My theme for this week starts in a similar way to last week: spending time in nature amidst busy times as self-kindness. I have been back to Bempton bird cliffs, one of my favourite places, once more blessed with glorious sun and outstanding wildlife and vistas.

Bempton is most definitely my number one place to refresh and recharge when life is busy. Nature is so vibrant there. The scenery alone is stunning. Then add in thousands and thousands of seabirds. I know I often write of my visits there. But each one is different, both outwardly, and inwardly. It's important to me to pay attention to both.

This time I visited on a Saturday during Easter holidays... and it was absolutely packed. They'd opened an extra car park to accommodate everyone. I was aware of some apprehension about how crowded it would be as I walked the short distance to the cliff path. I decided to head in the opposite direction to the majority of people, heading south. But there were still many more people than usual.

Fortunately, I'm quite adept at finding quieter spots! But also I was telling myself that here was an opportunity to simply accept my internal objections to all the people (I was one of them!), and 'make peace' with all my feelings. I'm slightly embarrassed by the times I asked people (in my head!) to stop chatting at the viewpoints so as not to add 'human noise' to the clifftop vistas and wonderful cacophony of bird calls and sounds of the sea.

Given all this, I was very grateful to quickly drop into a sense of peace amidst the beauty. Finding this 'inner peace' felt particularly poignant amidst the crowds. I smiled as I appreciated that 'accepting myself', including my sense of irritation, rather than trying to dismiss anything as 'wrong', helped create the peacefulness. And away from the main viewpoints it was possible to find the solitude in nature I so love.

It was at one of these times, standing alone on the clifftop, looking out to sea, that I suddenly spotted fins. Dolphins! I was thrilled. And you may remember in previous writings I have mentioned 'Runny Paint', the old matriarch with white markings across her dark dorsal fin? I spotted her at the lead of a pod of around fifteen, all moving very slowly. Although quite distant, they were so beautiful to watch. I felt very blessed to see them. And I had to laugh at myself. The dolphins were heading north, which meant to keep them in sight I had to head back to the most popular and crowded viewpoint I'd been trying to avoid!

This week's self-kindness invitation is to notice when difficult thoughts or emotions arise, and to practice naming them and letting them be, while cultivating as much kindness and compassion towards yourself as you can. You may notice that resisting or fighting feelings usually adds to our struggle rather than alleviates it.