we tasted 6 more varietals of teas today, learned about grading of teas and the decaffeination process. we were to share the “nose” of the various teas and all i kept tasting was yuck. at one point the teacher asked what we smelled and i belted out “beef jerky.” he didn’t comment, simply said, “anyone else?” um, guess my nose was off!
pure fancy tea (oolong, black, pu-erh is not my preference – clearly not a true connoisseur). even plain green or white tea (my faves) don’t excite me without the addition of scents and flavors. sure, i’m not a lipton girl, but i love my fancy blends that aren’t really tea (not made from camellia sinensis) but are rather herbal infusions or “fancied up” with scents like jasmine and rose hip. guess i need to find another training for my “specialized” taste.
then i dashed home to hit the local street fair and off to laughing lotus for a fun flow. as i was checking in and said my name, i heard “kimberly wilson?” from across the sign-in area and it was sweet kat – my former assistant who i often plan to see in nyc. this time it was purely synchronistic. what are the chances with all the yoga classes, studios, and offerings in new york? we dined at zen palatte and then beau and i caught the last 10 minutes that strand bookstore was open. heaven is an open bookstore when all others are closed – even if it was just 10 minutes. it was long enough for me to get a new book (god forbid) – becoming a goddess of inner poise: spirituality for the bridget jones in all of us.
anyway, my whole point of this blog (hence the title) was that i came up with 4 pages of ideas in my ideas book during the two days of tea training. ok, ideas + additional to-dos, but still! the same thing happened to me at the jivamukti training. when i’m out of the “ordinary” ideas just seem to flow. it’s almost scary. kinda like a constant shower (for peeps who get loads of ideas in the shower). i guess we have to get out of our regular environment and routine to see what is lurking beneath the surface.
even if you don’t get away for a tea training in new york, i encourage you to do something differently this week – shake things up – and see what bubbles from within. we’re such creative beings and sometimes it just takes a simple shift to help us unleash an overflowing river of ideas. let your creative juices flow!
