Ritual for Relaxation

Michelle Clay Japanese tea ceremony me time relax relaxation self care stress management

Greetings #Wellness WOWers and those who are seeking to uplevel your health, happiness in harmony. Dr. Michelle here, your holistic physician who specializes in the release of stress simply and naturally.  Now that summer vacation is winding down and the children are returning to school, creating "me time" and moments to relax can be challenging. Before the hustle and bustle returns in full swing, it would be beneficial to create a ritual for your relaxation and me time. We can use elements from a Japanese Tea Ceremony to create our own.

The traditional Japanese tea ceremony has elements symbolic of peace, harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. It’s a spiritual experience that demonstrates respect through etiquette and grace, which are integral facets of Japanese culture. To properly conduct a Japanese tea ceremony, individuals study and train for many years with a tea master. For it isn’t just sitting to have tea, it is a spiritual experience, done mostly in silence, that helps brings mind and body in alignment and elevate our consciousness and awareness. The ceremony also invokes gratitude and a feeling of being at peace and in alignment with our purpose and our passion. The matcha tea powder ceremony also promotes social bonding and provides an occasion for everyone to relax and enjoy themselves away from the worries of the outside world.

My cousin has attended a Japanese Tea ceremony and states it is one of the most magical experiences she has ever had. Everything is precise and intentional. She felt like it was a method of meditation and she was in total communion.

The tea ceremony is performed with matcha tea. Matcha tea is green tea leaves that have been ground to a fine powder. Green tea is a relaxation remedy we can use for stress release. It contains an element called L-theanine which helps suppress the spike in the stress response. By grinding to a fine powder, this enhances the nutritional value of green tea by having more anti-oxidants and caffeine. Unlike other sources of caffeine such as coffee, you avoid the crash. Matcha also enhances brain function.

Just like every movement and utensils used are intentional, so must your approach to wellness and self-care. We lead very busy lives and often do not stop to think about what we are doing, but more importantly WHY; we are on auto-pilot. Self-care to me is an expression of self-love. If we are intentional, we can create our own self-care regimens and make them rituals for our relaxation. Two ways you can start:

  1. Incorporate matcha tea as a relaxation remedy

  2. If you are in the Atlanta metropolitan area, join me for Me Time Tea Time with Dr. Michelle Clay

Often we feel guilty for taking time to stop, smell the roses, say “no” to to-do lists and “YES” to ourselves.           

 

Me Time Tea Time with Dr. Michelle Clay helps remove some of the guilt     and shows you how you can make it a part of your routine and stress release strategy.

Join me, Sunday, August 19th. RSVP at www.metimeteatime.com

 
Until then, be well!

 

Yours in Health and Harmony,

 Dr. Michelle Clay is a speaker, best-selling author & Holistic Physician specializing in the release and management of stress and its associated symptoms simply and naturally.

 

Through her company FREELIFE7, Dr. Michelle enhances lives by harmonizing all dimensions of wellness through wellness coaching programs, workshops and speaking engagements to help stressed out and burned out high achievers, leaders and exhausted executives discover their sense of balance, calm, clarity and confidence to live a FREELIFE on purpose with passion. She is frequently called upon to give a refreshing holistic perspective on ways to release stress, recharge health and shift mindset for wellness success.

                                                                                                                


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