Here is a video of some of my favorites.

ASI EU Tour – The Necessity of Shoes from James Baye on Vimeo.

It all started on my last trip to London a few weeks ago. I arrived at my hotel room to find flowers and a card waiting for me. The unexpected delight of roses and tulips blooming in my room added such pleasure to my working days.

This time, arriving for our teaching tour at the same hotel, I felt the room was sparse and boring. A few days later, coming back from a client meeting, I found a bunch of dark purple and yellow striped roses, white, fragrant sweet peas and eucalyptus waiting on my nightstand. Everytime I caught a glimpse or a whiff my heart opened with joy.

Since we had to leave for Munich the next day, I wrapped the flowers and carried them with me on the train. They managed to last all the way from Munich to Tuebingen and then to Stuttgart.

At our workshop in Stuttgart a woman brought a beautiful bunch of pink tulips, small white fragrant twigs and red and yellow ranunculus for the room. At the end of the workshop she gave them to me and I took them back to the Hotel. The next day I carried them on the train to Amsterdam and placed the vase on the table of my room there.

Then, the lovely flowers came with me to Brussels where I left them behind this morning, in the stunning guest room of an incredibly beautiful retreat center called Koningsteen.

I am writing this from the ninth floor of my hotel in Copenhagen, all modern Danish furniture and retro 60′s decor. In a moment I will go out and find some blooms to lend beauty and inspiration to my stay here.

I wish I could write here that I counteract this with daily dedicated yoga, or a swim, or even a visit to the hotel gym du jour. But, honestly it isn’t so. While teaching the world reduces to what needs to be done next in the room and what is needed to keep the basics going. All else falls by the wayside.

So, I find the ground in a squat, while having a quick shower. Inhale the fragrance of my moisturizer while getting ready to leave. Dress in a color that reminds me of nature. Sneak a moment of non-linear movement on my hands and knees, squeezed in between the wall and my bed. Enjoy a daffodil growing on a traffic island we are crossing on the way to the workshop venue. Glance into a tiny dogs eyes as he walks by, reminding me of my pack at home. All those little moments informing my body, short bursts of delight that remind my heart of what is the ground to me.

Walked around a small quiet park in London, right after it stopped raining. Trees blooming in every imaginable shade. Bright pink, periwinkle blue, creamy white and this incredible yellow. Fresh green foliage, the scent of wet earth and the fragrance of the blooms awakening all senses. But most magical of all, a Robin singing, its beautiful call the only sound to be heard.

Working on the computer, particularly answering emails is the antithesis to embodied women’s practices. Yet, here I am, several hours each day in front of a screen. In an attempt to ease the impact, I am surrounding myself with all that I love. Flowers, vision boards, rooster ceramics, Indian statues, postcards and candles. My cats come by often and sleep under the warm lamp, the dogs wander by and behind me my old water turtle, Rishi splashes around in his tank. On the days my assistant Ashley comes to work with me, her little dog Molly joins my pack of six and we drink copious amounts of tea. All of this and the view out the window make computer work an almost sensual experience.

Once a year my Orchard turns purple with Bearded Iris. A few clumps of them had been planted by the mother of Carl, the man I bought the house from. She lived in a few houses in the neighborhood, and everywhere she lived, she planted these. Even though Carl and his wife Ellen are in their late 80′s now and his mom long gone, her Irises are still giving us joy.

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