Episode Summary

In this episode, we’re talking about stress. Not as background noise, but as a real signal that something needs your attention.

I share my own story of pushing through the demands of work, parenting, and building a business, while ignoring the signs my body was giving me. Until one day, it didn’t let me ignore them anymore.

We explore what happens when stress is left unchecked, how it often shows up quietly, and why intentional pauses can be a powerful tool for rebalancing your nervous system.

In this episode:

* How chronic stress builds silently and shows up in the body

* The signs you might be ignoring

* Why stillness is not laziness but strategy

* A practical tea routine to help you reset in just three minutes

Try This

You don’t need a retreat. Just a quiet moment, a cup of tea, and one grounding question:Where can I give myself permission to soften today?

Resources Mentioned

* Health in Mind: Understanding Stress

* My current tea: Ginger Gut Balance - discover your favourite: Tea Quiz

Resources and Links

* Subscribe to The Tea Mind Substack for weekly insights and tea-based rituals

* Make sure you’re getting eteaket’s Tea Mail to be the first to discover our new tea, like Pumpkin Chai.

Thanks for joining me on our pause for tea to rebalance and thrive. 🍵 If you enjoyed this post, it would make my day if you’d comment, hit the heart button or share it. Your actions will help me reach more people. Thanks for your support! ✨ Erica x

The Tea Mind is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Episode Summary:

If you’ve been feeling stuck, flat, or burned out, this episode invites you to pause, put the kettle on, and rediscover the quiet power of curiosity.

We explore why your best ideas often arrive not when you are pushing harder, but when you finally stop to listen. Erica shares the story behind the Tea Mind system, the subtle ways we trade creativity for conformity, and how a simple tea break can help you reconnect with your spark.

This episode also introduces a new Tea Routine called The Curiosity Cup, designed to help you reconnect with your inner voice and let your imagination breathe.

What You’ll Learn:

* How burnout can look like high performance

* Why society rewards conformity over creativity

* The difference between surface-level curiosity and deep inner wondering

* What happens when you stop filtering your ideas

* A practical tea-based reflection practice to revive your creativity

Tea Routine of the Week:

The Curiosity Cup

A four-step tea ritual to help you:

* Try a tea you have never had before

* Ask yourself, "What am I curious about right now?" while the kettle boils

* Reflect on three simple prompts while your tea steeps:

* What if I am wrong about something big?

* What is a project I secretly want to start?

* What am I not saying out loud?

* Sip your tea slowly and allow whatever thoughts arise to surprise you

This is not about productivity. It is about presence. No outcomes, no measuring, just space to wonder.

Reflection Prompt:

What is one idea you have not told anyone because it feels too weird, too unfinished, or too uncertain?

That might be the idea to sit with this week.

Resources and Links

* Subscribe to The Tea Mind Substack for weekly insights and tea-based rituals

* Make sure you’re getting eteaket’s Tea Mail to be the first to discover our new tea, like Pumpkin Chai.

Thanks for joining me on our pause for tea to rebalance and thrive. 🍵 If you enjoyed this post, it would make my day if you’d comment, hit the heart button or share it. Your actions will help me reach more people. Thanks for your support! ✨ Erica x

The Tea Mind is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Episode Summary:

“To trust the process, you often have to grieve the illusion of control.”

In this solo episode, we explore trust not as a passive hope, but as an active practice of letting go. Aligned with the Metal Element and the season of Autumn, this conversation invites you to pause, exhale, and reflect.

You’ll be guided through breathwork, a personal story about surrendering control, and a simple but powerful tea routine designed to help you cultivate trust. If you’re in a season of transition or feeling the tension of trying to force outcomes, this is your invitation to soften.

Let your tea be a teacher. Let the season guide you. And let this be the moment you begin to trust again.

What We Cover in This Episode:

* Why the Metal Element and Autumn invite us to refine and release

* A personal story about moving house and learning to trust the timing of life

* Insights from Alan Watts on insecurity and surrender

* How grief and gratitude both relate to the Metal Element

* A full breakdown of the Trust Cup Tea Routine

* A powerful closing reflection question to help you reconnect with trust

This Week’s Tea Routine:

The Trust Cup

This calming ritual includes four steps: mindful brewing, conscious breathing, gratitude journaling, and present-moment sipping. It’s a small daily practice that can lead to big internal shifts.

Recommended tea: Coconut & Turmeric Chai, perfect for the grounding energy of Autumn.

Resources Mentioned:

* The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts

* The Anatomy of Trust by Brené Brown

* The Tea Mind system and the role of Metal in Autumn

* Tea Mind’s Trust Cup Routine (explained fully inside the episode)

Your Reflection Prompt:

What would it look like to trust yourself just for today?

Ask yourself:What is one action I can take?What is one outcome I can choose to release?

Use your pause for tea to reflect on the answers.

Let’s Stay Connected

DM me, jump in the subscriber chat, or connect via my website, LinkedIn or Instagram. I offer tea supply, tea training, tea for wellbeing courses and mindset coaching.

Make sure you’re getting eteaket’s Tea Mail to be the first to discover our new tea.

Thanks for joining me on our pause for tea to rebalance and thrive. 🍵 If you enjoyed this post, it would make my day if you’d comment, hit the heart button or share it. Your actions will help me reach more people. Thanks for your support! ✨ Erica x

The Tea Mind is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Episode Summary

What do you do when fear floods in and the world wants answers now?

In this episode, I share how a simple and intentional tea break, which I call my "Courage Cup," helps me pause, reset, and move through fear with calm and clarity rather than overwhelm.

Fear often appears just as you are about to do something meaningful. It does not knock politely. It barges in. Most of us are taught to power through. But what if the bravest thing you could do was pause?

In This Episode

* Why fear often appears just before you take a meaningful step

* The cost of powering through fear without pausing

* How the P.A.U.S.E. Tea Routine works

* What the latest neuroscience says about meditation and the fear response

* Why presence is not about eliminating fear but choosing how you meet it

Questions to Reflect On

* What does your courage cup look like?

* What tea helps you move through fear?

* What fear are you ready to sit with today?

Resources and Links

* Download the Courage Cup Routine

* Read the meditation and fear study from PNAS (February 2025)

* Learn more about Jasmine Pearls

* If your fear feels deeper - panic attacks, chronic anxiety you deserve support. Check out this guide from The Mental Health Foundation: How to manage your fear and anxiety

Final Thought

Bravery is not always loud. Sometimes, it looks like making a cup of tea.

Pop the kettle on. Trust your tea mind. Take one small step forward, even if fear is walking beside you.

Let’s Stay Connected

DM me, jump in the subscriber chat, or connect via my website, LinkedIn or Instagram. I offer tea supply, tea training, tea for wellbeing courses and mindset coaching.

Make sure you’re getting eteaket’s Tea Mail to be the first to discover our new tea.

Thanks for joining me on our pause for tea to rebalance and thrive. 🍵 If you enjoyed this post, it would make my day if you’d comment, hit the heart button or share it. Your actions will help me reach more people. Thanks for your support! ✨ Erica x

The Tea Mind is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Today, we slow things down. On purpose.

I share a personal story that made me rethink how I was spending my time - a moment in a ball pit at soft play that showed me the true cost of distraction. It was the first time I truly saw what I was trading for my divided attention.

We’ll explore how tea became more than just a drink for me. It became a pause. A reset. A meditation. I’ll guide you through the exact Tea Routine that helps me stay present, calm my nervous system, and reconnect with what really matters.

You can’t get time back. But you can learn to pay better attention, one cup at a time.

In This Episode

* The soft play moment that changed how I see time

* How my second child helped shift my relationship with presence

* The surprising emotional impact of pairing tea with meditation

* How I unhooked from my phone and reclaimed my focus

* The breathing tool I teach everyone to regulate stress

* How tea became my anchor for clarity, creativity and calm

* What really happened on our five-week family road trip

* A practical, step-by-step guide to the Attention Tea Routine

The Attention Tea Routine

* Boil the kettle. While it heats, do a physiological sigh (two short breaths in, one long breath out).

* Choose your tea intentionally.

* Overwhelmed? Try green or mint.

* Low mood? Go for oolong or chai.

* Feeling anxious? Choose chamomile or rooibos.

* Watch the tea leaves unfurl. Let this be your moment to recalibrate.

* Sip slowly. Let the warmth ground you in the moment.

* Ask yourself:

* Am I trading this day for something that matters?

* Where am I holding tension?

* What do I need?

A Question to Carry With You

Am I spending this day the way I want to remember it?

Resources Mentioned

* The Psychological Sigh breathing technique

* Choosing nourishing inputs instead of scrolling: Substack, podcasts, or silence

* My personal experience with summer presence and letting go of optimisation

Let’s Stay Connected

Take the Perfect Tea Quiz – discover a tea that supports your current season of life.

Ways to connect with me 💬

DM me, jump in the subscriber chat, or connect via my website, LinkedIn or Instagram 😁 I offer tea supply, tea training, tea for wellbeing courses and mindset coaching. Find out more about my tea business, eteaket, here: https://www.eteaket.co.uk/

Thanks for joining me on our pause for tea to rebalance and thrive. 🍵 If you enjoyed this post, it would make my day if you’d comment, hit the heart button or share it. Your actions will help me reach more people. 💖 Thanks for your support! ✨ Erica x

The Tea Mind is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

In today’s episode of The Tea Mind Podcast, we explore the part of the journey that gets no applause and rarely gets mentioned: the messy middle.

This is the point where passion fades, progress stalls and self-doubt starts shouting. Where you quietly wonder if quitting might be easier. But what if this phase isn’t the problem? What if it's the point?

Through personal reflection, grounded storytelling and a soul-strengthening Tea Routine, this episode offers a gentle reminder: the middle isn’t where you fall apart. It’s where you come together.

Recommended Tea:

An oolong like Yellow Gold or Orange Oolong Supreme. Rooted in the earth element, it’s perfect for grounding you when your path feels unsteady.

In this episode, you'll discover:

* Why every meaningful journey gets hard in the middle

* The role of slow, silent progress in real growth

* A Tea Routine that helps you return to your centre

* A reframing of struggle as strength training

Tea Routine: The Messy Middle Pause

While your tea brews:

* Name the messy middle you’re in right now

* Write down three things that feel difficult or unclear

* Remind yourself of one reason why you began

Let the tea steep. Let your feelings sit. Trust the discomfort. This is the work that makes you.

Ways to connect with me 💬

DM me, jump in the subscriber chat, or connect via my website, LinkedIn or Instagram 😁 I offer tea supply, tea training, tea for wellbeing courses and mindset coaching. Find out more about my tea business, eteaket, here: https://www.eteaket.co.uk/

Thanks for joining me on our pause for tea to rebalance and thrive. 🍵 If you enjoyed this post, it would make my day if you’d comment, hit the heart button or share it. Your actions will help me reach more people. 💖 Thanks for your support! ✨ Erica x

The Tea Mind is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.