This morning, I woke up, and as I always do every morning, I made my bed, brushed my teeth, and stepped outside.¹ 

For me, my morning routine consists of going for a 10-15 minute walk around the block, soaking in as much sunlight as I can, and truly trying to be present with my natural surroundings. During the second half of my walk, I listen to one of my favorite podcasts: The Way Out is In, which is part of the immense legacy left behind by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. 

Hosted by one of his disciples, the podcast covers a wide array of topics that bring mindfulness into the forum of everyday life, making it accessible to those of all backgrounds. If you have not listened to it, I highly recommend it. It can be found in both Apple podcasts, and on Spotify. 

During today’s walk, I happened to listen to an incredibly profound episode on the symbolism of tea in Zen Buddhist culture. It spoke about how powerful the act of being present with your morning beverage is. For me, the act of drinking caffeine in the morning has always been a slow and meditative process. I often sit outside in the sun, reading my book and slowly sipping, before I get up and get on with my day. 

Taking just half an hour or so in the morning for myself, sets me up for a more mindful and intentional day where I also make myself a priority. 

One of the most interesting aspects of today’s podcast episode was how the process of preparing, holding, smelling, and drinking tea is an act of mindfulness in itself. Oftentimes, we sit there waiting for the tea to boil, and drink it before it’s done, not realizing that the tea itself may want to sit for a while. 

When I first heard this idea, I found it absurd, and began laughing to myself. How silly is it to give human attributes to a cup of tea? But then I began to think: people farmed and harvested these tea leaves from the earth, so their hard work and sacrifice, as well as the earth’s own being has been imbued into this tea.

How could something produced from such an oasis of love and intention, be anything less than human???

Oftentimes, we see things from such an anthropocentric perspective, not realizing that we are not only absorbing things through our consciousness, our surroundings are absorbing who we are, and our energy in unique and unconventional ways. 

In Western society, the interconnectedness between us and our surroundings; beings and other human beings, is repeatedly shot down. We sacrifice others in order to maintain our individualism, and foster our personal success, not realizing that in the process we are doing ourselves, and our community more harm than good. In the West, caffeine is seen as a source of energy that helps us perform our endless list of tasks for the day, it is not seen as a mindful ritual where we slow down. 

But by being mindful with our morning cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate, matcha (or whatever else you drink), we can begin to see our beverage as no longer being a means to an end. Drinking it, in itself, is an enlightening and meditative process–one that we must be present for if we truly want to experience success and purpose throughout our day.

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