Prompted by Nature

A meditation that takes you through the five layers of the energetic body to the space of oneness that we all have.   First I guide you into the visualisation of moving through each layer surrounding the body and then into the centre of the rib cage, the still, unchanging space in which we can find peace and unity. You are then left for 3 minutes to focus on this space and then invited to wri...

Hello and welcome to episode 12 of Prompted by Nature.  This week you are in for a treat as I’m releasing the conversation I had with the wonderful Dr. Sheree Mack a couple of weeks ago. Sheree is the Project Coordinator for a Heritage Lottery Funded project where she works with Northumberland National Park Authority, Durham Wildlife Trust and the National Trust, to offer opportunities to BAM...

For this meditation and writing prompt you will be taken on a journey to connect with a 'wild' character in your imagination.  This can be used as a creative writing exercise, to develop a character you may be working on in your own writing, or as a journal prompt for your work around wellbeing. I guide you into the meditation through visualisation techniques, leave you for 3 minutes and then...

Hello! Welcome to episode 11 of Prompted by Nature. I hope you enjoyed your Solstice and were able to make the most of the extra long day! In this episode, I’m speaking to Jan Stannard, founder of new rewinding charity, Heal Rewilding. Jan Stannard is a co-founder of Heal, the new UK charity which is crowdfunding for rewilding. Jan has a business background and is a resilience specialist and forme...

Welcome to my meditation and writing prompt for my interview with Jini Reddy.  For this one, it's more of an explanation.  You'll decide on your own prompt - fractals, patterns, similarities, synchronicities, details, reflections and such - and use a walking meditation to help you to slow down body and mind into a state of deeper 'noticing.'   At the time of recording we are in the...

Welcome to episode 10 of Prompted by Nature. I hope this one finds you happy and well wherever you are! This week I’m excited to release the conversation I had with the lovely Jini Reddy back in mid-May. Jini is an award-winning author and journalist, originally born in London to Indian parents who grew up in apartheid-era South Africa. She was in Montreal, Canada and has a passion for writing tra...

A meditation centring around envisioning a utopia constructed by your hope and optimism for the future. I guide you into the meditation and then stop speaking for three minutes. The prompt is to create a description or other piece of writing around the world that you see in your imagination and to then write a set of action steps that can help to create this world. Happy writing! Helen x www.promp...

Hello and welcome to episode 9 of Prompted by Nature. Today I’m speaking with Lucy Jones, the author of the amazing book ‘Losing Eden: Why Our Minds Need the Wild.’ I came across Lucy via the Extinction Rebellion Rewilding group on Facebook, where someone shared the book when it had just come out. The title took me and I immediately bought it from Waterstones. What I love about the book is that no...

A guided meditation in which you will be invited to create and explore your safe space.  This could be done just for your own self-care to help with your creative writing or if you are working on creating depth in a character, narrative or setting. I begin my guiding you into the meditation and then there is a gap of 5 minutes for you to explore and spend time in your space before you are gui...

Hello, my love! And welcome to episode 8 of Prompted by Nature - episode 8, can you believe it! So, this week, I’m sharing with you the conversation I had with Ian Solomon-Kawal, co-founder of the May Project Garden in 2007 alongside Randy Mayers, back in May. Ian spent his youth as a carer for his mum who suffered from mental illness. When she died he wanted to do something positive in her memory...

Something a little different for you this week!  This week's writing prompt asks you to spend some time with a tree in your local area, noticing all the little details that so often go unnoticed as we walk by.  This prompt is about telling the story of the tree, perhaps in the style of a fairy tale or a fable, or maybe something more modern, telling the story of everything the tree has s...

Hello and welcome to my interview with Nana Tomova from The Story Apothecary. So, how are you? Things are changing quickly, aren’t they? I hope you’ve been able to find space to breathe, write, and do whatever you need to stay creative and centred. Nana is a storyteller based in Sussex. She is a storyteller of oral stories, of poetry and of images through her photography. She is drawn to stories a...

A meditation and writing prompt for my interview with Tiffany Francis-Baker in which you will guided through a visualisation that takes you under a night sky. As always, if you find your mind running somewhere you don't want it to go, stop, take a few moments and come back to it.  It that doesn't work, stop and come back another time, releasing all judgment of yourself. Please do share any wr...

Hello and welcome to episode six of Prompted by Nature. How are you this week? It’s been a bit of a funny one all told, as we begin to tentatively emerge from our cocoons. I have to say, my little family and I are still remaining close to home and enjoying the delights our local area, learning about the newly-bloomed flowers and the bees, birds and butterflies around us. In this episode I speak to...

In this meditation, I'll guide you through a breathing practice known as Bramhari, or bumblebee breath.   In the first part of this episode, I explain how the meditation works; I then guide you into a state of focus and relaxation and then you will practice the breath in your own time. For the breath, take a normal inhalation and then for the exhalation you make a humming sound until you have...

Hello and welcome to episode five of Prompted by Nature! How are you? Have you been able to get out and enjoy the sunshine? It’s World Bee Day this week so I thought, what better way to celebrate than to share my second bee-inspired conversation? A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of chatting with the lovely Faye, the Founder and Creative mind behind BeeVive. I first came across BeeVive via Insta...

Meditation and Writing Prompt for my conversation with Jonathan Alawo (episode 4a). As always, if you find your mind wandering off to somewhere you don't want it to go, and you can't bring it back to the focus point, stop and come back later releasing any judgement or expectation. If you'd creating a piece from this prompt, I'd love to read it and share it on the blog.  Just pop to the websit...

Hello and welcome to this week’s episode of the Prompted by Nature. This week you’ll meet Jonathan Alawo, a bee-keeper with a quiet passion for bees and protecting our fuzzy friends. Jonathon tends to a hive in one of my favourite places, and where I’ll be holding my day retreats once we’re all allowed out again, the beautiful Wilderness Woods in Sussex. As you’ll hear, Jonathan knew from a young...

Welcome to your meditation and writing prompt for my conversation with Nathaniel and Fiona of Weeds in the Heart.  There are two parts to this meditation, one gives you instructions as to the outdoor part of it, mentioned at the end of the interview, the second is the actual meditation. For this meditation and prompt, you'll need: Some time outside A space in which you will not be interrupted...

I’m really excited about sharing this conversation with you as it’s with two people whose work I adore. Nathaniel Hughes and Fiona Owen are the writer and artist behind the incredible book Weeds in the Heart. As I mentioned in the episode, I found their book completely by accident in a little bookshop in Stroud when I was away with my partner and children over the new year. It was Fiona’s artwork...

A mediation to follow up Anna's interview based on fire! For this meditation you'll need: Something comfortable to sit on A candle Your notebook and a pen A quiet space in which you won't be disturbed  Please do share your writing with me if you try this!  As always you can find me at www.promptedbynature.co.uk or www.instagram.com/prompted.by.nature Enjoy!  Helen x

Hello, lovely one! I hope you’re safe and well wherever you are. Welcome to the first conversation episode of Prompted by Nature. We’re currently in week 7 of lockdown here in the UK but just before we entered this liminal space, I spoke with Anna Neubert-Wood of Wanderwomen, Scotland. Anna has been running WanderWomen Scotland Ltd for almost two years, encouraging groups of women to connect with...

A brief introduction to the Prompted by Nature podcast and your host, Helen.  Today, I give you some insight into who I am and what this podcast is all about, my inspiration and motivation behind it, and what to expect. The sound isn't as I'd like it but I'm learning, learning :-) Enjoy! Helen x