Pausing At The Edge Of The Year- Dec 29

As the year draws to a close, it’s a natural time to pause and reflect — to notice what you’d like to carry with you into 2026, and what you might be ready to release.

In today’s 5 Minutes in Nature, Liz explores the idea of slowing down. It’s a theme that has surfaced again and again this year, and one she knows will continue to guide her in the months ahead.

As you look toward the year to come, what are you hoping to take forward with you?

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me Liz Scott.

Walking beside the River Ex,

I'm looking after my mum and I come on my regular morning walk when I'm here in Exeter and I'm standing at the quayside and it feels really still,

Very still.

It's still a little bit dark and you might hear people talking or walking or running or cycling.

It's the sort of time of day when people are usually up doing a bit of exercise,

Taking their dogs out for walks and as I was walking today I heard the birds actually in the bushes starting to sing.

It's the first time I've really heard them and I thought that's a bit early.

I don't expect the birds to start singing in the morning until probably early spring so it's lovely just to hear them.

Over the next few days I'm just reflecting on some of the things that feel important to me as I'm coming to the end of one year and starting the next and I wonder if this might be a time for you to spend a bit of time reflecting,

Just gently reflecting on what feels important for you to take forward and maybe things that are important for you to leave behind as we move into a new year.

Today is all about slowing down.

It's a theme I return to time and time again and as soon as I feel as though I'm close to understanding it,

I've forgotten it and I'm back into rushing.

It's something I never quite get but is always important for me and slowing down is what I want to reflect on with you.

The other day I wanted to write to an author.

There was a map in the book that I'd read and I was just wondering whether I might be able to use that map and I went about trying to find how I could contact the author,

Expecting a website and an email address to start the process of emailing him to ask permission and the more I looked,

The more I realised that whilst there was a web address for the book,

There was no email.

The only way to contact him was to write and strangely I felt something inside me go ah.

There was something quite nice,

Not just bashing off another email and pressing the send key,

Something quite nice about sitting down reflecting on what I wanted to ask,

Composing it,

I typed it up,

Printed it off,

Signed it,

Writing an envelope,

Finding a stamp,

Walking to the postbox and putting my request into the letterbox,

Knowing that it probably wasn't going to reach him for at least a week and he may or may not respond,

I didn't know.

And funnily enough,

Rather than feeling a sense of agitation that I wasn't going to get an answer sooner,

I just felt a sense of relief.

It felt like I was slowing down to the way life works.

When I was walking on my pilgrimage early in the year,

That was a message I got so many times,

This message of slowing down and for me as I embark on 2026,

I realised that it's something I want to carry on with me.

There are many advantages in our world of jumping in cars to get somewhere quick,

Many advantages of using the computer,

Of phoning people up,

Of going on online courses and there's many advantages and I want to still continue those but not at the expense of meeting people or walking.

I went for a walk the other day with a friend and we just walked and chatted and there was something so gentle and peaceful about the action of just walking and talking.

Many times I find that I get into hurry up mode so I want to get rid of all my to-do lists so I can slow down and do something I want to do and I'm just going to explore that this year I think.

Is there a way I can just slow down and encompass life at a slower pace?

So that's one thing for me to reflect on as I move forward,

This the beauty of slowing down and what it means and the connections I might make.

That for me has been certainly a message of 2025.

I'd love to hear what you're learning for yourself in your life.

It might not be slowing down,

It might be something completely different and over the next few days together let's just reflect on things that we feel we want to bring more into our lives and things that maybe are time to let go of.

So let me know your thoughts,

As always you know I love to hear from you.

Reviews

Simplification is something I think about often. There are elements of slowing down, boundaries, decluttering, and looking inward in this for me. A tall order and perhaps contrary to actual simplification! I need a simple path to simplification 😀

For 2026 I'd love to slow down and find the time to make some important decisions as to how I want the last few years of my working life to pan out. However close family members are urging me to keep striving for more/longer/greater and I'm trying to resist the push. Moving into 2026 on my own terms is, at the moment, proving tricky!

Thanks a lot for the reminder. As I'm a very anxious person and I've dealt with many anxiety and panick attacks, I've also had to learn to slow down. And just like you've mentioned, it is an ongoing process - something we've got to keep reminding ourselves of frequently. This year, I've taken up meditating every night when I go to bed and it has helped me a lot. In fact, Insight Timer has just reminded me I've been meditating for 239 days non-stop. Once again, thanks a lot for all the wise words!