Stop and smell the rose-hip (the benefits of having a cuppa)

Oct 12, 2024

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Can having a cuppa make you a better teacher or leader? Maybe.

Someone told me recently that breathing out warm air, like after taking a sip of tea, was good for releasing stress and cultivating calm. Although I can't find specific research to back that up (comment below if you know of any), it seems plausible. Many people find a cup of tea restorative. It might have to do with the impacts on the vagus nerve or an improved mood from drinking hot water, as these articles discuss. If you are not a tea drinker, you can obviously get many of these same benefits from making a coffee.

"By emphasizing tranquility, nature, and meditation, the tea ceremony assists individuals in attaining inner equilibrium, harmony with nature, and a sense of tranquility and balance in their minds." (Kuang, Luo, Fang, 2023)

For me, I think it's also the mental and physical break that making tea provides. It starts with walking away from the space where work gets done and stress accumulates. Once I'm in the kitchen or staff room, there's the familiar action of filling the kettle and the white noise as it starts to roll and boil. I may still be thinking about work at the back of my mind, but my focus is on choosing a tea bag, finding a spoon (or a fork, if your workplace is spoonless as many are) and pouring hot water. I like the smell as the tea steeps and watching the colour darken.

Sometimes there's other people in the kitchen and, because we're away from our desk, it's acceptable to ask about their weekend, kids, pets or hobby which gives a further mental break from work ruminations. If you're lucky, there might even be a biscuit to dunk - and you can't think about data, reports or the next meeting when you're calculating the exact right moment before it breaks off into a soggy lump at the bottom of the mug.

There are many cultures around the world that traditionally engage in tea ceremonies.

In various cultures it serves spiritual, aesthetic, community and nutritional purposes. The tea ceremony has continued to be relevant because the art, history, connection and well-being it taps into are as important today as they were 1200 years ago (Kuang, Luo, Fang, 2023). And in case we needed more reasons to enjoy a tea break, there's a lot of research about the health benefits of tea such as reduction of certain diseases and reversing some signs of aging.

So, join me for a cuppa when you're feeling stressed, before a long meeting or for no other reason than the simple pleasure of it. It might just make you a better teacher or leader.