Sitting in Nature
My mind is whirling after a busy week at work.
We have held quite a big promotional event and the organising, emailing, telephone calls and ensuring everything is exactly where it needs to be; everyone has their schedules and spinning all the plates so that nothing crashes on the day, has left me feeling quite wrung out.
We all have periods of time like this, whether it be work or home life related, when we step into the demands of multiple factors and we deliver. Quite how much it has taken out of us to deliver, is never really known until its over.
That feeling of utter mental exhaustion. Wiped out. This definitely happened to me recently, thats for sure.
It actually wasn’t until I went out to spend some time on my own in nature, that I realised how much I was mentally spent.
I had planned to go on one of my local trails, a wander through moors, small woods and round a man made lake area. As I stepped further and further into this area, it felt like I was expelling droplets of the week behind me with every step. I began to notice buds out on some of the trees which was strange for this time of year, a robin that seemed to be accompanying me on my trail and a wisp of a breeze gently swaying through some of the long grasses.
As I turned a corner and along a straight pathway, I suddenly noticed just how quiet and still it was and chose to sit against one of the trees. I knew that if I allowed myself just to sit here and soak it all in, I in turn would also feel this stillness, calm and silence within.
It is well reported as to how much Nature can offer us, if only we take the time to engage with her. She can be our greatest teacher especially if we mirror her behaviours and let them resonate within.
The skies nearing the end of October were the brightest of blues with only a whisp of cloud. I remember noticing the shapes that were forming in these faint clouds and the comfort of reflecting on my own stories as if these clouds were drawing just for me. I watched them transform from one shape to another for quite a while. I also enjoyed soaking in the rich colour of blue.
There were areas on this path that were still quite boggy from recent rain and the smell from the earth had a depthless, quite heady and rich. I grew up by some cliffs along a coastal pathway and these cliffs had lots of ferns and heathers. The smell of this earth today brought me straight back to these cliffs and my childhood days of playing all day with siblings and friends. We would run up and down the cliffs and on to the sandy beach, running back up the hill with ease - those were the days!
My little robin was still with me, flittering from branch to branch; just close enough to let me know that he was still here. I tried to be as still as I could so that he would come as close as he dared. Jumping from a tree to a fern and then back again. he came to the fern opposite me and just sat there until I moved.
Bringing to mind the ferns - rich in autumn colours from deep rust to hazy lavenders and everything in between. A real feast for the eyes and the soul. I took a couple of photos, but no matter how good the cameras, it can never capture the same as your eyes. Maybe thats because its one dimensional and you have just really got to be here, live in the moment sharing this time. To see the way she moves, and shimmers in the light. Each a single leaf yet part of a whole. Plus the scents and sounds that around you. Thats the full picture that a camera can never give you.
I spent a couple of hours here and completely refreshed. My mind was no longer racing, in fact there wasn’t much going on in there at all!
I felt like I had decompressed and pressed my reset button. I walked out feeling so much taller and my spine felt re-aligned. My breathing was slower and smoother, even my skin felt more toned.
I personally like to go out to find silence, but more daily I sit in my back garden - sometimes before the human world really awakens and just watch the birds starting their day. I realise when I am without silence, how much I yearn for it just to feel ok.
I can not tell you how important sitting in nature has become to me, to destress, rebalance and find calmness in everything I do.
Why not give it a go for yourself? And I would love to hear how you get on.