About the event:
This early spring tea day celebrates a range of perspectives on tea and tea culture from tinyteahouse including tea tasting, tea brewing, tea meditation, and a tea gathering.
The morning session will be an introduction to the classic teas of China – the birthplace of tea cultivation and tea culture. You will be able to taste classic examples of fine Chinese White, Green, Black, Oolong and Puerh tea, getting tips on how to taste, source and brew each style of tea.
After lunch, we will share a seasonal Qi Gong practice of gentle, mindful movements to help us move our bodies and settle our minds before a seated tea meditation using loose tea in tea bowls. This style of meditation is particularly helpful for those who find more traditional forms of seated meditation rigid and/or hard to access.
We will then close the day with a tea gathering where we will serve rare and aged teas as we pay attention to how the teas taste and how they make us feel – the "energetics" of the teas.
About the facilitator:
tinyteahouse is run by James Thirlwall – a UKTA certified tea sommelier, Chinese medicine practitioner, meditation teacher, and educator who uses tea to bring people together. James offers tea workshops, classes, and experiences that use tea and tea culture to promote fellowship, harmony and inclusion – the values of a traditional Asian tea house.
After years spent living in Japan and China, James practised acupuncture, Qi Gong, and meditation for 12 years before a career as a tea sommelier. A career that led him to create tea programmes and tea cultural events for some of the world’s leading hotels and restaurants and wellbeing spaces.
tinyteahouse is the place where three aspects of tea culture – hospitality, wellbeing, and gastronomy – combine to help people connect to themselves and to others through the art of sharing tea.
Workshops are always hands-on, fun, and accessible and with James’s background in clinical practice, trauma-informed teaching, and equity-centred education, he creates tea spaces that are safe, welcoming, and inclusive for all.
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This is a one-day workshop but optional accommodation is available - please email education@braziers.org.uk for more information.
We offer different rates available for people in different financial situations so please choose your rate when filling in the payment section.
Please be mindful when choosing our "Budget" rate as we offer them to address the specific systemic and economic barriers that attendees may face directly or indirectly based on their ethnic or national identities, or political and economical obstacles. We ask that you evaluate your level of need before selecting lower rates.
By submitting this form you agree to our cancellation policy, privacy policy and our guest guidelines.
For more information, please email education@braziers.org.uk.