-
Weathering
Inner and Outer Weather Hello, how are you weathering? Three and a half months on and I’m back! I have written this post so many times. There are almost as many versions as there has been weather. I’ve been noticing my own bewildered overwhelm at all sorts of inner and outer, literal and metaphorical weather.…
-
Grief and letting go
Hello, I wish everyone well in this bright sunny August here in the UK. The photo in this post was taken on a sunny late July day last week, featuring two rather magnificent Belted Galloways with the coastline and Whitby headland in the background. I apologise to those who were expecting an Open Practice in…
-
Jackdaws and being comfortably uncomfortable
Hello It’s been a while since my last post. I hope the infrequency has at least given a gentle pause, and I hope all is as well as it can be. This website had a little meltdown earlier on in the year, so my blogs for the last few months are also missing. You can…
-
Happy Winter Solstice
Hello and Happy Winter Solstice! As we move into the festive season, I hope all is well. Here we are, on the shortest day and the longest night. Solstice fell today, 22 December at 3.27am GMT. The sun is at its lowest in the sky, at its most southerly point. The word ‘solstice’ comes from…
-
Clear seeing
Here the deciduous trees have mostly shed their foliage. For the last few weeks I’ve collected a range of fallen leaves in preparation for an exercise in a facilitation day I’m doing. The leaves vary widely in shape, size and colour, even from the same tree. The range of oak tree leaf patterns and distinctive…
-
Happy Samhain
A short piece today which you can also read on Substack along with a mindfulness of breathing audio. I am wishing you well wherever you are on this Samhain. You probably know that Samhain is the old name for All Hallow’s Eve, the fire festival traditionally marking the change of season from summer to winter.…
-
Feeding the heart, letting the light in
Hello! Here we are in mid October, a month of hips and haws. Autumn in Northern England feels the most cantankerous of seasons. So much change. We are still tethered to sensations of the sun’s warmth and a lingering awareness of summer with cheery late blooms and heady scents of blousy flowers. Yet shorter days,…
-
Rhythm
Hello, I hope all is well. Thank you if you’ve recently signed up to Outside Thought on Substack. Welcome! The earth keeps on turning and we move into a currently hot Autumn here in the UK. As Bilberry picking season comes to an end, my thoughts have turned to taking time out. The borage is…
-
Reasons to be mindful, part one
This week I read an article in The Guardian newspaper about ways to bolster our ‘psychological immune system’ in times of challenge and stress. Roughly understood, our psychological immunity is how our mental health copes with all the situations and stuff life can throw at it. Written by Ammar Kalia, I was struck by what…
-
Blue
Hello. This month I’m deviating from the ‘still’ theme of my last three newsletters, reining in my love of birds, and instead heading into three joyous plants that are currently out there in full magnificent blue gorgeousness. The potentially contentiously blue, maybe blue-black, probably purple, of delicious Bilberries; the brilliant blue of borage, so loved…
