And welcome.
Find a comfortable position.
Maybe seated or lying down.
And let your eyes softly close.
Let your breath begin to deepen.
And maybe place one hand on your belly.
One in your heart.
Just check in with your body now.
Check in with your minds.
In this new series,
We'll explore the lessons that Scottish nature can teach us.
Simple insights we can take into our own life.
And hold on to.
After our eyes have opened.
Normal life has received.
For now.
Let's settle.
Take a deep breath in.
And let it go.
Breathe in again.
And as you exhale.
Maybe let your shoulders drop a little.
One more inhale.
Notice if you are holding any tension anywhere.
And you soften.
And you let it go.
As you continue to inhale.
And exhale.
Just let today begin to loosen its grip on you.
Just imagine yourself.
Walking now.
Beside an old hedgerow.
It's somewhere deep in Scotland.
And you're at that turning point of the year.
What late summer is he using into autumn?
Ear still holds some warmth.
There's a coolness underneath it now.
A hint of the changing season.
The light is lower in the sky.
More golden than it was a month ago.
Ahead of you.
You see some brambles.
Tangled and thorny and sprawling well beyond where anyone planted them.
Because probably no one did.
They simply took the space.
Made it their own.
I'm closer.
Look at the planet a little more now.
Those green serrated leaves.
With sharp thorns on the branches.
In between them all.
Beautiful perfect berries.
The one.
Many.
All at once.
Hard green berries,
Barely formed.
Berries flushed red,
Not reddy,
Then sharp if you were to taste them.
And here and there.
Black purple beddies.
Soft and full and ready to fall into your hands at the slightest touch.
All of this.
On the same plans.
The same day.
The same sunlight's falling on all of them.
Equally.
And yet each one.
Is somewhere completely different in its own becoming.
Let yourself hold that image for a moment.
Green and reds and blacks.
All at once.
There's a lot in here for us.
We hold many different parts of ourselves all at once.
Some developing.
I'm nearly ready.
And some have come to fruition.
Maybe there's a part of you like the right berry.
Something that feels ready.
Finish.
Easy to reach for.
But maybe there's a part still hard and green.
Something that hasn't had its season yet.
It isn't meant to.
Ask yourself.
.
.
Is there something in you?
You've been expecting to be ripe before it's time.
Some hard little green things.
You've been reaching for anyway.
I was wondering why it isn't sweeter.
There's nothing wrong.
With the Green Berry.
It's simply not where the black one is yet.
But it will get there.
In its own time.
Sweetening and growing as it's meant to.
When it's ready.
Imagine yourself reaching out.
In choosing one berry.
Unripe berries.
Feel the very slight give as it comes away in your hands.
Easily.
Notify.
There is no foresight.
It was simply ready.
We're simply there.
And that's the lesson for today.
We sure are.
We take what's right.
And we leave,
What isn't?
We trust it will be.
One day.
Just as we trust in the plant to keep doing its quiet work.
The rest,
Whether we're watching or not.
We can trust ourselves to do the same.
We each have the potential to grow.
We each have the potential to develop our talents.
Our own berries.
In our own time.
In our own ways.
Let the hedgerow slowly fade gently back from view now.
Invite that feeling to stay with you.
The green,
The red and the black.
All held on one branch.
None of them late.
All of them.
Just where they are meant to be.
At some point.
All will reach their ripeness.
Slowly begin to bring your awareness back into the room around you.
Feel the surface beneath you.
Maybe wiggle your fingers and your toes.
Take a slow breath in.
And exhale.
And you're ready.
And then blink open your eyes.
Carry the lesson of the Bramble with you today.
Not everything ripens all at once.
And that is how it's supposed to be.
But with time.
All our projects,
Our plans and our dreams.
And come into being.
Thank you.
For sharing this practice with me.
