Hello and welcome to five minutes in nature with me Liz Scott.
Oh I'm just sitting beside a tree here and looking at the birds that are above me singing in the trees bouncing around.
They're enjoying the autumn sunshine a little bit like me.
Not sure what bird that is.
And I am in our village in a grassy area with a few trees around me.
Lovely warm day.
Quite close to the lane in the village,
So you might hear the occasional car going up and down the road.
But for me,
Just sitting here overlooking this grassy patch,
And the grass is very lush and thick and green at the moment,
It's just a joy.
Yesterday I was with a friend and as we were walking we were both reflecting on how blessed we feel in our lives.
Neither of us have lots and lots of money and lots and lots of material things and yet as we were walking and just noticing the environment and the birds and the nature around us,
We realized how blessed we were and what a privilege it is to be alive.
And my friend said something which really resonated and I want to share with you.
She said,
You know,
The more I'm grateful for the simple things,
The more I see.
The more I'm grateful for the simple things,
The more I see.
And it reminded me,
What she said,
Of my walking pilgrimage 630 miles across England when I had slowed down.
I was walking,
I was going at a slow pace,
But my mind slowed down too.
And I could replace the idea of gratitude with slowness.
I could reframe and rephrase what she said to the more that I slow down,
The more I enjoy the simple things and the more I see.
As I slowed down,
I began to notice nature around me.
It began to be something was part of my life,
Rather than just something I went outside and looked at and thought,
That's very nice,
Went back inside again.
I became part of nature as I walked.
And it was true.
I began to feel more gratitude,
More gratefulness as I slowed down.
And the simple things became exquisite.
When I was walking and I found myself feeling tired and I took time to sit down,
I noticed the joy of taking the weight off my feet.
On the days that it was very warm and I found refuge in cool churches,
I really felt the joy of the coolness of the churches.
As I saw spring coming up all around me,
Because I was walking during the spring on my pilgrimage,
The flowers,
I noticed them coming in the hedgerows,
The trees about to come into leaf.
I noticed those very small things,
And it seemed as though the slower I became,
The more I began to see.
It feels as though there's a little mixture here between gratitude,
Being slow,
Enjoying the simple things in life,
And actually seeing more and experiencing more.
As I was walking with my friend,
We paused to look at the river.
We were walking beside the River Dart and we just noticed the glinting of the sunshine on the water's edge itself.
If we were rushing by in life,
If we were trying to get quickly from A to B,
We wouldn't have seen it.
And as we noticed it and felt that gratitude rise within us.
It felt as though we were able to see and experience life in the most exquisite of ways.
I would love to know your reflections on this.
The more I'm grateful for the simple things,
The more I see.
What do you see when you feel that gratitude?
What do you see when you slow down?
In this moment,
Give yourself 30 seconds,
Just 30 seconds to pause and to look around you and really see whatever environment you're in.
See and hear and feel where you are.
Notice where you are.
You might be outside,
You might be inside,
It doesn't matter.
Just notice.
And see if you can feel that gratitude for the simple things,
And see if you're able to see more clearly and notice more.
Let me know your reflections,
And of course,
Don't forget to join me again tomorrow for another Five Minutes in Nature.
