Just about all Asian Tea Enthusiasts know about The Leaf and the free online magazine they release. An article in one of the earlier issues of this magazine said something, which I tried before, but never really understood until recently. Simply put, enjoy tea on the floor, something which sounds absolutely absurd for a large majority of Westerners, and I have to admit for someone not quite all that flexible rather hard to pull off sitting cross legged on the floor for an entire tea session if not more.
But this past spring semester I took a Zen Buddhism class, just to round out my schedule and finally fit in a personally interest (other than math) class. I absolutely enjoyed the class, and it inspired me to work on my flexibility so I would attempt to sit cross legged a little each day and work for longer and longer times. A hint from the Buddhists for their meditation, actually sit on some cushions so it does not stress your legs nearly as much.
Moving back to my parents house for the summer, in my room I have no good place to really have a tea set up, other than a Blue trunk in the middle of the room, which is far to low to work comfortably with if sitting in a chair, so I figured it was great to practice sitting cross legged on the floor while brewing and enjoying tea.
I must say not only does it force your posture to be much better, the slight discomfort in your legs, forces you to pay close attention to everything at hand, and makes it rather hard for the mind to wander. I find that the tea sessions I have had lately have been the most enjoyable string of tea sessions since I started drinking tea.
Somehow when doing this, I feel I am showing a greater respect for the tea, as even when my computer is close at hand, I hardly ever turn to it, and never get lost searching the web while drinking tea, something which happened constantly when sitting in a chair.
This is just a personally narrative sharing my experiences, and my opinions on the matter, but I highly encourage you to drink tea on the floor every so often.
2 comments:
Oh I love this idea! Will try it when I come back to my own home. My mom doesn't allow me to sit on the floor :p
A friend once told me one of the best health advice she got was "get rid of all your chairs". I love it and watch TV sitting on floor nowadays. But I spend too much time in front of computer. Probably should think of getting some dwarf furniture and having more things done on the floor!
Interesting stuff, Adam. Even when I was a super newbie, I had always viewed tea drinking as something done while sitting on the floor. What's funny is that I'm just as white as can be, but I lived with a japanese family for most of a year, which is where I really picked it up. I guess we all have different experiences at first, only to have them all be mostly the same in the end. :)
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