A cup of tea is the most satisfying and lovely thing in the world to me. It is refreshing, comforting, and potentially full of community. Tea is a meal meant to be shared, a moment of pause, an invitation to chat and connect.

Then there is the connection between tea and qi. Not only do they rhyme (that’s cute), but they both contain that vital aspect of steam - active energy transformation made visible and tangible to us.

Qi is often waved away as some sort of mystical, hard to understand foreign concept, but it’s easiest to make familiar by looking at the Chinese character:

Qi: 氣
Rice: 米
Simplified Qi character: 气

In essence, qi is the steam coming off a bowl of rice. It is the energy inherent in things. Air, breath, movement, warmth, potential, transformation. This is why it’s so often translated as “vital energy.” In this case, the steam is both a visible transformation of liquid water into vapor and a symbol of the potential energy that nutritious food like rice has for our bodies before we digest it. Rice being a staple of the diet means it is also foundational and inescapable. Qi is necessary and everyday as well as something to pause every now and again to notice and appreciate.

So this blog is a collection of my thoughts in the hopes that it invites consideration, questions, and insights. May it prompt some shift in your energy that you can then pass along to a friend or loved one. Preferably over a nice hot cup of tea.

When the troubles of the day are over
there is nothing can comfort me
like a real hot strong cup of tea.
There is nothing in the world that’s nicer
I will happily guarantee
than a real hot strong cup of tea.

One for each person, one for the pot.
Pour on the water boiling hot.
Let it brew, a stir or two.
A gleaming cup, fill it up.
A couple o’ sips, A smack o’ the lips
Ah! What a delicious thing to do!

It is beautifully satisfying.
Oh, what could better be
than a real hot strong cup of tea!

– A Cup of Tea

song by David Croft and Cyril Ornadel for audio production of Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Mrs Tiggy Winkle
(start at 8:00 for the song)