Tea and herbs have a long history and culture. Benedictine monastics and famous individuals such as Hildegard of Bingen studied herbs and their use in monastic gardens or elsewhere. Teas such as vervain or sideritis have descriptions coming back to the Romans and Greeks. And then of course there is the tasting, noticing the textures and effects on the mind and body. The following ones have become staples over the past few years.
Jiaogulan
Jiaogulan is the legendary meditation group tea.
In the past few years, there’s been several good brands offering jiaogulan. For hot tea it is recommended to get the leaf and not the powder, as the leaf is tastier. The powder is quite tasty if making an ice tea.
At the moment I recommend this family company.
Reishi
For meditation, if I were to pick one herb, it would be reishi. It works well with some oat milk and hot water.
For Reishi, the manner of cultivation matters. Erbology (not affiliated) has good Reishi.
Plants & Fungi for meditation
There is the teaching of the four nutriments of consciousness: Food, intention, contact, attention.
It is simple: if someone drinks alcohol, that will nourish a certain type of consciousness, specifically one that contracts awareness.
Reishi contact meditation
It is possible to make contact with reishi or other substances and then immerse oneself in that contact. Fungi have been associated with the cultivation of wisdom, and it is this reason that reishi can be so valuable in practice. Reishi, fundamentally, also turns out to be a more reliable teacher than humans.
