{"id":161211,"date":"2019-10-21T08:10:25","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T00:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehoneycombers.com\/hong-kong\/?p=161211"},"modified":"2019-10-21T10:51:43","modified_gmt":"2019-10-21T02:51:43","slug":"resham-daswani-spiral-spaces-tea-meditation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehoneycombers.com\/hong-kong\/resham-daswani-spiral-spaces-tea-meditation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Way of Tea: We chat with Resham Daswani from Spiral Spaces about Cha Dao"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all know that Hong Kong is a fast-paced city, but thankfully we have a spirited community of wellness professionals helping us to find a greater work-life balance. It\u2019s thanks to work from people like Nikita Ramchandani<\/a> at Kita Yoga, and spaces like Float On Hong Kong<\/a> and Reviv Hong Kong<\/a> that the overwhelming sense of business can be decreased in order for us to live our best lives in the urban jungle. Another special person helping Hong Kongers to find a more mindful path is Resham Daswani, founder of Spiral Spaces, whose tea ceremonies are becoming increasingly popular. We sat down for a chat about Cha Dao – The Way of Tea.<\/p>\n

An interview with Resham Daswani from Spiral Spaces<\/h3>\n

I first met Resham Daswani at the opening of Enhale Meditation Studio<\/a> in Central where she was running a media workshop during the centre\u2019s opening. The idea of a tea ceremony for meditation was strangely appealing, and as I sat for tea with her and a dozen others that day, it astounded me how cathartic the ritualistic process was. <\/p>\n

From the preparation of the sacred herb itself and the way that she, quite obviously, respected it, to the methodical pouring of the water and the drinking, it\u2019s hard to describe how one can so easily find comfort in the practice. Afterwards, I knew that I had to learn more about her tea journey, so I hope that you enjoy reading about her fascinating path, and I urge you to sit for tea with her to better understand the ancient practice.<\/p>\n

Hi, Resham. Thanks so much for sitting and chatting with me about how you found your way into tea. You were born and raised in Hong Kong, with parents who originally came from India. Tell me a little about how your younger years impacted where you are now.<\/h3>\n
\"Resham
Living tea is at the heart of all of Resham’s work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What I find really interesting now is that I was always raised to honour and appreciate Eastern traditions. I was brought up in quite a typical Hindu household, where rituals like staring at the moon on a Wednesday or walking around a plant on a Friday was kind of the norm (laughs<\/i>). But it was never something I thought I could really share with other people. It always felt more like private home life, so growing up in Hong Kong was slightly dualistic in that way.<\/p>\n

I then went to university in London and was studying surface textiles at the London College of Fashion. Art was the way I found to express all of the things that were brewing in my heart. Through creativity, I could marry my own private practice of conscious cultivation and spirituality with expression, without it being strange to outsiders. When I graduated and came back to Hong Kong, I was looking for jobs in fashion although there was something inside of me that knew this industry wasn\u2019t fully aligned with how I truly felt about the world. <\/p>\n

So you returned to Hong Kong and what happened?<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m a big believer that when the student is ready, the teacher appears, and eventually it really came to a point where quite literally the universe was telling me to stop and to follow my dharma. By then I\u2019d left corporate fashion and I thought that developing my own collection was more in line with my expressive truth, and even though I was working with all these great factories and suppliers, the whole process was just really difficult, and at the time I couldn\u2019t understand why that was. <\/p>\n

Then, two months before the collection was due to be presented, consistent signs kept coming to me. It was incessant. For six weeks I delibertely ignored them, up until it was just the biggest slap in the face, and then I knew I had to entertain it, at least to better understand what these messages were. <\/p>\n

The signs were all pointing me towards this tea centre in Taiwan, to live with a Zen monk \u2013 my now teacher \u2013\u00a0Wu De. So, I went on the website and I was like: \u2018OK. They\u2019re drinking tea… they\u2019re meditating…\u201d Honestly, I barely looked into it, I just saw they were offering courses, so, without really telling anyone, I booked a ticket and left.<\/p>\n

Wow! That\u2019s a pretty big leap of faith. What was it actually like when you arrived in Taiwan then?<\/h3>\n
\"resham
Tools of the trade for Resham’s tea meditations<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I arrived at the Tea Sage Hut<\/a> – our school in Taiwan, I literally felt 10 years of pain, identities that weren\u2019t real, just everything that wasn\u2019t serving me, within about five seconds, it all just completely melted away. I mean, it felt super right, but I\u2019d only just gotten there! So, I spent a few weeks there in tea, meditation, the most amazing food, and within the company of people who are now my dearest brothers and sisters together just learning and living a life in service to this plant. <\/p>\n

It was when I sat for my first tea ceremony, somehow, this dialogue just happened, and I could understand how every moment of my life was so intrinsically woven together for me to end up right there, right then, in that moment of freedom. It was like a rebirth – I actually experienced being reborn into the Earth\u2019s womb, a new slate; a new chapter. And I knew, as a part of me had always known, that I was meant to begin this life of service, sharing a way of compassion and healing with others.<\/p>\n

But how do you come back to everyday life from that?<\/h3>\n

The night before I was meant to leave, I was almost in tears because I knew what I was coming back to. I mean, tea has always been an important part of Hong Kong culture, but that\u2019s tea as a beverage \u2013 not tea as plant medicine. I could feel how resistant people were, at that time, to the idea of meditation. But, I did come back, and I sat with my practice, morning after morning, day after day and everything began to shift. <\/p>\n

It was a little scary when I returned because before I left I was partying and in the fashion scene, but that kind of lifestyle was just no longer in flow. I was already vegan at that point, but I can only assume that people thought that maybe I\u2019d been away in a cult! I did still try \u00a0going out and integrating both lifestyles, but there was just no way I could sustain that type of living. Eventually it wasn\u2019t even a question of choice as tea was so deeply-seeded in my heart by that point.<\/p>\n

For my boyfriend, now my husband, I think it was like being with two people. I mean my family always knew that spirituality was always a really important part of my life, I would often study Zen books for example, but here I was just changing my whole entire life overnight. <\/p>\n

And what was like trying to build your life as a practitioner of wellness in Hong Kong?<\/h3>\n
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A post shared by Resham Daswani (@spiralspaces)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n