ritual

noun

a way of doing something in which the same actions are done in the same way every time. 

A day spent mothering sometimes feels like it’s marked by how many mugs of semi-drunk tea are dotted around the house. Hastily sloshed together coffees grown cold, parked beside sinks, next to change tables, on dressers and atop bedside cupboards. A day of tending to others seen in the detritus of domesticity; scattered toast crusts, a sink of dishes. 

As a mother, you are the heart-space of the family. Where nourishment, tenderness and care coalesce, rippling through who you once were, pooling through your identity alongside commitment and self-sacrifice. It can be here, in this quiet echoing chamber of selflessness and love, that your own self-care can be lost.

They say to put on your own oxygen mask before placing a mask on someone else. That you can’t pour from an empty cup. That you are a better mother, partner, friend, colleague, daughter, sister when your own needs are met. These tropes are cliches for a reason – because they’re universally known and understood – but needs must. There simply isn’t always the time for a 10-step skin care regime, an hour-long exercise class or café catch ups with friends when you have little people swinging from your legs, clamouring for attention.

Enter a small daily ritual to hold space and intention.

To carve out mere minutes to honour yourself, your life and your blessings – despite all the chaos and demands that may surround you. A moment to relax, sit down, take a deep breath and exhale the busyness, the to-do list. A silent meditation which can be done without thought, while evoking a visceral sense of permission to rest – the making and drinking of chai tea.

Tiger Purrr’s shamanically activated tea is a fiercely elegant blend of whole-leaf assam tea, cassia, cardamom, clove, ginger, star anise, fennel seed, warming szechuan pepper and angelica root to enliven the senses and replenish the soul. For busy mothers, the ritual symbolises more than a hot drink; it notes that you are deserving and worthy of rest and relaxation. That your needs matter. It could be first thing in the morning, as dawn breaks over the horizon before the house awakes. Perhaps it’s as soon as your baby takes their first nap and you take a moment for yourself. Or a mid-afternoon cuppa to warm you and give you the energy to take you through the dinner/bath/bed vortex.

Herbs are an ancient and holistic way to support your nervous system while also incorporating the healing practise of ritual. The making of tea – the mixing of herbs, the brewing of water, the steeping of leaves – is a gentle and ancient habit that harks back thousands of years. Tea ceremonies throughout Eastern Asia symbolise grace and respect, while Zen Buddhist ceremonies promote peace and tranquillity. The British have marked their hospitality with tea for centuries, with the Moroccans pour their mint tea from standing height into small glasses, and the Senegalese serve three rounds of sweet tea in their informal ataya ceremony. 

And for mothers? Well, you get to decide. Your ritual is yours. Team it with banana bread, light a candle or a stick of incense, take your steaming cup back to bed with you. However you make it, whenever the time, whatever the stimulus around you, make it yours to savour.

Tiger Purrr Chai