TRANQUILLITY IN A TEACUP
AS SOMEONE WHO IS easily distracted, I was a non-believer when it came to meditation. It just seemed impossible. I’d sit down to meditate but couldn’t achieve that “blank page.” That was until I found myself surrendering to a collaborative mindfulness yoga and tea ceremony in Tokyo. It fascinated me that the country’s cultural legacy endures in the metropolis that is home to so much modern energy.
Conducted by tea master Machiko Soshin Hoshina’s company, Charen Tranquilitea, the experience is a great example of embracing tradition in a modern setting. Born in the family of a daimyo (one of the Japanese feudal lords who were vassals of the shogun from the 12th century to the 19th century), who observed the tea ceremony for generations, Hoshina’s passion towards the ritual was ignited early in her life. She moved to
