Pause And Prepare - January 17

For today’s January reflection, Liz is preparing to step out into a rainy night. It’s a good reminder to pause and prepare before heading outdoors. The same principle applies when facing an unsettling situation. Take a moment to reflect and center yourself. Grounding your attention can make all the difference. Allow yourself the space to pause before stepping into a challenging moment.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to 5 minutes in nature with me Liz Scott. Well today you find me indoors and I am about to take the dog out for his final trip into the night which I usually do at about 9 o'clock at night and I thought I'd record inside because it is absolutely pouring with rain outdoors and it's really hard to record when I'm outdoors and it's raining and it just made me aware that it's useful to remember that sometimes when we go outdoors or when I go outside and I know it's going to be stormy or it's going to be wet it's really important for me to prepare myself properly so when I go out and take the dog for a walk and it's raining I make sure I've got my waterproof trousers on and my Wellington boots and I've got a waterproof coat and all of that is just really good preparation in order that when I go out into the weather whatever the weather might be I am suitably clothed and prepared for it and I always just pause before going out going out into the storm or going out into the rain because that stillness that sense of waiting of anticipation before stepping out into that weather is I think really important it's the time when I know I am going to get wet and I know that it's going to be cold and I know that it's going to be chilled and damp outside and I just stand for a moment in the dry and the warm bracing myself for what I know is about to happen and it's really useful to do that not just when I step out into the rain it's really useful to do that have that moment of pause when I know I'm about to step into a situation that might be upsetting or unsettling so that moment of pause is so useful that moment of taking stock of breathing of ensuring that if I'm about to step into a situation that I know is going to be potentially upsetting that I've prepared myself now stepping into the rain I prepare myself with the correct clothing but stepping into a situation it's really useful to prepare myself by just bringing my attention inwards by taking a deep breath by allowing myself to focus bring my awareness to that solid space within me you see the temptation is always to go to the stories into the upset and to the unsettling thoughts it's so tempting to try and fix those thoughts or try and imagine the future and try and work out if this person says this I'll say that and if they say that I'll say the other and do you ever do that where you find yourself lost in a series of thoughts about what may or what may not happen in the future and actually just bringing your attention back or when I bring my attention back I bring it to that space of now and I prepare myself and I metaphorically clothes myself in whatever is needed in order for me to be in the best possible space when I step into that situation so that's what I wanted to reflect on today is just noticing that just before I step into the storm step into the wet step into the rain I take a moment to gather myself I make sure I'm wearing the correct clothing and then from that space I step into whatever the weather is and isn't it wise as well to know that we can do that in any situation in our lives to give ourselves that time of stillness that space of reflection of grounding ourselves and knowing that we are in the best possible state to step into whatever might be there to face us so that's what we're thanking nature for with her wisdom today