Hello and welcome to five minutes in nature with me Liz Scott on Dartmoor on another glorious summer's day.
Above me I can see a herd of cattle roaming.
In the field to my right,
Just over the stone wall,
I can see some calves,
Very pretty little calves,
In the field there and there are sheep around as well.
This is a typical Dartmoor day,
Very lovely and warm and sunny and yeah it's a really glorious summer's day,
So good to be out.
And I thought I would continue the theme of what we started yesterday,
In fact we've been talking about it for a few days.
Do you remember we've been talking about uncomfortable thoughts and feelings,
Unsettled thoughts and feelings and how our feelings are letting us know that we're in unsettled thinking?
So a really good way to imagine it is that when I feel overwhelmed,
It doesn't mean that life is overwhelming,
It just means that I am in overwhelmed thinking.
Or when I feel like I'm not good enough,
It's just useful to know it's not telling me that anything about whether I'm good enough or not,
Those thoughts and feelings,
They're just telling me I'm having a thought storm in that moment which is flavoured with you're not good enough.
So when you start to really understand that your thoughts and feelings aren't to be trusted or what they're telling you is not to be trusted,
That's a really helpful first step in having a healthy,
Nourishing,
Easeful life.
There is a misunderstanding,
Sometimes people think that when I say,
You know,
Notice your thoughts and feelings,
Those unsettled thoughts and feelings,
You don't need to do anything about them,
They'll pass.
People sometimes misunderstand that,
They think it means that I'm telling them not to do anything ever,
It's like just to sit meditating all day or to sit on a sofa or to allow things just to happen and to not take action.
That's not what I'm suggesting in the slightest.
The way I see uncomfortable thoughts and feelings is that they are giving me good information and that information is to look within,
To look towards my inner compass.
So rather than looking at the story that I'm looping around in my head when I have a sense of uncomfortable,
Insecure thinking,
So that thought loop might be,
Oh you're not good enough for example,
Rather than get lost in that story and try and grapple it or fight it or try and obliterate it with positive thinking,
I know that I don't need to do anything,
It just,
The feelings I'm getting aren't telling me anything about whether I'm good enough or not,
They're just letting me know I'm lost in a bit of thinking.
That's really handy,
It's really useful information.
And so what I have realised over the last decade or so,
Which is so different than the way I used to respond to these unsettled thoughts and feelings in the past,
Because in the past I thought they were telling me to be a better person and to work on my self-development,
What I realise is that all that they are letting me know is to look within.
That's it,
Nothing else.
Uncomfortable thoughts and feelings,
Insecure thoughts and feelings are a reminder to look towards my inner compass.
And far from sitting on a sofa and doing nothing,
As my mind settles,
I understand what it is for me to do.
So my inner compass will give me information,
Nudges,
A sense of what is the next step.
So today is just a reminder that those uncomfortable thoughts and feelings are like signs.
They're like signs on the dashboard of your car.
They're not telling you anything about your driving.
The signs on the dashboard of your car are just giving you information about what's happening in your car.
And the feelings that you get are giving you information about where you are lost in thinking or thought storms or habitual thoughts at any one time.
That's such useful information,
Because as soon as you notice you're getting lost and you bring your attention away from the story,
Away from trying to fix things,
Away from the drama,
And you bring your attention back to your inner compass,
And you allow the thought storm to pass by.
When you do that,
You find that you're able to respond in whatever way you need to.
So today is just another reminder about looking within for your inner compass.
Those uncomfortable thoughts and feelings are telling you to look within.
As you look within,
You will know what to do.
It's not to try and get rid of those uncomfortable thoughts and feelings.
They will pass in time.
As you look within,
Follow the information,
Follow the behavior,
Follow the action,
Follow whatever it is you were called to do,
But do it from that settled,
Nourishing,
Peace of mind space.
Take that action as a result of listening to your inner compass.
