The tea that breathes... AHHHH!

Just quickly as it's late and I need to get to bed (way too many late nights!) but I just wanted to say how FANTASTIC Gaia Pollini is and her amazing tea ceremony. I never used to drink tea, especially not the bog-standard stuff everyone has with milk and sugar, but Gaia's Chinese tea ceremony with the most rare and precious teas in the world has to be experienced. It's like a meditation; you go into a different zone, you are at one with the tea! I know this sounds crazy but it's true...
I first experienced Gaia's tea ceremony at her retreat in Italy - The Hill that Breathes (which I have written about in much earlier blogs back in July and August), so when I heard she was coming to London to do another one I instantly booked on to it. I wondered whether the same chilled atmosphere would be created here in London as it was in Italy - with the circadas whirring in the trees, the warm breeze and the beautiful space of her house - and I am pleased to report that it was. After about 20 minutes of us all being very chatty, we seemed to mellow and the group just zoned out as the tea did its work.

Wisdom brew
We began with a white tea - good for the lungs, any grief and sadness, and also clearing the head. A couple of us reported that it felt like it gave us headaches, but not in a normal headachy way; this was like a slight pressure in the head but it was not unpleasant. Gaia said this was the energy moving, which was great.
Then we went on to an oolong tea, which I think was called Master Teacher, or Wisdom tea or something like that. It came from a 900-year-old tree in China and was very rare. This stronger smelling and tasting tea really warmed my belly and started bringing to the surface repressed sadness, not just for me for for a couple of the participants. But this was all good, said Gaia, as the tea works differently on each person, and what happens is all natural and how it is meant to be.

Bringing up emotions
The space Gaia creates for everyone to just be with what they are experiencing, exactly as it is in the moment, is just so precious; it has taken me a good many years to be able to cry in front of other people (other than my mum, that is) and really be present to my emotions but I think, gradually, I am getting there, and it feels great! and all thanks to some tea! well, this time at least.
I already have some of the green tea at home and one of the oolongs, which I bought in Italy, and plan to make them for myself more often. I learned I was doing it wrong before - using water that was a) out of the tap and b) too hot (you need bottled water as the tea is so 'sensitive', and for green tea it must be at 75 degreed C).

So thank you to Gaia, a gorgeous, wonderful woman who heals everyone she meets xxx

For more information, check out www.theteathatbreathes.com to find out about Chinese teas and how to make them.