Let Tea Help You Manifest Those New Year’s Resolutions
Here we are, more than a week after 2024’s punctuation mark (!), and we’re still almost tipsy with go-go-go energy. After more than a month of sparks and zip, of racing around and wrapping, catching flights and being “on” during so many social gatherings, it can be tough to ratchet back the pep.
But it’s essential. The holiday sprint might fuel us with zest, but at the same time it zaps our vigor. Keep pushing hard, and sickness might root. And if you get hammered by illness, you’ll miss out on those New Year’s Resolutions you announced. You pledged to read more. To exercise. To meditate. And to simply relax with more intention than you did across 2024.
Contemplative walks in nature help bring about mindfulness. So does meditation. Even just being attentive while doing simple tasks like washing dishes or staring out the window at snow cascading down from evergreen boughs.
Some beverages—here’s looking at you RTD energy drinks—crow about their caffeine quotients. Sip us, they brag, and you’ll slow down—think of all that you’ll be able to get done!
Please. We all appreciate boosts of energy. But they arrive with much more effectiveness when the jolts scoot us ahead exactly when we need it. Racing minds and jittery hands all day? We’ll take a pass on that one.
Tea: A key for unlocking mindfulness
We think tea’s ability to bring about mindfulness is kind of magic. Yes, traditional tea contains caffeine. But the amount is quite a bit less than coffee, never mind energy drinks. Instead of slapping us awake—and then slapping us more all day!—tea rouses our brains and keeps them engaged, but not overwhelmed.
And of course many teas contain no caffeine whatsoever. Herbal teas can serve as balm for people seeking a reset after the busy holidays.
Read on for insights about four Ku Cha teas that will help you slow down, welcome more mindfulness into your lives and achieve those New Year’s resolutions!
Mindful Tea for New Year’s Resolutions: Organic Rooibos for hydration during exercise
Hitting the gym, trails and pool figures into a lot of New Year’s Resolutions. It also aligns with the mindful theme—few things invite us to dwell in the moment with as much force as athletic pursuits. In addition, after we finish the body challenge we often feel immense calm and satisfaction, the result of unleashed endorphins in the body. So get out there and move the body. And while you’re working, along with afterwards, drink rooibos tea. This bush from South Africa (the word rooibos is Afrikaans for “red bush”) is famous for its workout assistance. Due to its high levels of electrolytes, it helps quench thirst and hydrate the body. Rooibos also contains loads of beneficial antioxidants, that help with everything from insomnia to headaches, cramps and allergies. Rooibos cools and soothes—a perfect caffeine-free everyday treat to sip in January.
Mindful Tea for New Year’s Resolutions: Meditation Blend for meditation
Meditation can transform spirits and mental states. Those who incorporate the practice into their lives attest to mitigated stress and more peace through their lives. One misconception about meditation is that it’s almost a kind of sleep—people are sitting still and breathing slowly, and so it’s got to be a variation on a theme of nap. Nope! Meditation is physically calm. And one of the goals is to conjure a state of mental calm. To do so, however, takes mental sharpness. As a result, our special Meditation Blend includes yerba mate, the caffeine-touched plant from South America. Along with yerba, we add ginkgo, cinnamon, black pepper, lavender, marshmallow and rose. Altogether, this blend provides meditators a suite of botanicals that help encourage serenity—and successful meditation practices.
Mindful Tea for New Year’s Resolutions: Blue Spring Oolong for reading
Screens, screens, screens. Many of us stare at them all day doing our work. We carry screens in our pockets, and get glued to them at traffic signals, in line at grocery stores and just flopped on the couch on a Saturday afternoon. Screens are everywhere. And increasingly more of us desire a pivot away from constant screen time. So one popular New Year’s Resolution is reading print publications. Books, magazines, newspapers. Anything printed on paper that we can hold and touch. When you’re settled into the easy chair or propped up in bed with that buzzy new novel, make sure to have tea by your side. One strong tea companion? Our Blue Spring Oolong, which is a favorite Ku Cha oolong. Tea artisans in China’s Fujian Province roll the large tea leaves used for Blue Spring into pellets shortly after harvest. They then coat the pellets with licorice powder. The combination enchants—the powder’s rich, sweet aftertaste soothes sore throats and—here’s the important part for reading—the caffeine in the tea helps to promote focused mental energy.
Mindful Tea for New Year’s Resolutions: Organic CHA Relax for serenity
Finally, whenever you feel the need for assistance to bring about deep states of peace and quiet, consider our CHA Relax blend. This grand bland, created in collaboration with the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Humanities and the Arts (CHA), leads with green rooibos; we already have discussed the advantages of rooibos. To this base we add ginkgo leaf, elder flower, chamomile and spearmint. Natural medicine practitioners around the world turn to ginkgo to help boost brain power. Among other things, botanicals in the plant help dilate blood vessels, which delivers more of the precious liquid to the brain. Meanwhile, the rest of the ingredients get tapped to help calm nerves and deliver sippers into states that welcome deep relaxation, if not sleep.
