Daily Steep

February will be the 10th Daily Steep ~ a monthly, virtual gathering of friends sharing a hot cup of herbal tea and practice. Born straight out of the isolation of covid-19 lockdown, I felt the personal and collective need for ways to stay connected to one another, to deepen and expand our capacity for cultivating meaningful relationship (inner and outer), and to infuse our daily lives with intention and care during these wildly tumultuous times.

Tea, both the original mother Camellia sinensis and herbal blends or tisanes, have anchored my daily well-being practices for years. Since my early days of a mason jar full of herbs, maté, and a clanking bombilla, I have loved sharing in the brilliance and comfort of our long standing relationships with plants. However, to be truly promoting and pursuing alignment in the wellness community, I knew that in-person gatherings were no longer our privilege. I deeply missed sharing mindful movement, meditation, and sitting to serve tea to new and dear friends. I especially longed for the rich conversation that flows easily with tea on our lips. In this, I also felt the necessity for the teachings of contemplative, mindful, self-awareness, and self-care practices of well-being to be at the forefront, daily, of our new frontier : quarantine homelife. And so, the virtual circle of Daily Steep began.

Each month we practice listening, writing, breathing, sharpening and softening our focus, thinking and feeling with inquiry and ease, and a host of various tools for welcoming, regulating, and soothing ourselves in daily life. The term contemplative practice is shared across wisdom traditions of the world. As an expansive approach to introspective and collective well-being, contemplative practices support us in noticing and cultivating a relationship with ourselves and our world. We are always in relationship to/with something~ and these moments of conscious pause, practice, and sipping tea sustain my reverence (and dare I say patience) for the full-spectrum of daily living. As one of my contemplative yoga teachers Christina Sell says, “Simple, not easy.”

We meet on zoom for three 20-minute live steepings to share sips, silence, and some insight. However, in real life, not everyone’s schedule aligns so each recording is archived and accessible for the entire month (and there’s plenty of tea!) to revisit the practices as needed.

This is a true offering from my living practice~ one that viscerally steadies me and joyfully inspires me to stay hopeful on our path onward. No one is turned away for lack of funds. I have one scholarship available each month as well as offer buy one gift one months for new friends or those who want to pay it forward. Reach out. I would love to welcome you to our virtual Daily Steep.

A new gift set is available in collaboration with Two Ridges Pottery. Tori and her team of artists create nature-inspired ceramic essentials like this Mountain Mug and Tea Steeper and are opening a new studio in St. Elmo, TN. Follow this link to purchase this sweet set which comes with enrollment to the next Daily Steep session. Two Ridges Pottery Daily Steep Gift Set

These are the herbal blends I created with my dear sisters at Wildflower Tea Shop & Apothecary in Chattanooga, TN. The herbs of each blend are then woven into the components of our contemplative practices and theme for the month. Each package also comes with a gift of some kind to extend the “long infusion” of your steep into other places in your life as reminders (I’ll take all the reminders…).

Join us each new moon. Daily Steep Immersion coming soon. Stay close~

.adapt & soothe. ~tulsi, gotu kola, passion flower, rose, lavender, love

.blazeAid. ~tulsi, lemongrass, peppermint, ginger, hibiscus, love

.hi-vibe balm. ~brahmi, lemon balm, hibiscus, cinnamon, calendula, love

.heartspeak. ~tulsi, rooibos, licorice, chamomile, eleuthero, hawthorn berries, rose hips, cornflowers, love

.honor. ~tulsi, oatstraw, elder flower, lavender, rose hips & petals, love

.in ease.ease in. ~tulsi, oatstraw, dandelion leaf, elderberries, mullein, ginger, violet leaf & flower, love

.cozy. ~tulsi, nettle, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, cardamom pods, love

.air hug. ~tulsi, oatstraw, licorice, lavender, peppermint, rose petals, black pepper, love

.tether. ~tulsi, chamomile, catnip, peppermint, lavender, cornflowers, lemon peel, love

Interested in contemplative practice? Check out the work and this beautiful image from The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society.