2/21/2016 Enhance Your Ability to Taste Your Tea by Cassandra Vincent
The tongue is a glorious part of the body. It is impressive all of the different types of tastes the taste buds on it can distinguish. The tongue works with the nose to bring us flavor experience. And just like it is harder to taste with a clogged nose it is harder to taste with impaired taste buds. Keeping the tongue clean is a part of keeping the mouth clean. Another benefit of that is heightened taste. The Power of the Tongue Scraper I use a tongue scraper in a couple of ways. First I use it in the morning before brushing my teeth. I found I really benefit from an ayurvedic based ritual in the morning of which tongue scraping is a part*. Apparently tongue scraping can clear out nasty bacteria, stimulate organs, limit the tarter on teeth and do away with the parts of your midnight snack still hanging out on your tongue (gross). I also use my tongue scraper before having a cup of tea. Though flavor preferences are individual there are some flavors less likely to pair well (ever have a glass of orange juice after brushing your teeth with a mint toothpaste? Gag!) The tongue scraper can clear out the nasties and lingering flavor from previous food/beverage that can impair the taste buds’ ability to taste whatever is being consumed in the moment. It is amazing how a few gentle passes of a tongue scraper can open up flavor experience**. Try it sometime in the afternoon. Make yourself a cup of tea. Taste it before tongue scraping and then after and notice the difference. Just make sure to be gentle with the scraping and rinse the scraper after each pass. You’re not looking to sandblast your taste buds but rather uncover them. There are many options for the tongue scraper from the basic plastic to stainless steel to metals that are believed to give additional health benefit like copper, gold and silver. I encourage you to give the tongue scraper a try to enhance your tea drinking experience! The Go Deeper Details: *For more on ayurvedic information about tongue scraping: http://www.chopra.com/ccl/the-benefits-of-tongue-scraping https://www.ayurveda.com/online_resource/tongue_analysis.html **For more on how the sense of taste works: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0072592/ by Cassandra Vincent
I don’t generally get all adorable here but I feel inspired to appreciate these two most calming influences in my life - Tea and cats. I can only speak for myself of course, but they seem to complement each other. I meet tea lovers who are cat lovers and vice versa all the time. Plus there is the popular wave of kitty cafes that bring together tea and cat interaction/adoption. What is it about tea and cats that goes together so well? For me it is that both affect how I feel in a supremely positive way. There are no two influences that can create a quicker sense of well being to me than making/enjoying a gorgeous cup of tea and petting/playing with my feline family members. Both involve a combination of interaction, focus and quiet. They have something else in common: tea brings together the energy boost of caffeine and the euphoria of L–theanine (have you ever had a tea high?) and cats have moments of deep blissful I-can-sleep-anywhere rest contrasted with explosive moments of what we cat lovers affectionately call the ‘cat crazies’ (which can result in a variety of broken household items if we do not cat-proof, much like child-proof, our home). I love these seemingly opposing energies! I love energy with a calm, focused mind and I love deeply resting at one moment and feeling powerful inspired action in another. There are also the aspects of mystery and ancient lore that surround both cats and tea. From Bast, the cat goddess of ancient Egypt to the uncertain discovery of tea often told as a tale of when leaves from a nearby plant fell into Chinese Emperor Shen Nung’s water in 2737 BC, both cats and tea have long, interesting histories that seem endless in exploration. Here is to all of those who have a love for the noble leaf and the magical cat. Thanks to Frankie Carlos for kitten wrangling and photo assistance |
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