Day 1: Gardens & Castles

Upon my arrival, I met up with my childhood friend, Amanda, a university history professor and cultural anthropologist. It worked out that we both would be doing work research at the same time in Edinburgh, Scotland. Here's us posing in front of Edinburgh Castle and looking over onto Edinburgh, after dinner at the Witchery Restaurant. We spent the day at the Royal Botanical Gardens.

We visited the Royal Botanical Gardens for different reasons, so we split up and met up later. I had good weather most of the trip, but this was the one day where there were high winds and rain, so our visit to the gardens was cut short but we were able to sit in their cafe and share notes about what we learned. Amanda's research focused on the Chinese plant and tree section of the garden and the way this influenced nature in Scotland and the world in general.

As for me, you may already know but I'll go over it again here. I teach about the 5 Elements of Body Awareness based on the elements of Ether, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. I can teach my class in doors but I'm deepening my learning on how to take it outdoors. Parks, gardens, forests, etc. are wonderful places to host a class and so the Royal Botanical Gardens would be a key place that I would have the honor to use for a class or workshop. I was able to learn the flow of the park and see how I could tie in each section of the park for a future class.

I took so many pictures, but the pictures do not do the place justice! Here are some below. The park featured each natural element, and the walking paths allow for reflection time. Also, the cafe and other seating areas are great to rest or use for writing spaces.

The first day felt fruitful in so many ways!