Tea revives the soul don't you think?
In China and Japan it is custom to drink tea with food. Warm tea, not boiling hot.
It is believed that warmth is needed to support digestion.
In fact the idea of drinking a very cold drink with food or at any time is considered detrimental to health, as is very hot food and drink.
Think about the warm drinks given to babies to help their digestion.
In Chinese medicine it is believed that the process of digestion is linked to the process of the mind and thinking, and that if one is out of balance it can effect the other.
Therefore over-thinking, worrying, the process of taking in too much information can upset digestion.
A poor digestion can leave the mind feeling fuzzy, heavy and over-loaded.
Creating a feeling of space and a clear mind helps digestion.
The warmth of the tea supports this.
Really, try it.....
Recently I have re-discovered my herbal teas. I have been drinking Jasmine tea or Peppermint tea with my food and I swear it's addictive, and a great reason to use all those found and pretty china cups.
I make the pot with a third cold water and then add hot. So it's ready to drink with my meal.
And it's really nice. Even when it's a hot day. It's really quite refreshing!
All I need now is a pretty Japanese tea pot, and more moments gazing up at my magnolia tree.
I hope you manage to find some space around all the different things calling this weekend. More about this idea another time.
Heather
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a cup of tea, my dear?
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Oh I love this post Heather - and it affirms my long-held beliefs! And what a beautiful magnolia tree; how blessed you are to have this in your garden.
ReplyDeleteI hope you find a lovely Japanese teapot soon!
Joy x
I really like peppermint tea, and fennel. Your magnolia tree looks stunning! :) x
ReplyDeleteHi There,I looove your magnolia tree!!!But I have to confess,I am a coffee-holic!!!!I love teapots and tea cosies and have stacks of them, but that's as far as I get to loving tea!!!When my sister Zennet(a tea lover, especially herbal teas)and I get together,she treats me by touring the coffee shops in Johannesburg with me!!!to find the best coffee(and cake)!!!That to me is a real treat!!!Hope you have a wonderful and happy week ahead!!!
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AMarie
coffee and cake is a very necessary treat! I still drink a latte every day! x
DeleteI love peppermint tea also and it goes well with chocolate cake! A very calming post Heather and beautiful images. Claire xo
ReplyDeleteNothing beats a lovely cup of Peppermint Tea! Have you tried Tea Pigs? They do a range of lovely teas and the peppermint one is my favourite.
ReplyDeleteHave a happy week,
Xx
~ Tea, Tea and even more tea for me...LOVE it! ~ At moment I am drinking Jasmine tea too.. ~ and a really lovely Pukka bed time one of oatmeal and lavender...Works too....~ Hope your week is kind to you, Heather....I am off to pop the kettle on!~ Love Maria x
ReplyDeleteI love tea..Rooibos and Peppermint are my favs...this has just made me appreciate it more! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteOh my! You have made my wish to drink even greater. I don't drink tea or coffee as I just don't like the taste and I am not overly sure on fruit teas either and they seem expensive to buy and find out I don't like them x I will leave my tea drinking days through others I think xx
ReplyDeleteI came back to Switzerland 30 years ago, when I was pregnant. I was definitely a builder's tea or coffee drinker! After giving birth, I was offered tea - and promptly showed myself up by asking for coffee: at that time, they came round with thermos flasks of tea for the young mums and you could choose from peppermint, chamomile, limeflower or rosehip, all very standard in this country... (nowadays we know that peppermint isn't so good for breastfeeding mums). We were expected to bathe our nether parts in chamomile, too... ;o
ReplyDeleteThere is no gripe water here, either - you give the baby fennel tea to soothe its tummy, while peppermint is an excellent digestive tea. Loads of iron in rosehip, as we discovered when a friend who was living here and had been prescribed iron tablets found that the quantities of rosehip tea she was drinking made the tablets superfluous!
All herbal teas are popular, even though there is a very Italian coffee-drinking culture here. Limeflower is drunk if you have a cold or 'flu, sage is for coughs, dandelion eliminates water, raspberry leaf is for pregnancy and so on. Many people still collect their own limeflower or mint (it's actually peppermint and not spearmint, and French mint is different again!).
From playgroup and kindergarten through school, fruit teas are always offered as a drink, often a large jug made up in the morning and then drunk throughout the day, as it's still good cold. For birthdays in kindergarten, ours were given a "special" tea, a "magic" tea, to go with the cake, and so it goes on through all activities throughout childhood, including camp/school trips, it's a standard (though I must admit, I think they often over-sweeten it!).
Black tea with milk is still pretty exotic, and you're likely to be offered coffee cream for it rather than milk, or else lemon. Many prefer Earl Grey than the heavier English kinds of tea, but at home, we do drink it the traditional way and my Swiss husband and son-in-law consume quantities of it LOL!
wow, that's a lot of herbal tea info, thank you little miss know it all! I had forgotten about not drinking peppermint tea when breastfeeding, or maybe I didn't know! Interesting about the rosehip and iron. I do like a cup of 'normal' tea too. Also lovely that you were offered a range of herbal teas after childbirth!
DeleteI will try this, thank you ... although I don't think I shall be giving up my glasses of fridge-cold sparkling water any time soon either ... love the stuff!
ReplyDeleteLovely images. I like builder's tea throughout the day, but drink a lot of herbal tea in the evening. Liquorice tea was a happy new discovery. Never tried herbal tea with a meal though, I will have to give that a go. xx
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