“A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.” Eleanor Roosevelt
Sharing tea and the rituals around making tea has been a way to connect and create community and harmony for many centuries in different cultures.
My lovely friend G. and I share a mutual appreciation for drinking tea and a common interest in natural remedies and shiatsu. We often connect electronically for a quick ‘chat’ over a cup of tea. This gives our friendship space to grow despite the fact that we are on opposite sides of the planet. She also sent me that great quote above and from then on we have been tea bag friends!
Drinking tea a few weeks ago, we were ‘chatting’ about how difficult we find it to commit to a regular meditation practice. The desire is there, but the habit comes and goes. We both appreciate the inner stillness that a regular routine brings. We understand the value in a good heart connection with the divine and our true selves, but habits are hard to create and keep. It takes practice and dedication. We know this.
So we came up with an idea that works for us. We challenged each other to a daily meditation. Only 10 minutes to start! Sounds easy right. Well initially it is, and then by day three it shifts in priority and we tell ourselves that perhaps we will get to it later. We started prompting each other gently and these reminders helped.
We get ready. We get set. We breathe and we go.
And then the universe conspired to help us. Sometimes we could actually sit down and meditate at the same time. This took us to the next step. Now we try to do our daily meditation together as often as we can. This sharing of time and space with a soulsister really supports me to be more committed. I know it supports her too.
We don’t always manage to connect, but we do prompt each other and when it flows, it’s wonderful. When it doesn’t work out, we gently remind each other to meditate.
Building this habit has been so much easier for us because:
- we are accountable to ourselves and to someone else that we trust
- we started small with only 10 minutes a day
- we are not hard on ourselves if we miss a day, we continue the next day.
This adds a new dimension to our already inspiring friendship. It has brought us even closer together despite the distance. It makes me happy. I am really lucky to have a tea bag friend supporting me!
If you want to start a new habit, perhaps you can find someone to join you in a small challenge and support each other to reach your goals.
Ready. Breathe. And be still.
How do you create habits that work for you? Does someone support you? Please share your thoughts below.
love and light, Delicia
It is divine connection Delicia. I was just about to share this with you, but after reading this post I decided to share it with all.
At the workshop on meditation we asked the question: How do you overcome resistance to practice meditation? We were told the following.
“If you do it for it for yourself, you will probably not be able to resist your resistance. But if you do for something else, if you do it for something bigger than you, this gives you a reason to do it. If we do it for ourselves we let ourselves off. ‘I do not need to do these things’, ‘I do it tomorrow’. But imagine there is somebody energy dependent on you doing this, imagine somebody who is maybe not very well, or has difficult time. Now you are much more likely to do it, because there is a reason to do it. But if you make it too big – ‘I do it for the whole world’ – then it doesn’t work. So make it to something that is really important to you, and for you that meditation becomes very special. And you really do it for someone else. You have to change your awareness and make you acquaint to what is really important to you. If it is not important to you, you can’t water that thing.
How do I do my meditation for somebody else? Bring those people into your own meditation. Visualise that person sitting in front of you and visualise the same thing you experience happens for them too. So when you get the joy, they also get it. If you get energy, they also get it.
Don’t restrict yourself, bring as many as you can in your own meditation!”
As I heard this I smiled. I started to do meditation because I had two very important reasons:
• I did it for my body (and my soul). If I could not get help from you, I needed to help my body and show you I had learnt to take care. It was meant to be a thank you from the bottom of the heart for all what you taught me
• I did it for You, because I wanted to send you good energy and support you in going through your difficult time.
Without being told, I started doing meditation inviting you to connect in that magic and peaceful space. It has been very special every single time. I really never had to challenge myself to meditate. Rather it is always hard to leave that blissful space of sharing! But now I also know that meditation does not end with meditation, and the connection is always there.
You are a wonderful soulsister Delicia. I am very grateful to have You in my life and thank you for your special sharing.
Namaste
It is a divine soul connection Annalisa and for that I am extremely grateful. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights here. You have brought me many gifts through our sharing and this is another one. Thank you for being a very special soulsister to me!
It is so important to water what is important in our lives and your gentle reminders are just perfect. You bring me valuable lessons and learning all the time. Connection is indeed always there and yes, I agree that meditation is just the beginning or a really great tool. It continues long after. It’s lovely to gain more insight into your reasons and I appreciate your special gift of meditation, it is truly one of kind! All that energy and support has been received and appreciated. There are no words. I can only return your words to you – I am grateful and happy to have you in my life and value you sharing your wisdom with me immensely.
I am reminded of this special prayer that I often use and would like to share it again with you here.
I honour the light and the life within you and I am grateful to share this time and space with YOU.
With much gratitude to you Annalisa.
Namaste.