Autumn is here. Are we stopping to notice?

The mornings are getting colder, the evenings are drawing in, and the trees are putting on their autumn colours.

I love the thought of getting wrapped up and heading out for a walk at this time of year. There's something about the crunch of leaves under your feet, the colours in the trees and the smell of the air after rain.

But I wonder how often we actually stop to notice these things.

So much of our time is spent in our heads. Thinking about what we've said, what we should have done, what might happen next. We make lists, plan ahead, replay conversations and try to work out problems. Even when we're doing something else, our minds can be somewhere completely different.

And life carries on around us, often without us really seeing it.

As the seasons change, we might notice changes in ourselves, too. The darker mornings can make getting out of bed harder. We might feel a little flatter, have less energy or find ourselves wanting to stay indoors. If we're already dealing with a lot, this time of year can feel particularly difficult.

I'm not suggesting that a walk will make everything feel better. Sometimes we're struggling for good reason, and a change of scenery isn't going to take that away.

But perhaps there's something to be gained from stepping outside, even for a little while.

Not to get our steps in or because it's good for us. Not to turn it into another thing we ought to be doing. Just to be outside.

We might notice a tree we've walked past a hundred times but never really looked at. The leaves that have turned bright orange, or the ones still hanging on while others have fallen. The sound beneath our feet as we walk through them. The cold air on our cheeks.

Small things, perhaps. But things we can easily miss when our attention is elsewhere.

And if our minds wander off again, which they inevitably will, we can bring ourselves back. Not with a telling-off, but simply by noticing what's there.

We don't have to feel calm. We don't have to empty our minds or suddenly feel grateful for everything we have. We can be worried about something and still notice the trees. We can feel sad and still enjoy the sound of the leaves.

Both can exist at the same time.

I think we sometimes spend so much energy trying to sort things out, keep going and manage everything that's asked of us that we forget there's a life happening alongside all that effort.

We don't have to wait until everything is settled, or until we're feeling better, before we allow ourselves to take part in it.

So perhaps, over the next few weeks, we could give ourselves permission to slow down a little. To take the longer route home, wander through a park or simply pause to look at the trees.

Nothing needs to come of it. We don't need to learn a lesson or come home with a new perspective.

We can just be there, for a few moments, noticing the world as it changes around us.

And maybe that's a good place to start.