“Gongfu Tea” means making tea with skill. A time honored tradition and practice that requires a certain level of effort, dedication, passion and humility by the person who is pouring the tea. After many years of practice, the tea master cultivates a deep connection to the tea leaves & tea ware. It is from this connection that the greatest gifts of the ritual and ceremony can be exchanged between the person pouring and those receiving.
The Tea Ceremonies consist of a skilled tea practitioner, tea tray, tea tools, clay pots and a variety of tea leaves from the camellia sinensis plant. At first glance, the ritual involves multiple infusions of the same tea within a small teapot. However, more thought & intention goes into this process that is unseen by the naked eye but felt in the cup. You may drink one, two or five types of tea. And depending on what season it is, which tea leaves are being steeped and how they’re prepared, the energy between the tea pourer & the receiver(s), or the time of day creates a unique experience that no tea ceremony is exactly the same.
“There is an overflowing abundance of hot steaming water poured with subtle fluid movements and mindful preparation…”
Our tea ceremony is not stuffy. Depending on the flow of energy, it may be a casual conversational ceremony or naturally lead into a spontaneous silent & meditative one. It can also be both. The most important thing at our tea ceremonies is to have no expectations.
Just like water is flowing, soft and yielding… it also needs some sort of vessel or container to stay in form. The same analogy can be applied to our tea ceremonies.
Because each ceremony can never be truly duplicated, one can have a unique experience each time they sit at the table. It’s all dependent on how present you are in the moment and how open you are to receive.
“tea creates an opportunity of artfulness and grace with the potential to invoke a physical, mindful, contemplative, healing and/or enlightening awareness & experience.”
You will learn a little about the tea being served and maybe a dab of tea history. However the real experience is in the cup. Tea is also known to have a myriad of health benefits. For example, one healing property in the camellia sinesis plant is l-theanine, an amino acid which helps produce a relaxed state of mind. When we relax, we can gently ease into a place of emptiness and receptiveness. In those moments, the creative juices may start flowing, inspiration & epiphanies may start popping up, even a peaceful stillness can occur. Laughter often happens, even tears might fall (also called a state of “purification”). The only way to best describe the Tea Experience is by simply joining us for one… or three…
Tea within a group setting can also create a synergetic dynamic. Nourishing shares & exchanges between people may occur and quite often “tea drunk” may happen (triggering a natural state of bliss & happiness).