Green tea and Zen Baka

This was a free event that I went to at the Edinburgh Fringe. It was held in a rooftop garden at Dance Base in the Grassmarket.

On arriving at the garden, the audience were given cups of green tea and plastic sheets to sit on. There was a long wall where we could sit.

While sitting there, I became aware that there was a man leaning against a tree. As the performance went on, he walked around the garden, looking at various plants, blowing on a plant, looking at insects and reacting to passing birds, then sitting on a seat, drinking green tea, and tossing a smooth stone from hand to hand. At the end each audience member was handed a stone.

Watching the performance was like a form of mindfulness meditation in itself. Occasionally I would find my mind wandering, but then I would draw my attention back to the performance. It really made me think about how calming it can be to spend time in the natural world without judging it (so often in my own garden I just spot all the jobs that need to be done!).