Hello and welcome to 5 minutes in nature with me Liz Scott.
Out and about on a pitch black evening night.
I've just got a few stars above me lighting the way but I'm walking up a lane and the lane is overhung with trees and I can't see a thing.
It's amazing.
I usually am able to go out walking in the night time and use my eyes,
They adjust to night vision but this evening I've got to use a torch.
I thought I'd pause and have a chat with you.
Earlier today I went out and I was walking and it was so windy,
Very blowy.
The noise of the wind rustling through the remaining leaves and the tree was loud.
And when I got up onto the moorland itself,
It was so windy I couldn't actually record anything.
And as I was walking up onto the moors,
I came across somebody,
A man who was just sorting out his hedgerow.
He was someone that came to to a talk I did earlier in the week on the pilgrimage book that I'm just launching.
And as part of the talk,
I was sharing how I had really slowed down during my pilgrimage.
I'd really felt this sense of slowing down and how important it was to go slower in life.
And as I walked day after day for seven weeks,
That sense of slowing down seemed to seep into my soul.
And he said,
You know,
That really resonated with me slowing down.
And this is a man who has retired and who I guess in many ways you might say has slowed down.
But he said,
I think it's so important.
Sometimes what I do is I go to a five bar gate overlooking a field and I lean on the gate.
And I just look over the gate and I actually look and notice what is there and notice the colors and the smells and I feel the wind on my face and the temperature and I'm really present to what's there.
And I loved it and as I walked up in the wind and it was blowing so cold it was that I found myself not able to pause for too long but I did really look at the wild meadow that links up towards the moorland of Dartmoor and it's just got some yellowing stalks of different plants that are still peeping up amidst the green of the grass,
Things like the hogweed,
Which now is brittle and brown and has got seeds on the seed head.
And I know that these seeds are going to be food for the birds.
And I so enjoyed this sense of being present.
And even now,
As I stand in this lane,
The lane has got steep sides on either side.
I haven't got my torch on at the moment,
But if I look up,
I can see the silhouette of the trees as they arch overhead.
If I look down,
I can just see darkness.
I can't see where I'm going to put my foot next.
And as I was walking to the lane,
As I looked into the sky and saw the clear dark sky with the stars pinpricking the darkness with deep yellow,
I just smiled because it was wonderful to be present to this night,
To the coolness and dampness of the nighttime air,
And to feel in my lungs the coolness dampness come through my nose and deep into the lungs as it fills with each breath.
So today is just a reminder to slow down.
And slowing down for me is not just about physically going slower.
For me,
Slowing down is all about allowing my mind to settle.
And it seems that when my mind settles,
I see more,
I am present to more.
There is more for me to enjoy and to witness.
So what is slowing down to you?
And how might you slow down and really see things in your environment?
I encourage you to go and see nature.
Whether it's a tree or some plants or a park,
It doesn't matter if you're in the middle of a city or you do live in a rural location.
Go and be present to nature.
Look at the sky,
Look at the clouds,
Look at the night sky,
Look at the stars and the Be present and allow yourself to deeply see what is in front of you.
What is it like to slow down for you?
I look forward to hearing from you and don't forget to join me again tomorrow for another five minutes in nature.
