In early 2023, I was travelling on a busy commuter train through central London when at one of the many stops, my eye was drawn towards a wooden sign in what looked like a man-made garden at the side of the platform:
“You should sit in nature for 20 minutes a day…unless you’re busy, then you should sit for an hour”
Regarded as an old Zen proverb, it sounds so simple but in practicality it goes against everything we’ve come to accept about modern life. It’s almost become a badge of honour to try to squeeze more into our days. Be more productive, complete the to-do list, make the most of every opportunity and somehow find the time to do it all again tomorrow. When life gets busy, the first things to go are often the things that don’t feel urgent. Time outdoors. Movement. A proper conversation. Sitting down for a meal without looking at the clock.
Those words really struck a chord and have stayed with me ever since. So much so, that when Jenny returned from her trip to the Canadian wilderness around the same time and told me her idea of what would eventually become Nàdar, we saw it as the central thread to our philosophy here. But how do you apply that core theme when building a nature retreat for people to experience? As two ambitious and energetic people, Jenny and I know how easy it is to get caught up in the everyday. Sometimes, stepping away from our usual surroundings is what helps us finally quieten that never-ending to-do list in our heads. Therefore, we’ve taken much time and consideration into how our site can be as calming as possible. Secondly, and going against much of modern-day marketing in the wellness space, was the insight that we don’t always need to make the most of every minute.
You can enjoy your career, work hard, set goals and take pride in what you do. None of those things are inherently at odds with a slower pace of life. The problem is when every spare moment becomes another opportunity to be productive, and rest starts to feel like something we need to earn.
At Nàdar, we invite you to simply to leave a little space in the day. Sit outside for a while. Have another cup of tea. Enjoy the sauna without immediately thinking about what comes next. Take the longer walk or stay put in your hut if you don’t feel like it.
We’ve also been thinking more about the seasons and what we can learn from them. It’s something we haven’t always been particularly good at ourselves. When you’re caught up in work and everyday life, it’s easy to keep going at the same pace all year round. When we found our house and the land around it, we wanted to create somewhere that felt calm and connected to its surroundings. Planting thousands of plants by hand, with the help of a small team, has given us a new appreciation for watching things grow, flourish, fade and rest. We’re looking forward to seeing the meadow change through the seasons and learning to follow that rhythm a bit more ourselves.
For anyone interested in spending time at Nàdar, our message isn’t that guests must come here to transform themselves, find enlightenment or return home as better versions of themselves. It’s that time away can be valuable for very ordinary reasons: spending time with someone you love, enjoying something delicious, having a conversation that lasts longer than usual, or finding yourself sitting quietly with a view you don’t need to photograph.
One of our favourite things is hearing how guests have spent their time here. A couple who stayed recently wrote in their review:
“It had everything we needed, and also had lovely games that we spent hours playing and things to read. We spent ages just looking outside the window and being present with the most beautiful views.”
We couldn’t have asked for a better description of what we want our guests to experience here.
The words on that little sign at the train station platform have stayed with us, and we’ve put them on a piece of stone above our own front door as a reminder of why we started Nàdar in the first place. We don’t pretend to have life figured out, and the irony is that in building this entire project, we’re certainly not immune to getting caught up in the busyness of it all ourselves. But we’ve tried to create something that reflects a belief we keep coming back to: that sometimes, the best thing we can do with our time is to stop trying to do so much with it.
If you come and stay with us, we hope you’ll find space to do just that. To slow down, enjoy being here and give yourself permission not always to have a plan. We’ve found that it’s often the simplest moments that stay with you longest.
That little sign also serves as a reminder to look up, keep observing, as you never know what inspiration you might find from what’s around you.