All Posts

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

Spiritual direction invites you to slow down and listen deeply to what stirs beneath the surface of your daily life. It is a space where left-field questions open doors to hidden truths and silent burdens you might be carrying. Sometimes they evoke a cathartic aha moment ... Asking the right questions can reveal what is easy to miss and even what we refuse to feel, what we hide behind explanations, and what parts of our faith quietly endure without words. This Lent, I am expl

If you’ve ever seen a labyrinth set into the floor of a cathedral, or mown into the grass at a wellbeing or retreat centre, you might have wondered what it’s for. The most famous example is the great labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France, laid into the stone floor in the early 1200s. It is nearly 13 metres across. Medieval pilgrims would walk it as a form of embodied prayer, sometimes as a substitute for a journey to Jerusalem they could not make. You enter. You follow th

What do you do when the rhythms that once held your spiritual life no longer fit, but the longing for connection is still there? For much of my life, my days and seasons were shaped by the steady patterns of faith. Church on Sundays was a given. Our Wednesday night small group was a staple ingredient of every week. There were daily practices, familiar prayers, well-worn words. The year itself had a rhythm. Advent giving way to Christmas. Lent moving toward Easter. A shared ca

Beginning a relationship with a spiritual director, if you never have before, can feel unfamiliar, partly because it doesn’t fit many of the categories we already know. It isn’t advice-giving, therapy, or mentoring in the usual sense, and it doesn’t depend on frequent contact to be effective. For many people, meeting once a month is enough to create a steady, shaping presence over time. The significance of the relationship often lies less in what happens in the sessions thems

Many people find themselves drawn towards nature when questions of meaning, direction, or faith begin to surface. Often this happens quietly, without much explanation. Something about stepping outside familiar routines and enclosed spaces seems to make room for a different kind of attention. Trees, weather, water, and open horizons offer a form of presence that feels steady and unforced, and for some, more hospitable to spiritual reflection than traditional indoor or institut

Spiritual growth is often described as a personal journey, shaped by reflection, prayer, meditation, or time set aside to listen inwardly. For many people, that private dimension matters deeply and needs protecting. And yet experience suggests that growth does not always deepen through solitude alone. Again and again, understanding sharpens when what we are noticing is spoken aloud, not to be analysed or corrected, but to be heard. Conversation, when it is attentive and unhur