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The Fractal Dimension of Stress Reduction Imagine you have an hour to recover after a stressful week. Which of these four places would you choose? Vote below. Please choose before reading on. There is no correct answer, although there are some interesting reasons why one landscape might appeal more than another. Nature is not one kind of place I doubt we think of nature as if it were a single type of environment – of course it's not. It might mean sitting beside a river, walk

Made to Wonder: Spiritual Direction for the Neurodivergent Soul There is a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from spending years trying to think in shapes that don’t fit you. Many neurodivergent people know it well. The constant effort required to translate your inner world into something legible, linear, and neatly packaged. This invisible labour never quite stops. The fatigue and loneliness that comes with never quite feeling seen, known or fully understood is very r

We might assume that character strengths are a result of our spiritual practice but I think the loop runs both ways. In this post, I want to introduce (probably) the most scientifically rigorous personality test, useful in the world of spiritual direction: the VIA Character Strengths Survey and get you started with some ideas about how you might find it useful. Spiritual practice can become strangely vague. We may know we want more depth, more steadiness, more connection, mor

Last week I was lucky to be in Assisi, a place I love. I identify with Francis of Assisi - his deep care for nature and creation, his appreciation of quiet spaces, and his love of community and life. Because running in nature is one of the ways I connect with God and myself, I usually like to explore new places on foot. This time, I climbed Mount Subasio, the mountain where Francis would go to pray above the city. Although I’d set off early in the morning, it was already warm

Building on from my previous post on the breath I want to share a breathing practice that you can use day to day to help bring, and build, calm. Coherent Breathing, sometimes called resonance breathing, is where you intentionally regulate your breathing rate to about five to six breaths per minute, which is achieved by slowing your breath cycle down to around 12 seconds per breath. The fundamental practice of slow, rhythmic breathing has roots in ancient traditions like Yogic

A pilgrimage is traditionally understood as a journey undertaken to a sacred or spiritually significant place, often for religious devotion, personal transformation, or spiritual growth. That definition carries centuries of history: long roads, holy sites, and days or weeks spent walking with intention. But recently, I discovered something quietly transformative. Even a short walk of say ten minutes, twenty, the length of a lunch break can become a pilgrimage when approached

There are moments when words become a kind of interference. Perhaps you know this feeling. You arrive somewhere carrying something enormous, something that does not yet have a shape, and the last thing you need is someone trying to give it one: A faith that has shifted beyond recognition. A relationship that has broken. A loss that is still too close and too raw to be spoken about coherently. Someone, with the best of intentions, reaches for words. Explanations. Encouragement

A few days ago, I walked from a spectacular viewpoint down into a valley alive with signs of spring, and used the walk as a simple nature prayer practice. The path wove through woodland, old mine workings and quarry ground, then back up towards the start. It was one of those walks where spring was delightful and hard to miss. Wood sorrel was flowering in the shade. New birch leaves were almost impossibly fresh, soft and vulnerable. Ferns were beginning to unfurl, honeysuckle

Sometimes we can find ourselves thinking about something over and over again, with a sense that something isn’t quite right or needs to change. It can be hard to know if we’re overthinking as we go round the same mental loops, or whether our intuition is trying to tell us something important. We ask ourselves, ‘Is this my anxiety, or is this something I need to listen to?’ but it can be hard to find an answer as our thoughts feel unsettled and we lack peace. Perhaps there’s a

Let's begin by noticing the very thing that you may have been missing. That which literally takes place under your nose. Your breath. Take a moment now to notice how you’re breathing. Are you breathing through your nose or through the mouth? Where are you breathing – into your chest or down to your belly area? How does your body move as your breathe? How long are you breathing in for – short or long inhales? What happens at the top of your in-breath – do you pause or go strai

Does nature have value? Of course it does. But how do we measure that value? And what happens when the way we measure something changes the way we see it? One dominant way of measuring nature’s value has been as a material resource for humans to use. Land is valuable if it produces crops, timber, grazing, minerals, housing, profit. That measure has shaped much of the modern world, not always beautifully or kindly. Another way of valuing nature emerged through the protection a

What holds you in place amidst the swirling currents of life? Do you have a shape to your day or your week? Are there activities or practices that keep you heading in the right direction? Are there things you do that give you energy, life and meaning, or bring you joy? If so, you already have a spiritual rhythm, or what the Christian tradition has long called a Rule of Life. At its heart, a Rule of Life is about discovering what holds you steady amidst the ever-changing natur

This morning I woke up feeling exhausted after a busy week, but when I noticed the sunshine, my mood completely shifted and I was eager to get started with my day. I’m delighted to notice signs of spring all around me, and I’m aware of how much easier life can feel when there is light and new life. At the same time, even when the weather is positive, there can certainly be times when I find myself feeling unsettled, disconnected and scattered. Equally, I can find myself feel

It's easy to live too far above our own life to notice our baseline. Nature connection can teach us the value of normal. There's a practice in nature connection called the sit spot. You choose a place; a corner of a garden, a park bench, the foot of a particular tree, and you return to it regularly to sit and sense and do nothing except pay attention. At first, you notice the obvious things. Temperature. Birds. Wind. Light through leaves. Smells. But over time, something more

A personal story of how spiritual direction can offer a calm, unhurried space for questions, exhaustion, and change. At a crossroads Sometimes life reaches a crossroads where you aren't sure where to go next. People in your life want to help and offer advice, but you realise you need something different and you're not sure what it is or how to find it. That was where I found myself at one moment in my early twenties. I had been sure I was going to pursue a certain path, every

What if inhabiting my body became a way of praying, a way of having a conversation with God…a way of coming into direct contact with real life in the here and now? Over recent years, I have discovered that running has grown into more than exercise for me. It has become more like meditation…more like prayer…more like a spiritual practice. It keeps me grounded and takes me beyond my anxious thoughts, it gets me out of my head and into my body to a deeper level of awareness and

If you’ve ever had the sense that God was getting your attention through the natural world, then the next question is how to stay with that moment well. Whatever the moment is about to be ... my first advice is NOT to take a photo of it. That bursts the 'moment' bubble. And, if you're a bit more practised than that, don't immediately label it (that's a sunset, or that's achillea millefolium , as can happen in my head). Don't grab its surface meaning or jump to any fast inter

There are plenty of us who would not describe ourselves as conventionally religious and yet still find ourselves carrying deeper questions than ordinary conversations make space for. And, it's harder to find the right person to have those conversations with – someone who will give you their full attention. You might be wanting to talk about meaning, grief, change, prayer, doubt, purpose, forgiveness, identity, calling, or the odd but unmistakable sense that the universe is tr

Some exercises for when life demands more than you have to give Burnout happens when life keeps asking more of you, and you don't have the resources or practices to cope. It can creep up on you – maybe you feel exhausted, but you're aware you're still not doing enough; the responsibilities keep coming. People (or work or family, community or ministry) need things from you. Over time, three things can occur: emotional exhaustion a sense that nothing you do is enough and possib

If you have eyes to see, nature becomes a second kind of scripture, the book of creation, sitting open in front of you and you can feel it tugging at your spirit. This is a look at the Spirit's voice through nature, signs, synchronicity, coincidence and the craft of discernment. You’ll find a simple outdoor contemplation practice, a method for testing what a moment might be inviting and prompts to take into spiritual direction when you want help with the listening. How does G