Minimalism & Tea For A Better Life
Why have I decided to aspire towards minimalism in my life?
I’m one of those people, who for most of my life, often felt I didn’t have enough or always felt unsatisfied, in some way or another, about my circumstances or what I had. It was not until the more recent years of my life, where I came to realization that this feeling of never being satiated was less about my circumstances or belongings.
That feeling of never being satiated had everything to do with my mindset—that story I was feeding my brain day-in and day-out.
I created Minimalist Tea to share with you the wisdom I’ve gained from conquering struggles with my health and how the knowledge from my ever-growing tea obsession is a huge part of living a fulfilling and healthy life where simplicity and mindfulness are key.
Many zen masters emphasize a practice of mediation as a foundation for inner peace. This religious zen practice often includes a fondness for the tea ceremony where one sits quietly preparing and observing one’s mind while they stew over the flavors of the tea. In this ritualized tea practice, one executes the steps of preparing tea and serving tea with slow, yet intentional steps, taking care not to spill or knock anything over, as spilling in many Asian cultures is a sign of carelessness and disrespect for the items that are before you.
This careful act of preparing tea is never done without the application of the heart and soul. In this way, when you prepare tea, you are honoring the handiwork of many hands that labored to bring you beautiful tea pottery and tea leaves to your cup. By practicing making tea in this manner, you are slowly performing exercises in self-cultivation for patience and gratitude.
Patience and gratitude are the cornerstone to living a peaceful and happy life.
It’s easy in a day and age, where we are evermore disconnected with the source of where things come from or how they are made, to lose our appreciation for the things we consume.
This can lead to dissatisfaction in our daily lives.
For example:
…We buy chicken breast by the bulk at the grocery store without ever knowing where those chicken come from (See episode 1, season 1 of Portlandia. Ha!) and how much work goes into growing a single chicken. I would know, I grew up on a private chicken ranch run by my mother!
…We buy furniture that is mass-produced because of the low price, only to turn around in a few years or so to toss it out. I’m guilty of this for sure.
…We continue filling our online shopping carts with things that bring negligible happiness and satisfaction to our lives. Speaking from experience.
I’ve noticed myself in the past and even now, looking for less costly items to fill my life with, only to turn around and dispose of these things immedietely or soon after. I was buying an item for its low cost and not its value.
In the case with food, we eat something low-cost and undernourishing and then well…you know what happens in the bathroom after that. Question is: did that cheap food nourish our bodies and our minds?
I understand being able to afford good quality produce and foods in America is becoming increasingly expensive. I also acknowledge that the health crisis we have indicates income inequalities present in the infrastructure of the country.
With so much inexpensive low-quality food readily available at the same time economic inequality is increasing, what’s the incentive to purchase more expensive high quality foods?
Hopefully bringing awareness and education about healthy habits that anyone can adopt become motivating factors for people to be mindful of their lifestyles and put nutritional foods in their bodies.
I’m only here to tell you what I’ve noticed about the lifestyles I’ve observed in myself and the others around me that appear to be the norm.
And the major realization I was having for quite sometime is that: norms are not always what’s best for us, our health, and our quality of life.
For instance, resorting to drinking alcohol as an excuse to socialize doesn’t need to be the norm. Eating fast foods doesn’t have to be the norm. Buying a million pieces of furniture, with a million gadgets, and a big house, doesn’t have to be an aspirational norm. Any more you can think of to add to this list? As we move into the middle of the 21st-century, we already are noticing major shifts in “traditional mindsets” of the 20th century. Hopefully we become more mindful of our accepted norms in relation to what good they actually do for us all.
So, continuing with my story…
I hit this point in my late 20s where I was unhealthy and unhappy.
What was I doing wrong?
The answer was, ultimately my mindset.
Sure, I endured a difficult traumatic car accident that set off a domino effect of stress-hormone disruption and post-traumatic stress that affected my body in serious ways, but it served to magnify all the negative thought patterns I always had that my rather healthier, more youthful body was able to absorb.
Our brains control so much more than we think ranging from everything to our health, our concept of our personal capabilities, to our happiness and well-being.
I was finding myself always in a “grass is always greener on the other side” type of mindset and it was killing me from the inside out.
Sure, it’s a chicken-or-egg question when it comes to pinpointing the reasons for anxiety and mental depression. Am I unhappy because I have digestive issues wreaking havoc on my Enteric Nervous System, or am I having digestive issues because I’m unhappy?
Either way, the more I obsessed and researched into this topic of health and happiness, the more I woke up to the idea that, nothing will change, if nothing I do and think changes.
So the first step, I told myself,
was to make small changes on a consistent basis.
I started to incorporate small daily achievable health goals to my day such as exercising, eating better and decreasing my alcohol and coffee intake. I started decluttering things I was hoarding that weren’t serving me anymore and were just taking up the small space I was renting. I journaled and meditated to declutter my mind. I get into this more here at: Mindful Steps For Improving Life.
As I began to feel better—not before feeling worse first when I was allowing myself to process all these stagnant and hidden emotions—I felt the natural course was to aspire towards living as simple of a life as I could.
Taking up minimalism is not easy, but it provides a framework for my everyday decision making.
Decision-Fatigue is a real thing.
Sometimes the more options and things you have actually can hold you back. It takes longer to accomplish things and make decisions if you’re constantly having to weigh all your decisions.
I particularly noticed this with how I got ready everyday. Getting dressed, doing a skincare and hair routine then makeup, accessorizing, exercising (if I even got to that), then choices about what to have for breakfast all took up a lot of mental space. I should be grateful for all these options, not inundated by it.
I found myself running late often.
I knew I had to make some changes to simplify my daily choices and habits.
That’s where I’m finding minimalism is helping.
I less frequently feel like I need to purchase more things to satisfy me.
I’ve became more grateful for what I have and have become more clear on decisions on what things to acquire.
It’s liberating, though I’m still learning how to be more minimal. Still, I’m already seeing how it clarifies choices in my daily life. I notice feeling less overwhelmed—something I struggle with.
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With all that being said, I know you came here also to learn about tea with me as I learn more about tea myself.
I think tea doesn’t need all the sugar and flavorings to be good—if it is a high quality tea and if you take care to brew it well. Once in a while I do love sugar and milk in my tea, but mostly I drink it without.
With the availability of artificial flavorings and intensely flavored food varieties we have on any give week in our lives, I’d say the modern palate is a bit de-sensitized.
This can make enjoying the nuances of flavors from tea difficult.
In this way, tea reminds me to also simplify my food. More specifically, to simplify the seasonings and ingredients in our food and drink.
For example, what’s the best way to enhance the flavors and nutrition of the produce we cook with the least amount of salt, sugar and oil? Answer: Using fresh high quality produce alongside natural herbs and spices with a knowledge of how to best cook the produce.
This approach to cooking is going to come with way less calories and more wholesomeness to your diet.
My digestion and health certainly thank me when I do this!
I strongly believe we have to be mindful of the salt, oil and sugar we are consuming on a day-to-day basis given the high rate of food-and-lifestyle-related diseases that are present in America.
We love our bursts of sweet flavors, heavily fried and salted foods, and every thing else under the sun. Trust me, I love it all too!
But what I’m saying here is that, the appreciation and proper care taken to the preparation of foods we put in our bodies will enhance our experience and nutrition.
The same applies to tea.
The proper brewing of a well-produced hand-rolled tea, for example, can help us to tap into our senses once again.
It can connect us back to the wonderful flavors of the earth, be it a flower, vegetables, honey, minerals and so on.
By the way, the spectrum of flavors in tea can range quite a bit.
The ability for tea to express so many flavors within a single type of plant, is what keeps the mystery and intrigued for many tea connoisseurs.
My Minimalist Tea philosophy is all about how less is MORE.
Through Minimalist Tea you can follow my tea + minimalism journey as I learn more about:
Choosing and buying good loose leaf tea
Brewing good quality tea leaves for maximum flavor and experience.
Which types of teaware to consider for different rituals and lifestyles
Wellness, simplicity and teaism to accompany your own artisan brew wherever your life takes you.
Tea and how it relates to Art (culinary, musical, visual, and more)
Tea traditions from different cultures
I hope that I can teach you how to fall in love with fine loose leaf teas and with no more than a splash of milk for some black teas, minimal added flavorings and maybe the occasional dollop of honey. Honestly, not much else is required to truly have a nether-world experience while taking in the aromatic spectrum of a properly brewed—all it takes is paying a little extra attention to your tea enjoyment process.
Tea has the ability to take people back to their human roots.
It’s a journey I’ve decided to embark on to return back to incorporate more humanity in my day to day and a sense of inner peace.
The steps to take involve simplifying your life, embracing the imperfection to maximize what you already have, and explore the art of tea as a way to bring wellness to you and those around you. It is a hobby and a lifestyle that one can adopt at anytime and continue for as long as you live.
Let me know what tea does for you in your life. I’d love to know. Leave a comment below or message me on IG @mindyella.
Let’s drink to your health!
xo MinTea