Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me Liz Scott.
I'm down beside Exeter Quay again.
I've walked from my mum's.
I go and help mum every other weekend and I'm sheltering at the moment.
You might be able to hear the occasional vehicle or cyclist or walker go by but right at the moment I'm sheltering from a very heavy downpour.
I look behind me and I can see this dark dark grey sky with a rainbow going through it and I'm just looking at this very heavy rain pattering on the river.
And you know I thought I would just share a five minutes in nature whilst I'm sheltering here because I've really noticed as I've walked along the river how the river has really recovered since I saw it a few weeks ago.
If you remember the summer we've had has been really really dry and I regularly walk by the river when I'm staying at my mum's and helping her and the River X over the summer has been low.
There's been a sort of a green scum on it and it just looked rather bedraggled and unhealthy.
And as I was walking along today I just noticed it was flowing more.
The green scum had gone.
There was a sense of it its vibrancy had returned and its vibrancy has returned because the rain has returned.
And then I looked around at the the grass when I walked through the Cathedral Green yesterday.
The grass in the Cathedral Green over the summer has been yellow.
It's looked really tatty and shabby.
It's back to a vibrant green again.
And this just reminded me about the importance of balance.
You see we engage in our lives and as we go through life we have nudges within us that help us realize we are out of balance.
And it's just useful to take notice of those nudges.
So for example when I look at the river and it's got the scum on it and it's low and it just looks unhealthy.
Well that's a sign it's out of balance.
When the grass is is yellow that's a sign it's out of balance.
And for me I'm beginning to be really cognizant of the times when I feel out of balance.
For me often it's if I feel really tired.
If I feel tired and I feel a bit snappy or I feel a bit like I'm walking through treacle and everything feels really hard.
Well I know something's not not right within me.
I'm out of balance.
And I listen in to that wisdom.
I listen in to the wisdom that helps me,
Guides me as to what I might do to redress the balance.
In nature it's the rain.
The rain comes and suddenly things look fresh and healthy again.
In my life it might mean I need to go to bed early.
Or it might mean I need to go out for a walk.
Or it might mean I just need to give people a little bit of a wide berth because I'm really not feeling up to conversations in the moment.
So notice what it is for you when you feel out of balance.
You know what are the symptoms and signs?
It's just really helpful to know.
And there are times when you've just got to go through it.
You've just got to carry on.
If for example you've got a deadline or maybe you're traveling or maybe you've got something happening in your world,
In your work.
You've got a poorly child or a relative that you're looking after.
In those instances you need to push through often that out of balance feeling because you are absolutely compelled in the short term to fulfill a responsibility or to engage with something.
And being out of balance for a little while,
A bit like the river and the grass,
They looked really a bit beleaguered over the summer.
It's fine for a short term so long as you re-nourish yourself or are re-nourished and you ensure that that happens.
So today I'm just asking you to reflect.
Are you in balance?
Do you feel like there's something missing?
If you feel out of balance,
Is this short term?
Is this something that you absolutely just need to crack on with and do or feel responsible for?
And if so,
When are you going to give yourself time to rebalance again?
Listen out for the signs and really strive to notice when you're out of balance and to do something about it.
