I regularly think about how we are so similar to plants. How all sentient life cycles are effectively the same and in my Breathe and Brew experiences, I always share the seed to cup journey of the tea plant as an invitation to reflect on our own life journeys. We just overlay ours with a very complex set of emotions that are more visible than the feelings of other beings!
Working part time in a retail shop, the quality of people’s moods appears to be directly influenced by how sunny the day is. It has been so palpable these last few weeks. I find deep comfort in the predictability of all things thriving with a little watering and sunshine….
Talking of things thriving, I was recently drawn to a post on instagram about a yoga teacher training course. The writer had deemed it a very successful experience and how one pivotal aspect was the need for ‘life-long learning’. They were encouraged to research and write essays about things dear to their heart. It reminded me of a conversation I had recently with 2 close friends about what they would do if they won a million pounds (no idea how we got to that question!) Both answered without hesitation that they would give up work and go back to study.
As someone who is currently training with 2 different colleges, it made me really appreciate how lucky I am to have such an opportunity at this stage of my life. In the natural order of things, us midlifers are transitioning into our eldership and there is a call from within to find, cultivate and share our wisdom and give back something to the kind Earth that has carried us throughout our lives.
Ric and I are also currently creating a workbook to help you develop a nourishing self-practice through cultivating a deeper relationship with the teas. We have been considering the importance of providing theory as a foundation for such learning. its a tricky balance, deciding what needs to be shared and what is self-indulgent twaddle! But theory is important in giving us the framework to sit our understanding, interpretation and felt experience on. It helps anchor and conceptualise ideas and truths that may be difficult to isolate through just being. It is basically the left brain's unpacking of our right brain’s encountering.
Theory can help provide a road map of the most effective order to a given learning and can also act as the conduit for aligning personal beliefs and values with new concepts and ideas.
But it is wise to remember theories are just theories. They need testing, experiencing and questioning. They are a set of principles that we can choose to adopt or not. In my experience, even when seemingly unhelpful, theories may guide us to our own answers or help us grasp something that has eluded us, even by making us come to this eureka moment from the seemingly wrong direction.
In the end we are all responsible for our own physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing, but as deeply interconnected beings there is value in acknowledging the impact other people’s learning and how they have changed because of it, influences and inspires us. So we are considering how what we have learnt can be passed on within the learning we create and so on.
On that note, I wish to add that having a witness to your process, an ally or friend to support the complicated journey of developing your own wisdom can be very powerful. I see it in every 'Breathe and Brew' I hold. Just remember, that ally, friend or witness doesn’t have to be human….. that is the beauty of cultivating a friendship with tea.