As we enter Water season, nature encourages us to turn inward—days shorten, energy retreats, and the world slows, inviting quiet reflection, stillness, and a deeper awareness of our inner life. At the same time, this season often brings gatherings with friends and family, moments that invite warmth, presence, and connection. Meditation offers a way to honor both: cultivating inward attention and clarity, while shared tea becomes a gentle practice of mindfulness, care, and attentive presence.
This Week in Practice: Flowing Inward While Gathering Together
“The principle of nowness is very important to any effort to establish an enlightened society… The only answer is nowness. The way to relax, or rest the mind in nowness, is through the practice of meditation. In meditation you take an unbiased approach. You let things be as they are, without judgement, and in that way you yourself learn to be.”
—Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
This week, we invite you to explore meditation not just as a personal practice, but as a way to go inward while also opening space for connection with others. Meditation allows us to cultivate presence, patience, and awareness. Even a single shared tea sit can become a moving meditation—a quiet gathering where attention and intention are offered both inwardly and outwardly.
Whether you are sitting alone or with friends and loved ones, the act of slowing down and turning inward offers an opportunity to rest the mind, notice subtle sensations, and open to the present moment. Here are eight steps to support your meditation practice this week:
1. Set Your Time
Consistency is grounding. Try to sit at the same time each day, even if only for 15–20 minutes in the morning before your daily activities begin. This helps anchor the mind, bringing a sense of calm and order to the day ahead.
2. Check Your Posture
A stable, grounded posture supports focused awareness. Sit with a tall spine and relaxed shoulders, and rest your hands in your lap in Dhyana mudra. The steadiness of your body creates space for the mind to settle naturally.
3. Begin with Intention
Bring your full self to the practice. Acknowledge distractions without judgment and return gently to the present moment. If sharing tea with others, set the intention to fully inhabit the space together—listening, noticing, and appreciating the presence of each other.
4. Scan Your Body
Observe areas of tension or ease. Slowly move your awareness from the top of your head to your toes—or vice versa—letting the breath relax your shoulders, chest, jaw, and facial muscles. Noticing physical sensations is a gateway to calming the mind.
5. Observe Thoughts
Watch thoughts and emotions arise like passing clouds. Allow them to drift without attachment or judgment. Through repeated practice, we learn that thoughts are not obstacles—they are opportunities to return to presence.
6. Use Gentle Aids
Tools can support and enhance meditation. Consider a mala, a candle, incense, or even the ritual of tea before or after your sit. When shared with others, the simple act of offering and receiving tea becomes a meditative gesture—reminding us that presence can be both personal and relational.
7. Follow the Flow
Bring attention to the breath or trace energy through the body, from the feet to the head and back to the center. Observe sensations, noticing subtle shifts. This awareness can deepen your sense of embodiment and connection to the present.
8. Close with Gratitude
End your meditation by acknowledging the ease, clarity, and connection cultivated during the practice. If you share tea afterward, allow the warmth and presence of others to extend the meditation into daily life, transforming simple moments into practices of attention and care.
Through meditation and mindful gatherings, we practice returning to nowness—both within ourselves and in our moments of connection with others. Even one mindful sit, alone or with friends, is a step toward presence, clarity, and calm.
Five Element Insights: Sitting with What Matters
Water invites reflection, depth, and clarity. Through meditation and the quiet act of sharing tea, we cultivate presence, integrity, and connection—both inwardly and outwardly.
Intention for the Week:
I intend to be a clear vessel for the evolution of consciousness. I am consciousness, and my body and mind are its vehicles for that evolution. I bring awareness, care, and integrity to each moment, whether sitting in meditation or gathering with friends and loved ones over tea.
Reflection Prompts:
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What could I start or stop doing right now to live in alignment with my highest intention?
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What is standing in the way of living fully in alignment with my highest intention, and how can I shift my relationship to it?
Sit with these prompts during meditation, over a cup of tea, or in quiet moments with others, and notice the clarity, courage, and presence that naturally arise.
What We’re Drinking: Russet Grove (Aged Loose Leaf Shou Puerh 1992)
This deeply satisfying aged shou puerh carries a quiet, grounding energy that encourages reflection and inward attention. Slightly vegetal, with herbaceous oregano and anise notes, its rich, thick body draws you inward, supporting stillness and a meditative state. With patient steepings, subtle layers of sweet dates and earthy undertones emerge, inviting you to slow down and savor each sip.
The light fermentation and age create a complex, grounding, and gently uplifting tea that leaves the body calm, the mind clear, and the spirit subtly energized. It pairs beautifully with quiet reflection, journaling, or a shared tea sit with a friend. Russet Grove exemplifies how a tea can support presence and mindfulness, helping you settle into the rhythm of the day while honoring the inner landscape of awareness.
Current Inspirations: Interior of an Edifice Under the Sea by Pan American & Kramer
This immersive ambient album feels like descending into a submerged, dreamlike world. Slow, patient textures drift and unfold like currents of water, creating a reflective, meditative space that complements both solitary and shared tea practice. The album’s soundscapes encourage listening, noticing subtle shifts, and resting in the stillness between each note—mirroring the mindful observation cultivated in meditation.
As you sip your tea or sit quietly, allow the music to guide your attention inward. The gentle undulations evoke a sense of spaciousness, giving your mind room to release habitual tension and habitual thought patterns. This is music that supports reflection, presence, and awareness—inviting you to explore your inner world while also appreciating the simple, grounding act of gathering, even in small, quiet ways.
Friends of Living Tea: Mandy Froehlich
Mandy Froehlich is a biomechanics enthusiast, yoga teacher, and Pilates instructor who helps people reconnect with their bodies through mindful movement. With a master’s in exercise physiology and 20 years of experience guiding clients, she emphasizes listening deeply to the body, cultivating awareness, and moving with intention.
Her approach to movement—attuned, curious, and patient—resonates beautifully with the principles of meditation and tea practice. Whether guiding someone through a yoga flow, Pilates session, or gentle mobility work, Mandy encourages her clients to notice subtle shifts, honor their limits, and fully inhabit the present moment. This same quality of presence and attentiveness mirrors the stillness and inward reflection nurtured in meditation, showing how movement and mindfulness are deeply interconnected paths toward clarity, balance, and groundedness.
Meet Mandy →