Winter Series:
Sunday, December 1, 9:00-10:30am
Sunday, January 5, 9:00-10:30am
Sunday, February 2, 9:00-10:30am
Join Suzette, from Being Tea, the first Sunday morning of each month for meditation workshops specially tailored to support your wintertime practice.
The goal of the seasonal tea meditation residency is to create a regular space where tea- loving yogis and meditation practitioners can gather to study more deeply the healing art of tea. Workshops integrate traditional/cultural teachings of tea with aspects of yogic practice, sensory awareness development, and contemporary movement-based therapies, centered around a seasonal theme.
Hosted by the founder of Being Tea, Suzette Hammond, a globally recognized professional tea practitioner, award-winning educator, and developer of Tea Mindfulness Therapy. All levels of tea enthusiast and meditation experience welcome, especially beginners.
Winter Series: Tending the Fire
What keeps your fire going when the hours of sunlight start to fade? How can winter go from being a somber season to a time of cozy creativity? This year’s winter series is all about teas and practices that warm the heart and tend to our inner fire.
Dec 1 – Candlelight Tea
A soothing, contemplative practice to welcome the winter season. Come enjoy a quiet morning of guided meditation and gratitude journaling, with extra special rare teas to celebrate our last Tejas tea gathering of the year!
Taste an offering of beautiful, rare teas known for wintertime support, each with a special story and quality
Guided meditation and journaling exercises, plus a little free-form creativity to boost the spirits
Experience preparing teas in traditional gongfu (“with skill”) style - a mindful, centering method
Jan 5 – Winter Energetics of Tea
Our body needs strong support for digestive fire and qi/prana movement in the long Chicago winter. This is the season for incorporating sturdy, grounding teas. An eye-opening exploration for tea lovers, this seasonal workshop includes:
Introduction to types of teas to consider in winter and what makes them unique, including oolongs, black teas and aged/fermented teas
Guided tasting to experience energetic effects, in real time, of various teas and find types that specifically fit your winter needs.
Experience preparing teas in traditional gongfu (“with skill”) style - a mindful, centering method
Feb 2 – Roasted Teas
The warm, cozy dry energy of roasted teas can provide much needed relief in the damp chill of late winter. Don’t have roasted teas? You can make them yourself! In this playful seasonal workshop:
Explore a variety of traditional teas with varying degrees of roast, including oolongs, black teas and green teas.
Practice techniques for roasting and waking up your own teas at home.
Experience preparing teas in traditional gongfu (“with skill”) style - a mindful, centering method.
Note: Students will be working with a variety of classical teas from the traditional tea plant, not herbal/medicinal teas. They have some natural caffeine. Participants will be guided on how to self-regulate within their personal comfort zone and sensitivity.
Suggested Donation: $20 per session; $50 for series