We spend a lot of time looking at screens, we look straight ahead, focused on the task.

But we miss things.

Go out into nature and we benefit from looking wider – we may miss things if we only look straight ahead.

What can help is to develop greater peripheral vision – to see what is on the edge.  

Here is an exercise that could help.

Find a place, with a nice panoramic view. Take a few deep breaths. Hold out your arms.

Wriggle your fingers and move your arms to each side. Then drop your arms, still maintaining your peripheral vision for 5 minutes.

Then close your eyes and focus on the sounds. Name and point.

Open your eyes and superimpose the sound scape over the image. This has opened you up to what you don’t normally notice.

I’ve tried this and found it very helpful.

Why don’t you try and let me know how you get on?

On my last walk it helped me to not only notice things in the edge of my vision but also to look close to the ground. Not expecting to see anything but being open to seeing what you may see. I noticed a tiny snail – see the picture above.

It can also help as you wander around the town. In Cheltenham there are a group of people who paint and hide rocks. I finally found my first one this weekend. It’s a really cute idea, you post a picture of the rock on FaceBook and say where it was found. You can then keep or rehide.

I’d love to know what you thought of this article, do leave a comment, thank you x

Published On: August 3rd, 2019 / Categories: Inspiration /

4 Comments

  1. Malik Arshad August 6, 2019 at 3:05 pm

    Thanks for Posting this Article Denise;-
    My Thoughts/Comments would be that within the last 6-12 months whilst walking I now Notice lot more than I use to probably due too being in a rush to get from Point A – B ASAP.
    One thing Noticeable are the Expression/Body Language of people round and about. Apart from the families, there seem to be Stressed/Grim look on peoples faces as such!
    I wonder if anyone else has noticed this OR am I being too Critical/Morbid as such?!

  2. Denise Taylor August 6, 2019 at 3:45 pm

    Hi Malik, Thanks for your comments. So you are noticing more – that’s good, sometimes we have to rush, but often it is good to be more aware of our surroundings. Yes, as you notice other people you notice that they dopn’t look happy, and I often wonder what’s going on in their lives. I’ll often say something but it can be ignored. I focus on looking serene and hope that the people that notice that will take a second to think of their expression, Best wishes, Denise

  3. Lyn B August 13, 2020 at 4:07 pm

    Hi Denise. I really felt in tune with this article … until ….
    In tune, because there’s hill near here, Kelston Round Hill, with a 360 degree panoramic view of Bath, Bristol, Somerset, and a clump of trees on top to catch the wind and create sound. You can stand facing different ways, and absorb same-but-different as you do so.
    Until … I saw that snail. Is that the one that’s eating my lettuces and cauliflowers!? Very hard for a gardener to see a snail as anything but “the enemy”. Sorry, molluscs, the whole lot of you!

    • Denise Taylor August 19, 2020 at 12:01 pm

      Hi Lyn, I llike the sound of Kelston Round Hill, must visit sometime. Poor little mollusc, it’s just trying to live … maybe find it a new home?

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