Such a lovely post 💕 I especially love your therapists advice as we can spend all the time planning and never actually get round to the doing. Also love what you said about seeing it as a different way of living, as opposed to taking something away - that almost feels like a deprivation, whereas a different way of living seems more inviting, almost exciting! You’ve reminded me how I used to do social media free weekends, one to reintroduce. I also recently have accidentally got into the habit of waiting without phones, it reminds me of pre phone times and it’s so fun to just people watch and ‘be’! I’ve started spreading my essential tasks more evenly across the week, rather than cramming them all into two days. All I did on my apparent ‘days off’ was full them with more tasks because I had the keep going inertia. Sort of like the schedule your self care time before other things! 💕
Thanks for sharing ❤️ Funny you say that, I was talking to my husband the other day about how when we were younger we'd have so many moments of boredom, day dreaming, and people watching, we're getting better at consciously doing this more, but the default is to definitely fill our time with doing. I'm trying to remind myself that waiting rooms are a blessing, as they're an opportunity to pause! Also love the idea of scheduling self care time before other things, so important, otherwise work and other bits could easily just go to the top of the list!
Love this post! I think a slow & gentle life looks different for everyone and that is some of the beauty of it. Thank you for carving out a space on the internet to discuss it 🫶🏼
Thank you Lowri. Agreed! A gentle life for some will look completely different to others, I think the main theme for all of us is the courage to make it happen x
I love this post. I definitely think slow living and all that goes with it looks different for everyone but that’s great, it’s authentic rather than an encouragement to follow a # movement...
Love this. Love your therapists advice. For me it’s about permission, giving myself permission to live my life in a way that suits me. I’m only at the beginning and it’s very hard, I’m still defaulting to looking for external permission and that frustrates me and makes me angry at myself. I agree with your commenter who mentioned menopause, I had no idea how much it would change me and my outlook on life. It’s been a ride, where I too think I’ve been in the boot and not the drivers seat. Work in progress. Courage is my next skill to cultivate.
Thank you. This really resonates. I've written an affirmation before around giving myself permission and it feels like a powerful statement. Agreed on the external permission, this used to be my default with everything and I never checked in with what I wanted/ how I really feel. I'm finding by acting on my own desires more and seeing the positive impacts is slowly helping to switch off that need. It's all a long process though x
I'm fighting it but agree with all you say 100%. I think menopause is a really good time to look at this. I crashed and burned with post viral fatigue in 2016 when I was 50 yrs old which I realise now was also peri-menopause really kicking in - menopause asks women to stop and reassess - lockdown in 2020 did the same, equally unexpectedly - I am not sure what comes next but I do know I do not want the life I was living pre 2016 and in bursts once I recovered - what comes next? Who knows - useful tips - thank you - this book also wonderful https://thedobook.co/products/do-pause-you-are-not-a-to-do-list
Ooh, thank you for the book recommendation, it sounds fitting! It seems like lockdown did this for many people, it gave us a chance to slow down that once you've experienced it makes you question why you were going so fast in the first place! x
Loved this line, Jodie: "Do it alongside the doubt, the worry, the lack of self belief, the anxiety, fear of something new, patterns that tell you it’s easier to stay where you are." Reading about how you've intentionally carved out slowness for your life was beautiful. Thank you for writing this.
Thankyou so much for sharing this. I love the idea of ‘taking action’ in a different way. Definitely all easier said than done, I am on this slowing down journey too and this post is such a tonic/inspiring! xx
Such a lovely post 💕 I especially love your therapists advice as we can spend all the time planning and never actually get round to the doing. Also love what you said about seeing it as a different way of living, as opposed to taking something away - that almost feels like a deprivation, whereas a different way of living seems more inviting, almost exciting! You’ve reminded me how I used to do social media free weekends, one to reintroduce. I also recently have accidentally got into the habit of waiting without phones, it reminds me of pre phone times and it’s so fun to just people watch and ‘be’! I’ve started spreading my essential tasks more evenly across the week, rather than cramming them all into two days. All I did on my apparent ‘days off’ was full them with more tasks because I had the keep going inertia. Sort of like the schedule your self care time before other things! 💕
Thanks for sharing ❤️ Funny you say that, I was talking to my husband the other day about how when we were younger we'd have so many moments of boredom, day dreaming, and people watching, we're getting better at consciously doing this more, but the default is to definitely fill our time with doing. I'm trying to remind myself that waiting rooms are a blessing, as they're an opportunity to pause! Also love the idea of scheduling self care time before other things, so important, otherwise work and other bits could easily just go to the top of the list!
Love this post! I think a slow & gentle life looks different for everyone and that is some of the beauty of it. Thank you for carving out a space on the internet to discuss it 🫶🏼
Thank you Lowri. Agreed! A gentle life for some will look completely different to others, I think the main theme for all of us is the courage to make it happen x
I love this post. I definitely think slow living and all that goes with it looks different for everyone but that’s great, it’s authentic rather than an encouragement to follow a # movement...
Love this. Love your therapists advice. For me it’s about permission, giving myself permission to live my life in a way that suits me. I’m only at the beginning and it’s very hard, I’m still defaulting to looking for external permission and that frustrates me and makes me angry at myself. I agree with your commenter who mentioned menopause, I had no idea how much it would change me and my outlook on life. It’s been a ride, where I too think I’ve been in the boot and not the drivers seat. Work in progress. Courage is my next skill to cultivate.
Thanks for writing this.
Thank you. This really resonates. I've written an affirmation before around giving myself permission and it feels like a powerful statement. Agreed on the external permission, this used to be my default with everything and I never checked in with what I wanted/ how I really feel. I'm finding by acting on my own desires more and seeing the positive impacts is slowly helping to switch off that need. It's all a long process though x
I'm fighting it but agree with all you say 100%. I think menopause is a really good time to look at this. I crashed and burned with post viral fatigue in 2016 when I was 50 yrs old which I realise now was also peri-menopause really kicking in - menopause asks women to stop and reassess - lockdown in 2020 did the same, equally unexpectedly - I am not sure what comes next but I do know I do not want the life I was living pre 2016 and in bursts once I recovered - what comes next? Who knows - useful tips - thank you - this book also wonderful https://thedobook.co/products/do-pause-you-are-not-a-to-do-list
Ooh, thank you for the book recommendation, it sounds fitting! It seems like lockdown did this for many people, it gave us a chance to slow down that once you've experienced it makes you question why you were going so fast in the first place! x
I love these tips and will try to incorporate these into my life 😊
I love your lists of things to help you slow down! Which one is your favorite?
Loved this line, Jodie: "Do it alongside the doubt, the worry, the lack of self belief, the anxiety, fear of something new, patterns that tell you it’s easier to stay where you are." Reading about how you've intentionally carved out slowness for your life was beautiful. Thank you for writing this.
Resonated so much with this 🙏🙏
Love this post - well done on all your achievements, it is very inspiring
Thankyou so much for sharing this. I love the idea of ‘taking action’ in a different way. Definitely all easier said than done, I am on this slowing down journey too and this post is such a tonic/inspiring! xx