Last year, around early spring, something shifted—and not in a poetic way. I was burned out, anxious for reasons I couldn’t quite name, and constantly wired in that exhausted-but-alert kind of state. Work was fine. Life was “fine.” But my brain never really turned off. I wasn’t sleeping. I was scrolling too much. I felt disconnected from everything, including myself.

At some point I started waking up with tightness in my chest—not panic attacks, exactly, but a feeling like I couldn’t quite take a deep breath.

I didn’t tell many people. It didn’t feel big enough to count as a “problem,” but it also wasn’t small enough to ignore. So I did what a lot of people do when they feel out of control: I tried to control something small.

For me, that became tea.

The First Cup

It started almost accidentally. I had a pouch of loose leaf black tea someone gave me for Christmas. One evening, while trying to avoid opening Instagram for the tenth time that hour, I decided to actually brew it. I didn’t have the right tools. I used a strainer and a chipped mug. Still, it smelled amazing—warm, earthy, slightly sweet.

Something about that small, quiet act of boiling water, waiting, and doing just one thing at a time… it helped. A little.

I wasn’t expecting anything. But I did feel different—just for a few minutes. A little more here. A little less scattered.

The Ritual That Stayed

I began making tea regularly. Not in a wellness-influencer kind of way. Just… when I could. I didn’t post about it. I didn’t buy a special teapot. I just made space for it. Ten minutes in the morning. Sometimes again in the evening.

It gave my day soft edges.

There’s no dramatic story here. Tea didn’t fix my anxiety. It didn’t replace therapy or solve everything. But it became one of the few things that consistently helped me feel more like myself—especially on days when nothing else did.

If You’re Curious

If any of this sounds familiar—if you’re feeling frayed, or just need something to anchor you—I’d quietly suggest giving tea a try. Real tea, if you can. The kind that’s not rushed. The kind that asks you to pay attention for a few minutes.

I’ve been getting mine from a small site called numatea.com. They source Chinese teas and explain them in a way that’s not pretentious or overwhelming. It just feels… human. Like someone behind it actually drinks tea too.

No pressure. Just sharing what’s helped me.

More info: numatea.com

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