Peace, Tea, and Gauranga: Daily Rituals for a Bhakti Life

Peace, Tea, and Gauranga: Daily Rituals for a Bhakti Life

If you’ve ever found comfort in the steam of a freshly brewed cup or paused amid chaos to just breathe, you’ll feel right at home here. Mark and Maria of Juicy MagiK bring warmth, laughter, and soul together in ways that feel both sacred and playful. Their mornings meander through tea-making, mantra practice, and the occasional bird story, always returning to a spirit of gratitude. Let’s step into their day—the tea is hot, the conversation never forced, and a touch of Gauranga lingers in the air.

The Gentle Power of Herbal Tea

With hands wrapped around a cup, the world slows. Mark puts it simply—herbal tea is a small ritual to calm the body and center the mind. In a yoga lifestyle, it’s easy to overlook these gentle, grounding acts. Herbal teas, or tisanes, come without the jolting jangle of caffeine. They’re warm, inviting, and soft on the senses.

They talk often about letting go of stimulants: coffee, alcohol, anything that gets the mind racing. The point is never to shame, only to invite a softer landing at day’s start or finish.

Sometimes, the tea cabinet overflows with every possible blend. There’s playful talk of a “strategic tea reserve,” with more teas than most governments hold oil or bitcoin. Mark jokes, Maria laughs, and the tea steeps quietly beside them.

Why herbal tea?

• No stimulants or intoxicants, just ease.
• Perfect for winding down or pausing in a busy day.
• Opens space for reflection and kindness.

For tea lovers seeing ritual as part of wellness, more inspiration awaits in this Yoga Lifestyle Tea Ritual.

Making Tea Sacred: Basho, Blessings, and Breath

They quote Basho, the Japanese poet: “In making a cup of tea I stopped the war.” Can you picture that? A world on pause, set down for one breath, because water boils and leaves swirl.

Here’s the magic recipe they share:

• Boil water with care (sometimes the simple act feels like a ceremony).
• Choose a favorite blend from the overflowing reserve.
• Pour, steep, and watch the steam rise. Pause here. Let the mind follow the vapor upward.
• While waiting, bring the hands to the heart. Add gratitude.

Before the first sip, offer a quiet blessing. Maria and Mark make a simple prayer, offering the tea to the Lord. They thank life, body, mind, even the little cup of warmth.

A simple tea blessing:

Dear Lord, please come and enjoy this tea. Thank you for life, this body, this mind, this consciousness. Bless this tea and all beings.

Big or small, sacred is what you make of it.

Gauranga Breathing: Stillness in the Middle of Everything

Tea in hand, eyes closed, they ease into a Gauranga breathing meditation. It goes like this: On the inhale, quietly repeat “Gauranga” in the mind. Let it stretch the length of the breath. On the exhale, do the same. The sound is said to lift, soothe, and connect, no matter where you are.

You don’t need incense or silence—just intention and the rhythm of breath. This chant, he explains, remembers a being “more beautiful than molten gold” (a nod to Lord Chaitanya in Bhakti tradition). For a few minutes, everything softens.

How Gauranga breathing works:

1. Find a comfortable seat, tea nearby.
2. Close the eyes if you wish.
3. Inhale, thinking “Gauranga.”
4. Exhale, repeat the sound softly or in your mind.
5. Continue for as many rounds as feels right.

Curious about how mantra blends with breathing? See this Gauranga Mantra with Breath video for a guided practice.

Mark sets a timer, mostly to avoid getting lost in the spaciousness—or, as he jokes, to avoid getting “in trouble with the misses.” Uploading videos daily brings its own challenges, with internet speeds as changeable as moods. But even so, they always pause for this breath practice. Sometimes for a few rounds. Sometimes for ten or twenty minutes.

When done before bed, they promise sleep comes gentler.

A Moment for Blessings and Loss

Beneath the warmth and routine lies a tender core. Today, a small bird collided with their window and died, its body still warm but spirit gone. Mark picked up the bird, hoping to sense even a spark of life. There was none, but even then, he offered Gauranga and a gentle burial—incense, a reading, a prayer, and earth over feathers.

This isn’t just a sad story; it’s folded into their practice. Life in the body passes quickly, says Mark, but the soul, the real self, continues. He quotes the Bhagavad Gita: “I am the beginning, the middle, and the end.” There’s no hurry, no pretense of having all the answers. Just a reminder that any small act—making tea, offering a blessing, saying goodbye to a bird—can be full of presence and care.

Why Simple Rituals Matter

What stands out isn’t the fancy talk, the rare teas, or even the spiritual vocabulary. It’s the insistence that anyone can share a cup, a chant, or a kind gesture. This practice isn’t just for monks or yogis.

Rituals for Daily Life:

• Bring herbal tea to work and offer some to a friend (with or without a blessing, hearts open either way).
• Share food, especially vegetarian, as an act of kindness.
• Avoid hoarding—of tea, of things, of resentment. Greed, lust, and anger, Mark says, are the big obstacles in spiritual life.
• Let go, share, and feel the ache of it. Even when it’s hard, it’s worth it.

There’s a running joke about their “strategic tea reserve” overflowing, and sometimes precious teas go stale. That little sting is part of unlearning the habit of holding on too tightly.

Moving Beyond Stimulants: A Quiet Revolution

It’s easy to get attached. For years, Maria was hooked on coffee. The ritual was what mattered most—cupping the mug, feeling the heat, a moment of comfort. Gradually, herbal tea took over. The comfort stayed, but the jitters left. Sleep came easier. Moods didn’t whip around as much. There’s no “hero’s journey” here, just a gentle nudge: you don’t have to give up the ritual, just the edge.

Coffee gets replaced by chamomile. The pause after a busy day becomes a little sanctuary, far from noise and agitation.

A Table of Everyday Rituals

Letting Go, Gaining Peace

Accumulation isn’t just about stuff. It’s the habits—rushing, grasping, running loops around worries. Letting things go and sharing what you have softens those edges. You can hear the tenderness when they talk about giving away extra tea, small kitchen things, or even just a bit of time. “It hurts so bad when things you so carefully considered accumulating just go bad,” Mark says, shaking his head, laughing it off.

But this is the healing—sharing, offering, loosening up around things and emotions. Every cup you give, every sweet word, every pause for breath, opens up the heart just a little more.

Real Gratitude, Not Just Talk

Their days end as they began, with thankfulness. Mark slips honey into Maria’s cup—too much, maybe, just to sweeten her day. They laugh about the “skillful art of oversweetening,” about the challenges of letting go, about blessings large and small.

Before closing, they lift their tea cups to friends around the world. “We don’t get much warm and comforting sounds from the radio or from TV or the social media.” These moments, these tea-and-breath rituals, cut through the static. One Gauranga at a time.

If you want to explore more traditional Bhakti yoga practices in daily life, the Practice of Bhakti-Yoga PDF is a gem.

Take This With You

Warmth. Breathing. Chants. Blessings. A tea break that goes well beyond caffeine or herbs. This isn’t about perfection—Mark and Maria tease, fumble with the timer, forget the honey, lose track of whether they’ve pressed stop.

But there’s a full-hearted invitation: make your own cup, take a breath, chant a little, and see if peace slips in, even for a moment. Maybe there’s no temple near you, but there’s always a little sanctuary in a teacup and a word sung out on the breeze.

Haribol. Peace be with you. And if nobody’s told you today—thanks for sharing your warmth, your attention, your being.

Namaste from the road. The kettle’s going, and you’re welcome any time.

More Living Connections:

• Try starting a tea ritual inspired by this Yoga Lifestyle Tea Ritual video.
• For guided Gauranga meditation, watch Mantra Meditation – Gauranga Mantra with breath.

If you read this, the invitation stands: put the kettle on, say a word of blessing, and let the next breath carry you home.