I haven't made a traditional New Year's resolution in years and am always surprised this time of year when people ask if I do. Some years I'll pick a word or phrase as a type of motivational mantra; one year's word was "distill", this year's is "mindful", which is probably played out in the collective, but is still very much needed in my everyday existence.
One new thing I've done recently is to make a seasonal intention - a little more bite sized, a little more manageable for me to make a three month goal than take on a whole year at this point in my life. So for Winter, I've chosen to drink tea every day.
I love tea. I grow my own herbal tea plants, I source a lot, I blend my own mixes, I buy other's blends. But often, sadly, they just sit there in my cupboard, waiting for me, slowly losing their potency and magic.
I have everything I need to make tea, a kettle (well two actually), strainers, tea bags, favorite mugs, local honey - I have it all! But somehow my mind chatter will go from "A cup of tea sounds nice" to "that's too much work" in a millisecond. My thoughts continue "you are already so tired, you are making more dishes, blah blah blah." Category 5 monkey mind. So ridiculous.
So this intention was set to push through those thoughts and see them as thoughts and not facts, and make the damn tea.
And of course, it has been lovely. Because I love tea! I love "Sleepytime tea" with a spoonful of honey before reading in bed. I love a cinnamon black tea for some pep in the afternoon. But the tea I've been reaching for since I started this almost two weeks ago, is my own little blend.
It contains peppermint, milky oats, chamomile, rose petals & hips, and Tulsi (holy basil.) It's very strong of peppermint, but then has this other, softer base with the rose and chamomile chiming in, and then the milky oaks wants to just wrap you up in a little blanket and soothe you... not to sleep, but just to a nice little calm place for your nerves to settle. Ahhh, adaptogens.
I'm thinking of making and selling my own tea blends in the future, so just putting that out into the universe but for now, feel free to make your own, or find a favorite tea that you love, that loves you back.
For those who are curious: I recommend Sarah Farr's Healing Herbal Teas as a great place to start on the healing properties of herbs as well as making your own blends!
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