Yesterday evening (Saturday), I went for a quick 1 hour walk by the River Ure near Boroughbridge.  It was a warm evening and the sky was blue.  The swallows were flying high in the sky and the kine were busy chomping on the grass on the river bank.  I met only a few other groups walking as I suspect the attractions of Robin Hood in the TV or a happy barbecue were more enticing than a wander by the river.  A family was having a barbecue on the lock with their lovely canal boat moored beside them.

As I looked around at the young cattle, the delicate greeny-white heads on the elder trees and the wheat growing like soldiers standing to attention in the fields, I had the sense of the earth sighing a delighted, gentle breath out at the end of a glorious day.  I also had the sense of a much deeper, longer breath of the earth as the planet breathed in replenishing itself after the winter. 

It is important to feel these longer rhythms of the earth as it moves through the seasons, breathing in and out, refreshing itself in Spring, renewing itself through the Summer, preparing itself for Winter during Autumn and then cleaning itself and using up the fruits of the Summer/ Autumn during the Winter, then starting the cycle again as the snowdrops reappear in early Spring.

The earth must be allowed to go through these rhythms.  It lets the earth rest, clean itself and then refresh itself before creating the bounty of the soil over the summer months.  Without these periods of rest to cleanse itself, it starts to build up toxins and the soil, water and air become enervated, losing its power to nurture life.

As we lose our connections to the soil, we forget these natural rhythms of the planet and force it to operate at full speed without the time to rest and recuperate.  We must simply slow down or the productivity of our planet will be eked away.

The birds were hard at work doing their morning things – a thrush was plucking worms from our lawn, while 2 pigeons were hunting for seeds and grain within the grass.  I watched a robin singing merrily away in the midst of our cherry tree, proudly huffing out his chest.  While inside I cradled a warm cup of tea, smiled and was at peace. 

I didn’t do much else really for an hour or so, yet the time glided by and I ended out having a really productive day at work sorting out loads of things that I should have tackled ages ago. 

Perhaps we should take more time out in our days simply to be, relax and do nothing.  This unpicks the various tensions in our brains and bodies, and let’s us reposition ourselves.  The problem is most of us try to fill those precious moments of peace with some activity or TV or whatever else. 

I say just relax and be at peace.