Introduction

Tea yoga is a system of health-maintenance practice created by Master Jingyan in recent years based on the traditional vapor therapy of ancient China and yoga practice of ancient India.

Tea yoga involves tea facial steaming, breathing meditation and Daoyin physical exercises, and is a way of mental and physical cultivation both for the inner peace and bodily health.

Tea steaming is to use tea leaves as the spices in the vapor therapy. The uniqueness of tea is twofold: on the one hand tea is a kind of medical herbs; on the other hand it is a beverage, which has no harm to the body and contains more than 600 elements and most are beneficial and necessary to the body. Tea could also help to excrete the heavy metal elements inside the body.

During the process, tea steam opens the skin’s pores while deeply cleansing and rejuvenating the skin. With breathing concentration and meditation, we calm down and purify the mind, smooth our breathing, and tranquilise our bodies.

After tea drinking, a series of Daoyin (导引) exercise helps us to balance Yin (阴) and Yang (阳) and further harmonise the inner spirit with the body and the current environment, achieving deep tranquility and enabling us to gain enlightenment.

Tea is intimately connected with “Tao”, which literally means the ‘way’. Yoga is a word which comes from Sanskrit, meaning ‘the connection’. Tea yoga emphasizes the spirit of “Bu Er” (不二), which means do not make foolish distinctions, for example, between spiritual and worldly things, no separations between minds and deeds, between ourselves and other existing, between having tea, doing tea yoga and other things in our life.

The way is the same. There is a spirit of harmony inside. We hope that through practicing tea yoga we will understand Tao, understand ourselves and allow it to benefit our whole lives and the society.