Have you ever been served milk tea from a bowl stacked on someone's head? Probably not... unless you've been to Mongolia. This is how Mongolians have welcomed guests for centuries, and it has inspired me to mirror their warmhearted spirit whenever we perform our own bowl dance.

Dancing with bowls requires quite a bit of practice, especially if we don't want to disappoint our guests in the audience. After numerous rehearsals, we finally learned how to lock our heads in the same position without freezing the flow of our movements.

This skill, however, cannot be mastered by practice alone. It does not depend on how flat your head is, or your relation to Genghis Khan. Rather, the secret to balancing bowls is harnessing the mind.

To do this, you must switch your brain to “Mongolian Mode,” tying down any wild thoughts and shutting out distractions. You can’t be so expressive that you neglect the porcelain on your noggin, nor should you be overly cautious and worry about every step. It's all in the head, because it's all on the head. Just focus, stay calm, and tell yourself you can do it. You'll be serving fragrant milk tea in no time.

February 6, 2013