Recognizing that chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony) and Indian Hatha Yoga are different but complementary approaches to practicing mindfulness, tea master Machiko Hoshina entered into a collaboration with her friend and yoga instructor, Noriko Kirishima. Together, they offer moments of peace with their project Charen: Yoga & Chanoyu.
- Machiko Hoshina was influenced by her mother, also a tea master, and her grandmother, a sumie (ink wash painting) artist. After living abroad for most of her formative years, she returned to Japan to attend Keio University and later served as the assistant curator at the Tokugawa Art Museum. Today, as well as being a busy mother of three children, Machiko holds tea ceremony classes and gatherings for all ages at homes, embassies, and international schools in Tokyo.
- Noriko Kirishima is a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) who offers bilingual classes in Tokyo, including sessions specially designed for children and business executives, as well as chair yoga for people with physical restrictions. She holds a masters degree in Media and Governance from Keio University and is the mother of two children. Having studied yoga, the Vedas (yogic philosophy), and Ayurvedic medicine, she continues on her teacher training path, studying meditation and Ayurveda under Dr. Deepak Chopra and Dr. David Simon at the Chopra Center in San Diego.
I spoke with Machiko and Noriko to learn more.
How did you get the idea to combine tea ceremony and yoga?
Machiko: It came up coincidentally, but very naturally. We have been good friends since we were the classmates at Keio University in the early 1990s. After graduation, Noriko became a yoga instructor, while I kept my chanoyu practice and became a master of the Urasenke style.
One day, we gathered at an onsen ryokan (hot spring inn) in Hakone with a group of girlfriends. Noriko hosted a yoga retreat, and I brought a chabako (portable tea-box) and prepared a bowl of matcha (finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea leaves) in the traditional manner.
They all loved the experience of the combination of the two different cultures and their synergies. Based on this experience, we launched a project called Charen and started sharing this unique retreat as an oasis for a hectic life.
What can guests expect in a Yoga & Chanoyu session?
Machiko: A Yoga & Chanoyu session is focused on mindfulness. The experience quiets your mind, body, and soul through mindfulness yoga and a bowl of matcha served afterward in the traditional manner of the tea ceremony.
The session serves as an escape from our hectic lifestyles. It’s absolute relaxation. You can appreciate the aesthetic of Japanese traditional culture and understand its spiritual teachings.
What qualities do yoga and the tea ceremony share?
Noriko: There are three main commonalities between Indian Hatha Yoga and Japanese tea ceremony.
- Purification: Yoga is all about purifying body, mind, and spirit. The whole sequence of the tea ceremony is also purification of each tool, the host’s mind, and the entire atmosphere. The host uses a fukusa (silk cloth) to express purity in an elegant movement. The guest understands that the tea is thoroughly clean and safe.
- Mindfulness: When practicing yoga asanas (postures), you focus on what you are doing and particular parts of the body because your consciousness has such a powerful effect on activating your internal organs. So as in the tea ceremony, the host is completely engaged in each movement. Ultimately, they both create harmony, balance, and satisfaction.
- Meditation: When you fully concentrate on doing something for a particular time, it can be said that you are meditating. Likewise, the sequence of the tea ceremony is a moving meditation entirely concentrated on each movement. It has commonalities with the Vipassana method of meditation. Yoga is the preparation for meditation by sitting still with the eyes closed and the consciousness directed towards your inner self. Both are a journey into tranquility.
What makes the tea ceremony and yoga relaxing?
Noriko: Yoga and the tea ceremony are both engaged in every moment through mindfulness. They’re fully concentrated on each movement. This is relaxing because the mind does not fly here and there, into the past and future. The mind travels way faster than the speed of light — supposedly it’s seven times faster than light. So when we think and worry about the past or future, the mind gets exhausted since it travels so far and fast.
When mindful of the moment, you get away from the duties of the roles you have to play in your life, becoming just yourself. If you only pour your energy into the moment and into yourself, it nourishes your body, mind, and soul, which leads to deep relaxation.
We also shouldn’t also miss the health benefits of drinking matcha. It is rich in antioxidants and known worldwide as a superfood.
Tell us a bit about Japanese tea rooms and why they are also suited to practicing yoga?
Noriko: The chashitsu (Japanese tea room) is a significant work of architecture which gathers essences of Japanese technique and aesthetics. Spiritually, it is designed as a sacred space where no worldly attachment is allowed. The tea tradition was perfected during the Sengoku Jidai (Age of Warring States), during the fourteenth to sixteenth century, when people desired a place to feel serenity. The samurai lords removed their swords outside the entrance, which symbolically suggests this idea.
The ideal space for yoga is a clean, quiet, and empty space with the godai (the five elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void), which are all needed to make a bowl of tea during the tea ceremony. The spiritual quality of the tea room is close to nature. The simple presentation of ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) in the alcove symbolizes the gift of nature, just as the tatami (floor made with grasses) does. The guests may enjoy inhaling the breath of nature and absorb its healing power at either a yoga or chanoyu session.
What role does mindfulness play in the tea ceremony?
Machiko: Mindfulness is the key word to enjoy the ceremony. When you eat sweets, savor a bowl of matcha, or observe the shodo (Japanese calligraphy) scroll decorating the alcove, appreciate them as mindfully as you can. When you are mindful, your five senses will open, and you may feel deep calmness, satisfaction, and appreciation towards every offering you are given. The spiritual background of the tea ceremony comes from Zen Buddhism, which teaches us “to be present;” another way of describing mindfulness.
Can studying the tea ceremony change one’s yoga practice?
Noriko: Yes. Through a continuous practice of tea ceremony, your awareness may change. You would become more mindful about the way you treat every object — not only the artistic pieces of tea utensils but also each part of your body and senses. You may come to nourish your body, mind, and soul just like when you serve your guest with full compassion at the tea ceremony.
How can traditional Japanese aesthetics be applied to yoga?
Noriko: Wabi-sabi (traditional Japanese aesthetics) and yoga philosophy both appreciate simplicity. However, wabi-sabi also finds beauty in the simplicity of nature.
For yoga practitioners, it is easy for their ego to get caught up in how well they are doing a particular pose and how they look. Appreciating the beauty in simplicity helps us to be humble and to find peace of mind as effectively as breathing practices and meditation.
Can you tell us more about the Japanese tea ceremony’s spirituality?
Machiko: Sen Rikyu (1522–1591), who perfected the Way of Tea, summarized the principles of the discipline of Tea into four spiritual principles:
- Wa (Harmony): A feeling of oneness with nature and people.,
- Kei (Respect): This results from a feeling of gratitude.
- Sei (Purity): Cleanliness and orderliness, both physically and spiritually, and,
- Jaku (Tranquility): To feel oneness with the entire universe.
The Japanese tea ceremony has always been a spiritual and aesthetic discipline for the refinement of the self. Through the practice, we learn the importance of life and how to live it.
Another word for the Japanese tea ceremony is Chado (The Way of Tea). Cha means tea, and Do is the way. Do is also used for other traditional arts such as shodo (calligraphy) or kado (flower arrangement).
What have you learned from creating Yoga & Chanoyu?
Machiko: We have learned that Yoga & Chanoyu can offer a special experience to anybody living a hectic life. It provides a peaceful time to soothe busy minds and bodies. It gives you an opportunity to learn about the tranquil spirit of Japanese traditional culture and take these inspiring ideas into your life. What made this collaboration successful is the common universal spirit of the two traditions.
Amazing things have happened as a result. We even received news that a particular student who was having trouble conceiving became pregnant. She believes it was due to the healing and relaxing properties of these practices.
What are the challenges of combining the tea ceremony with yoga?
Machiko: There aren’t many serious challenges, but we have had a lot of discussions to create this unique retreat. Our first incentive to combine the tea ceremony with yoga was to focus on the traditions’ spirituality and mindfulness.
At the same time, we wanted to shift the common sense that tea ceremony is a luxurious hobby only for classy people. This may be true in one way but doesn’t explain the whole. A tea gathering can be enjoyed by anyone, no matter whether you’re a practitioner or don’t know the manners. By combining yoga with the tea ceremony, we made this possible. Beginners are always welcomed to our yoga and tea ceremony sessions since we understand that everybody wants a tranquil experience.
What are your plans for Yoga & Chanoyu in the future?
Machiko: We want to share the core idea of Yoga & Chanoyu widely because we know mindfulness will become more essential to living a healthy life in the future. This opportunity shouldn’t just be for those who can join the session, but also for anyone who wants to experience tranquility. For example, you can do yoga on a chair and whisk a bowl of tea at the office. Apps and VR may also be effective.
Sen no Rikyu, who perfected Chanoyu in the sixteenth century, said, “The experience at a tea house is the oasis of urban life.” That is what we want to provide through Yoga & Chanoyu.
To learn more about Machiko Hoshina and Noriko Kirishima’s Yoga & Chanoyu sessions, please visit charen-jp.net.
