In my previous article, When is your thinking at its best?, I explored the idea of thinking accelerators and the conditions that support our clarity. Time in nature was one of them.

Over the past few years, I have been thinking and writing more about how we can include nature in our reflective practice.

Spring feels like a good moment to bring more of that into our pauses.

In my own days, this often looks simple. Walking my dog, walking with my baby, staying a bit longer in the sun. I often carry a notebook to write or draw. Last year, I also started experimenting with recording short audio reflections while walking.

And – I see similar patterns with my clients.

When I ask them to imagine a place where they feel at ease, it is often somewhere in nature. A walk in the mountains. A bench in the park. In conversations, they use images like roots, trees, and branches when they talk about stability, growth, or direction.

When we talk about nature and reflective practice, there is also something about seasons.

In “Let’s take this outside”, Rachel Woods writes about how we can sense different qualities in each season. Spring brings a sense of something new starting, lightness, and fresh energy. It invites movement and attention.

This is also something I have been exploring in my own work. I developed a reflection prompt inspired by the idea of planting and growth, and by working with nature as a partner in the process. Spring can be a good moment to plant something, in a real or symbolic way, and follow its growth over time.