Illustrated Guide to the Zen Tea Ceremony: Achieve Mindfulness and Connect with Others the Japanese Way

Reduce stress and enrich your life through the Japanese tea ritual!

This richly illustrated book by tea master Soryo Matsumura shows you how to use the ancient Japanese tea ceremony to reduce stress and live a more enriching life. It is written for complete novices and explains all aspects of the tea ceremony with a focus on three major themes:

• How to perform the tea ceremony both at home and in more formal gatherings
• The stress reduction benefits this ritual provides, helping you to appreciate the little things in life
• How the tea ceremony helps to connect us with others, transcending age, gender and creed

As well as showing you all the basics—how to sit, what to wear and how to follow the etiquette of tea preparation, drinking and conversation—Matsumura explains in a warm and friendly tone how this meditative practice has wider benefits. He encourages you to reflect on the importance of things like:

• Keeping your surroundings clean and organized
• Setting appropriate boundaries in personal relationships
• Increasing your self-esteem and communicating well

Filled with beautiful color illustrations throughout, this book is perfect for anyone seeking to bring greater peace and mindfulness into their everyday life.

Soryo Matsumura is an associate professor in the Urasenke school of tea, one of the three main Japanese tea schools. He is founder of the tea practice space Shuhally, where he holds tea ceremony classes with a contemporary slant. He has an MBA from the University of Wales. While traveling abroad as a student, he realized how little he knew about his own culture, and on returning to Japan, he began studying the way of tea. Guided by his philosophy that "tea should be more free, more joyful," he hosts tea gatherings across Japan and internationally.