during tea sessions. In each moment, from the dousing of the pot right to the appreciation of color and taste, I always challenge myself to be totally present with MINIMUM (ideally, totally without) verbal mind chatter. And boy did I catch myself funny!!! When trying to be present with my tea, I suddenly noticed things I didn't notice before, like,"What are the muscles around my eyebrows doing being so tight? Is that really necessary?" "Hey, what's this tension around my cheeks? What if I let this go?" "Dude, I am trying to hard to sniff this tea, my face must be looking funny" Occasionally, I would experience moments in which I had no evaluation of the color, aroma, and taste .. Those experiences were just so present, no verbal chatter - for couple brief seconds. And then I caught myself funny again most of the time. But then those moments, despite being so brief, propels me into having more and more tea sessions day after day ...I had my fair share of learning costs - having bloated stomach from drinking strong teas on empty stomach, stained teeth (then I learned to brush or chew bubble gums afterwards), and so on ... And trust me, I do not invest in tea company shares or tea commodities ... I just think this experience is so precious that I owe it to you all to share here - it would be great to know if someone else enjoys tea the same way, or if someone can pick this as a new value activity ...MerlinPowered by Telkomsel BlackBerry®------------------------------------For other ACT materials and list serves see www.contextualpsychology.orgIf you do not wish to belong to ACT_for_the_Public, you may unsubscribe by sending an email to ACT_for_the_Public-unsubscribe@...! Groups Links<*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ACT_for_the_Public/<*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional<*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ACT_for_the_Public/join (Yahoo! ID required)<*> To change settings via email: ACT_for_the_Public-digest ACT_for_the_Public-fullfeatured <*>