Author: Justin B

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Embracing Mindful Moments This Holiday Season

The Holiday Season: A Time for Mindfulness

As the holiday season arrives, our surroundings transform with festive lights and melodies. This time, rich in beauty, can also bring a whirlwind of activities and stress. It's a perfect opportunity to embrace mindfulness and find joy in the simple things.

In this season of festivity, we often lose ourselves in the pursuit of perfect holiday moments. Let's shift our focus. Mindfulness isn't just about reducing stress; it's about appreciating the present moment, and finding contentment in the 'now'.

Navigating the Festive Rush with Self-Compassion 

The holidays blend excitement with hectic schedules. Streets are alive with shoppers; families gather, each with their unique dynamics. Amidst this hustle, it's essential to find moments of calm. Prioritize self-care and enjoy the holidays in a way that nourishes your soul.

This season, try to balance the festive cheer with moments of quiet reflection. Find joy in the small things – the laughter of loved ones, the comfort in a warm cup. These moments of gratitude are the heart of mindful living.

The Art of Tea Rituals

The act of brewing and savouring tea is a timeless ritual. It's a practice that encourages us to pause and reflect. Envision a serene moment, with the aroma of green tea enveloping you. This practice goes beyond enjoying a beverage; it's a moment of mindfulness, inviting you to be fully present.

Tea rituals offer a chance to slow down and breathe amidst the holiday frenzy. Each cup is a reminder to focus on the present, to cherish the warmth and flavour, and to let go of stress.

image showing woman drinking tea, mediating, on bed
take a moment to yourself, even if its just 5 minutes to slow your breath - and fill your cup.

Japanese Green Tea: A Companion for Mindful Mornings and Evenings

Green tea serves as a perfect companion for mindfulness, whether it's the first cup of the morning or a soothing blend before bed. In these moments, we disconnect from the chaos and focus inward. We engage our senses – the warmth of the cup, the unique flavours of the tea, the rhythm of our breathing – anchoring ourselves in the present.

Morning tea rituals set the tone for the day, grounding us in calmness. In the evening, a cup of tea can be a soothing transition to a restful night, helping us unwind and reflect on the day's experiences.

Integrating Mindfulness into Everyday Life

Mindfulness is a practice accessible through simple, daily actions. The holiday season, with its inherent busyness, offers many opportunities to incorporate mindful practices:

  • Engage Your Senses: Notice the small details around you. The scent of pine, the texture of wrapping paper, the taste of holiday treats. Ground yourself in the present moment, creating islands of peace amidst the bustle.
  • Breathing and Presence: In the middle of holiday activities, find time for deep, conscious breathing. Take short breaks to close your eyes and focus on your breath. This simple practice can center your thoughts, alleviate stress, and bring you back to the now.
  • Reflective Journaling: Journaling offers a sanctuary for your thoughts and feelings. Whether it's gratitude journaling, reflective writing, or simply recording daily experiences, this practice allows you to process emotions, celebrate achievements, and acknowledge challenges. It's a way to connect with yourself, gain clarity, and find peace in the holiday chaos.
  • Mindful Movement: Incorporate mindful movement into your routine. A gentle stretch in the morning, a brisk walk in the crisp winter air, or a relaxing yoga session by the fireplace can be revitalizing. These acts of self-care nurture both body and mind, releasing tension and promoting well-being.

Christmas socks, near a decorated tree, drinking green tea

Embracing the True Essence of the Holidays

This holiday season, let's commit to nurturing our mental well-being. Amidst the glitter and cheer, remember the most valuable gifts are our presence, attention, and love. Whether through the simple ritual of brewing Organic Japanese Sencha from Kyoto, quiet moments of reflection, or the joy of shared experiences, these are the moments that truly enrich our lives.

Join Our Journey of Mindfulness

We invite you to explore these mindfulness practices and discover what resonates with you. Share your experiences, your moments of tranquillity, and your holiday reflections. Together, let's foster a community of calm, reflection, and shared joy.




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5 Ways to Use Green Tea to Enhance Your Self-Care Routine

Green Tea is the most-consumed beverage in Japan. Perhaps not so coincidentally, the Japanese also boasts the second-highest average lifespan in the whole world. For thousands of years, green tea has been a cultural and ceremonial staple in Japan, and today, it’s widely celebrated all over the globe for its numerous health benefits. With all its rich antioxidants, green tea is known to improve blood circulation and lower cholesterol. While simply drinking a cup or two of green tea throughout your day is the most common, there are several other creative ways to benefit from this superfood. A great way to explore all the uses of green tea is in your own self-care routine. Here are five creative ways to use green tea to enhance your personal care routine and treat yourself.

1.Green tea to start your morning

A cup of green tea in the morning is a wonderfully healthy substitute for coffee. While coffee has some of its own health benefits, green tea has been proven to be a much healthier caffeine alternative. In the long term, green tea has been proven to improve brain function, boost fat loss, protect against cancer and lower the risk of heart disease. 

Green tea still offers the alertness you get from its caffeine content, but its caffeine content is lower. By switching your morning beverage from coffee to green tea, you can reap the benefits of caffeine, while minimizing the negative effects that accompany over-consuming it. Green tea will give you the same morning clarity and alertness, without the accompanying jitters, anxiety, sleeplessness and indigestion. 

2.Green tea breakfast smoothie

Once it’s cooled down, you can use brewed green tea to add antioxidants and health-promoting compounds to your morning or post-workout smoothie. Smoothies are a quick and easy way to fuel your body with nutrients, and by simply adding green tea you’re already infusing your beverage with Vitamin C, Vitamin K, fibre and potassium. It also works as an anti-inflammatory and can help with high blood pressure. Choose a green tea that contains your favourite herbs and spices, and you’ll be boosting the flavour of your smoothie as well!

3.Green tea in your skincare routine

Green tea is widely used in skincare lines because of its protective, anti-ageing properties. The antioxidants in green tea are incredibly beneficial for your skin, and contribute to:

  • Fighting skin cancer
  • Reducing inflammation
  • Preventing acne through antibacterial properties
  • Maintaining collagen levels for youthful skin structure
  • Shrinking blood vessels and dark circles around the eyes
  • Stimulating hair growth

You can look for products in your preferred skincare provider, or you can make your own green tea products at home. Try any of these simple at-home recipes to minimize your complexion complications:

  • Green tea spot treatment: Brew a cup of green tea with 2 bags, add 2 drops of tea tree and lavender oil and freeze the mixture in an ice cube tray. This solution also works to minimize and heal bug bites.
  • Green Tea Treatment for Under-eye Circles: Take 2 green tea bags, soak in cold water, then simply plop over your eyes for 20 minutes. The chill will soothe and revive the eye area while the caffeine can ease swelling.
  • Green Tea & Lemon Juice Toner Mask:  Take 2 Tbsp of strong, brewed green tea, ½ tsp of lemon juice and a bit of turmeric. Mix and apply the solution to your face. Leave on for ten minutes and rinse.

4.Green tea hair products

Similar to the benefits it has on the skin when applied topically, green tea is great for your hair. If you’d like to improve the overall health and look of your locks, consider a green tea rinse or a product infused with green tea. The antioxidants and nutrient compounds in green tea can help to:

  • Prevent hair loss
  • Encourage hair growth
  • Enhance nutrient delivery

For your own at-home, green tea hair remedy, simply brew and chill a large pot of green tea. Once the tea has cooled down, use it to rinse your hair at the end of your shower.

5.Green tea to enhance your meditation practice

Green tea and meditation have gone hand-in-hand for centuries; Buddhist monks would use green tea—especially matcha—to stay alert during long periods of meditation. The caffeine content of green tea will help you focus on your breath, while the amino acid ‘L-theanine’ will promote alpha wave production in the brain. Alpha brain waves are the types of brain waves we produce when we are in a deep sleep, and their production helps reduce stress and anxiety. Meditation itself also increases alpha brain waves, which is why the green tea & meditation combination is so therapeutic and healthy

You can pour from an empty vessel – remember to fill your cup 🤍

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5 Great Reasons to Switch From Coffee to Green Tea

Pouring a hot cup of Joe in the morning is such a deeply established habit that it is practically ingrained into western culture. Whether you drink it slowly on the front porch or pour it haphazardly into your mouth as you rush through your daily commute, it is not uncommon to be dependent on a dose of caffeine first thing in the morning. While coffee has some of its own health benefits, green tea has been proven to be a much healthier caffeine alternative. In the long term, green tea has been proven to improve brain function, boost fat loss, protect against cancer and lower the risk of heart disease. But if coffee is so rooted in your morning routine that you’re reluctant to let it go, consider some of these immediate health benefits you could reap from even a trial period of replacing your morning coffee with green tea.

1.You’ll still benefit from the advantages of caffeine while ingesting less of it.

One 250ml cup of brewed coffee contains between 80 and 200mg of caffeine. The caffeine content in one cup of green tea of the same size is around 25mg. Of course, small doses of caffeine can be very beneficial for your health; it has been proven to improve physical performance and mental alertness. In some cases, it’s even been proven to reduce the risk of neurodegenerative disease. It’s when you consume too much caffeine that it may negatively affect your day-to-day life. The stimulant properties of caffeine increase your blood pressure and heart rate, which means that it may give you what you’ll certainly know as caffeine jitters. Larger amounts of caffeine, however, may cause you to become irritable and even cause anxiety and diarrhea.

By switching your morning beverage from coffee to green tea, you can reap the long-term health benefits of caffeine, while minimizing the negative effects that accompany over-consuming it. Green tea will give you the same morning clarity and alertness, without the accompanying jitters, anxiety, sleeplessness and indigestion. 

2.You’ll improve your oral health.

Coffee is acidic, so drinking a lot of it can lead to gum damage, tooth enamel erosion, staining and bad breath. Switching from coffee to green tea can control inflammation and fight bacterial infections for your entire body, and that includes your gums and teeth.

Green tea promotes better breath because, unlike coffee, it does not cause the condition known as “xerostomia” or dry mouth. Green tea has been proven to reduce oral bacteria, which is beneficial for gum health, preventing tooth decay and gum disease. Green tea also kills the microbes that cause bad breath from minimal water intake or other factors. A study published in Oral Chemistry in 2016 found that the anti-microbial properties of green tea might reduce the risk of certain harmful bacteria building up in the mouth over time. In short, your mouth—and those people closest to you—will likely thank you for replacing your morning coffee with a cup of green tea.

3.You’ll improve your mental health.

Switching from coffee to green tea can help to improve your overall mental health in various ways. The first is through reduced caffeine intake, which can improve your sleep cycle and reduce harmful, mid-day energy crashes. As previously mentioned, reducing your caffeine intake can also reduce anxiety.

However, beyond the benefits of reduced caffeine, green tea includes the amino acid, L-Theanine, which can be extremely beneficial to our mental health in many ways.  As stated in the research carried out by Einother and Martens, 2013, L-Theanine is known to increase dopamine in the brain, induce a calming state, and improve cognitive function. These benefits can lead not only to a better mood and overall mental state but can also improve your day-to-day energy levels and productivity.

4.You’ll encourage fat loss.

When combined with a healthy diet and active lifestyle, drinking green tea can help you lose weight. While the amino acids in green tea can improve your physical performance, several studies have also suggested that the combination of the flavonoids and caffeine in green tea result in an increased metabolic rate and an increase in fat oxidation. Green tea has also been said to improve insulin activity.

The fat-burning qualities in green tea come from the combination of caffeine and antioxidants called catechins. The most important of these antioxidants is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a substance that can boost metabolism. If your goal in drinking green tea is to lose weight, consider choosing a tea with higher amounts of EGCG. To take full advantage of the benefits of these antioxidants, you may want to increase your tea’s water temperature and steeping time in order to extract more caffeine and EGCG. 

5.You’ll improve your skin.

Green tea is a skincare routine’s best friend. When compared to coffee, green tea has been found to fight acne, minimize the effects of ageing, prevent skin cancers, and can even balance your skin’s oil production. Studies have demonstrated that these benefits are due to the antioxidants found in green tea.

Furthermore, green tea applied to the skin topically can also be of great benefit. Using products that include green tea in their lists of ingredients can also prevent acne, reduce oil and sebum production, moisturize the skin and improve skin elasticity to prevent ageing.

 

In summary, if you’re looking for a simple way to improve your mood and overall health, replacing your morning coffee with a cup of green tea is a great place to start. Just remember not to offset the benefits of green tea with too many sugary additives. Green tea also comes in a wide variety of natural flavourings, which all can carry their own respective health benefits. Exploring varieties of green tea rather than flavours of coffee beans may be a great first step to a healthier, happier you.

~fill your cup 🤍

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Coping with Stress through Mindful Breathing Meditation

Stress is natural. In fact, it’s so natural that it’s what has kept humans alive for millions of years. It’s an inherent part of our human existence. 

The symptoms we perceive as stress today are really symptoms of our fight-or-flight response, which is a survival mechanism that has evolved in humans over millions of years. Our fight-or-flight response is what allows us to react quickly to life-threatening situations. When a person is facing a threat, a rapid sequence of hormonal changes occurs, and the subsequent physiological responses help us to either fight the threat or flee to safety. 

Today, the things that trigger our fight-or-flight response are not usually as immediately life-threatening as they might have been millions of years ago—think less carnivorous animals, natural disasters or enemy tribes and more impending deadlines, traffic jams and family strains. But regardless of the threat, stress manifests in the same physiological ways. We may feel short of breath or start to sweat. Our muscles may tense up and our energy levels may fluctuate. And in the long term, if we don’t address them, these symptoms can have real, negative impacts on the state of our mental and physical health.

 

The Dichotomy of the On-or-Off

In today’s world, we tend to celebrate those who work more, do more and restless. It has become somewhat of a badge of honour to be busy and to lack time for recreational activities. Somewhere along the recent centuries of our societal evolution, we began equating success with unrealistic levels of personal sacrifice, and that’s a lot of pressure for all of us. 

Beyond that, political & racial environments across the world are troubling. A health pandemic has swept the globe, and each and every one of us has had to adapt our daily routines to continue making our livings. For many of us, the combination of all these factors is overwhelming and can influence us to choose to flee from the situations that are causing us stress. In fact, this state of overwhelm can cause us to turn off completely. This coping mechanism, triggered by our fight-or-flight response, inspires detachment. 

The problem with this detachment from stress is that while the brain’s fight-or-flight response may help us escape from feelings of anxiety and stress, it also prevents us from feeling emotions like joy, love and tranquillity. This kind of emotional shutdown leaves us feeling numb, and ultimately causes us to experience life passively.

Mindful Breathing Meditation for Stress Relief

There is a beautiful middle—or higher—ground in our conscience, where we can fend off the feelings of overwhelm while still welcoming feelings of joy and calm. This higher ground can be found through exercising a very simple skill, which we too often overlook.

Our breath.

With guided meditations and breathing exercises, we can actually use our breath to strengthen our mental, physical and emotional health. There are tools found within our breathing patterns that can allow us to release the symptoms of stress without numbing the positive feelings that life brings us every day. The best part is that the practice of mindful breathing is incredibly simple and intuitive once you get started.

How to Practice Mindful Breathing Meditation

The key to mindful breathing meditation is focus. Through daily practice, even short periods of meditation will train your mind to better cope with overwhelming stress. While meditating, you focus on your breath and allow thoughts, feelings and emotions to appear as they naturally do. However, as you acknowledge those thoughts, your focus remains on your breath.

Practicing mindful breathing meditation in the long term trains the brain to better balance excessive mental stimuli, avoiding the fight-or-flight shutdown. Focusing solely on the breath, even for a short moment every day teaches our body how to focus on positivity, even in times of overwhelm and stress.

In your Mindful Breathing Meditation practice, you really only need to consider the following:

Your posture & environment

  • In a peaceful, quiet space, keep your back straight and your muscles relaxed. Keep your body erect to remain conscious and maintain focus. Natural compounds found in green teas can help you ground yourself and get the most out of your meditation session.

Your breath

  • Think about the way your breath feels when you’re about to fall asleep, or when you’ve just woken up. Take note of the length of your breaths. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. At the peak of your meditation, your breaths should be deep and relaxed.

Your thoughts

  • Allow each thought and feeling to come and pass. But keep your focus on your breath. Welcome feelings of calm and tranquility that come along with the resulting relaxation.

Many online resources like podcasts and apps exist to guide you through breathing meditation, but they are not necessary for this simple practice. Helpful resources may include:

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The Power of Personal Routine

This past year has felt long, and with a resurgence of the Covid-19 virus, it seems that many of us may be in store for more lockdown restrictions. And while we have begun to see glimmers of hope with the development of vaccines, we’re still living our day-to-day lives within the limitations a global health crisis placed upon us. How do we feel?

We know. It’s no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic has been challenging for everyone. The new measures we take to keep each other safe from the disease have changed the way we work, play and relax. Social distancing can make us feel isolated; working from home can feel less productive than normal; all the talk of “uncertain, unprecedented times” can make us feel anxious, or even scared. It’s only natural that all of this, combined with our own individual or interpersonal challenges, can be testing on our mental health. 

However, from the limits of your very own home, there are still ways to create a sense of normalcy, productivity and fulfillment. Routine, even in the simplest sense of the word, can truly help you to achieve your goals on a regular basis and feel content, healthy and accomplished.

Why do I need a routine?

Your routine doesn’t need to be comprehensive. A routine is simply a foundation. Look at it this way: James Clear, the author of ‘Atomic Habits,’ wrote, “You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.” 

In this pandemic, we’ve likely all taken a fall of some sort. But you can only fall as far as the foundation you’ve built for yourself. With a solid routine, or at least a few concrete systems in place in your everyday life, at the end of a tough day, you’ll still feel grounded in your own skin. Your basic, personal routine in quarantine should be about doing all the small things to keep you on track to your long-term goals—even with unexpected setbacks. It should be about building systems that help you trust yourself and trust the process.

You don’t need to beat your personal running record every day, and you should never feel pressured to knock everything off your to-do list. All you need to do is take care of yourself. But, we know, sometimes that’s easier said than done, which is why we’ve listed some basic routine tips to help you feel more like yourself while circumstances continue to change.

 

Tips for Building Your Quarantine Routine

Romanticize your morning

This step is the one that will require the most activation energy, especially if you’ve never really been a morning person. But how you spend your morning sets the tone for your whole day. Your morning routine shouldn’t be about achieving as many things as you can before noon. Rather, what you do with your morning should help you begin your day feeling calm, focused, confident and positive. 

To start your day on the right foot, try getting up early. Go for a walk. Center yourself. Meditate. Journal. Make yourself a delicious, nutritious breakfast with a cup of your favourite tea. A healthy, productive morning routine will always look different for different people, but the objective should be the same: before you start giving everything you’ve got to your job—or your job hunt—give a little to yourself. 

Acknowledge your emotions

It’s okay—and totally normal—to feel frustrated, angry, sad, lonely or bored right now. In fact, it’s okay to feel those things any time. Every day, try to carve out time to identify your feelings, validate them and try to understand from where they originated. Maintain a journal and use it to jot down your thoughts. Are there actionable things you can do to alleviate stress? Are you feeling tired? Maybe you’ve not been drinking enough water, or you’ve been eating too much sugar. Are you feeling energized? Take note of the conditions that may have led to you feeling good, and plan to continue fostering those conditions.

A psychology tip for a bad day: What would you tell the child version of yourself if they were feeling as you are right now? What advice would you give to little you? Take that advice, and look after yourself.

Get moving

If you’re able, try to get outside and get your body moving. Exercise has been proven to improve mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood. It improves your cognitive function and has also been found to alleviate symptoms such as low self-esteem and social withdrawal. Whatever your fitness goals, make them a priority in your daily routine. 

If you can exercise outdoors, that’s even better. In quarantine, many of us are missing fresh air and social interaction. A light jog or walk outdoors, while benefiting your physical health, can also give you those small, socially distanced interactions that greatly improve your mood. Just smile at a stranger who’s enjoying the same sun as you are, and you’ll feel your spirits begin to lift.

Fuel your body

Make time to feed yourself foods that encourage your overall health and cognitive function. Don’t skip meals. We know it may feel like there’s less to look forward to on a day-to-day basis these days, so it can really help to start getting excited about the little things, like food. 

Try a new lasagna recipe. Make a set of overnight oats you know you’ll look forward to enjoying each morning. Brew new flavours of green tea to balance your mood and boost your immune system.

Make an “Essentials” list

We all know a list can help you stay on track of things you need to do. But in quarantine, with struggles to stay motivated working from home, it can really help to separate your list into two parts: those items that are essential to complete today, and those that would be great to get around to, if you’re able. 

The items that you deem “essential” may be items that are more difficult or time-consuming, and if you’re prone to procrastination, they could also be the items that stay on your to-do list for days or weeks at a time. But by planning your week and committing to a shortlist of essentials for each business day, you can avoid procrastination and all the negative feelings that come along with it. Then, once those items are finished, you can more freely enjoy those additional items you wanted to accomplish, like a socially distanced walk with a friend or that quarantine reading you’ve been putting off.

Downtime

One unfortunate delusion about quarantine has been that we should all be using the extra time we have at home to learn new skills, complete projects or renovate our whole lives. This is not necessary, and the pressure to use downtime hyper-productively can have real, negative effects on our mental health. Use downtime to relax—it’s incredibly important.

Clear space in your daily routine to do whatever it is you like to do for yourself. Enjoying a specific Netflix series? Watch it before bed. Reading a good book? Carve out an hour break from work in the afternoon to go read in the autumn sun. Play a musical instrument? Work on perfecting a cover of your favourite song or an original piece. 

Don’t forget who you are and what makes you happy. Prioritizing recreation and self-expression creates balance, and ultimately makes us feel more motivated to accomplish those things that are more mandatory. Fill your cup before you pour into anything else; you can’t pour from an empty vessel.

Respect your space

This tip may seem to go without saying, but while we are all spending more time in our homes, it is important for your health—both mental and physical—that you keep your home clean and comfortable. 

Sure, many of us still may not have the privilege to leave the house to go to work, but by waking up, making your bed and ensuring your laundry and dishes are done, you can help yourself to feel more in tune with your ordinary routine and more productive overall while working from home. Your space—now more than ever—is your centre of energy, and clearing it of any clutter or distraction only leaves more room for positive energy and focus.

In short, Covid-19 measures have indeed been challenging for almost everyone. But by listening to your body and acknowledging its needs, you can create and honour a revised version of your regular routine that helps you achieve your goals and feel your best.