Tea and Health
It is not just what you eat and drink, but how you do it.
The Chinese medicinal model is based on a fundamental understanding of the body’s energy patterns. This understanding in Chinese culture is ancient and it is just in recent time discovered and scientifically proven in Western modern medicine.
A traditional Chinese doctor views all aspects of a person from the bones to brain waves- it is all manifestation of a life force called CHI.
If your CHI flows smoothly through the body, a person is healthy. If there are blockages and obstructions, it creates blockages of energy. External hostage energy then has an effect on our body and mind.
In China, tea is regarded as one of main aids to healthy life. Prepared with pure mountain water, it refreshes the body and mind and promotes good energy.
Tea is also a natural thermostat regulator. In cold weather it warms the body; in hot weather it is the most efficient coolant of the body. Tea raises the internal body temperature, so the body begins to sweat. If you drink a very cold beverage on a hot day, it creates disturbance like throwing a rock into a calm water or like throwing water onto a fire. It creates steam but also increases the flame.
One of the most important aspects of drinking tea is its ability to relax a person. Inhale the steam, breath in, close your eyes and relax- This is called TEA MEDITATION.
Creating a time and space in your daily life that fits you, a ritual, grounding, connecting with self and others can only take a few minutes a day.
The Chinese people over the centuries created beautiful tea ceremonies but it is the Japanese who developed the most ritualized way of drinking tea.
The Buddhist practitioner Rikyu modified and refined what was already centuries old in China and it took deep roots in Japan.
A full tea ceremony - a meal and two cups of tea takes nearly half a day. A shortened version takes 45 minutes. Each move and gesture is carefully studied and performed and holds a meaning. It takes years to study and perfect.
It is a study of perfection and beauty. Why do we long for beauty? Rikyu said that the world of beauty is our home and that we are born for the love of home. Everything that has been divided longs to be united, to be one again. Drinking tea is a spiritual union of body and soul.
In terms of medical research it has been proven that tea possesses a wealth of health benefits. Vitamins B1, B2 and B6, vitamin C, flavonoids, polyphenols. Tea is rich in minerals especially manganese, essential for bone growth and body development and potassium which maintains heart beat and fluid levels in the body. It is also one of very few natural sources of fluoride so it prevents tooth decay and promotes overall oral health.
Flavonoids in tea are strong antioxidants and are important in preventing free radical attack of the body so it is strongly believed that it prevents many kinds of cancer.
Drinking tea helps to burn calories, therefore it assists in weight loss by accelerating the oxidation of fat. Taken after a meal, tea helps digestion.
IN SHORT, TEA IS GOOD AND GOOD FOR YOU. TEA REVIVES YOU AND RELAXES YOU. SPIRIT OF TEA IS SPIRIT OF GOOD HEALTHY AND BALANCED LIFE.