wellness

Do you live a slow life?

Do you take time to be in the moment and experience the little things?

Think back to the last week and review your actions and mindset. Is your recollection filled with relaxing visions of scented bubble baths, long walks, and sips of steamy coffee over a great book you can’t wait to get lost in?

Or did you visualize your “to do” list that may be getting longer instead of shorter? Did you think of the frustrating hour and a half you spent waiting for a tow truck when your car bit the dust on the way to work? Maybe your memory was of the crazy evenings of rushing home late to throw drive through dinner on the table, clean the house, get everything ready for work and fit in a quick work out before collapsing into bed only to be unable to get to sleep for hours because your brain won’t shut up. (whew, was that really ONE sentence?)

Even little kids have full schedules now, with daycare, school, homework, practices, extracurricular activities and family/social obligations.  We rush through the day, running here and there, and end up exhausted. Somehow these days full of duties, obligations and busy-ness have become the norm in our lives. We spend our time doing things we don’t really want to do, yet feel we should. We’ve developed a belief that being productive and getting things done while sacrificing our health and happiness is what it’s all about.  

What IS it all about?  

If you really stop to think about it, our time on Earth is VERY brief. Aren’t our limited moments too precious to be spent rushing around doing things we don’t even feel passionate about?

 I think they are. In 2011, I quit a job I’d assumed (up until the moment I quit) I’d retire from. Since then, I have somehow ended up living the kind of life I’d only DREAMED about. I never thought it could really happen, but it IS. I have a business with the love of my life, doing work I love. The business has allowed me to have more “me” time to focus on OTHER things I love and am passionate about. I get up each day with enthusiasm and a sense of well-being. 

That is SO different from when I used to drag myself out of bed, DREADING the next 8 hours of being trapped in a cubicle, doing some mind-numbing task all day. I used to look forward to coming home so I could do what I wanted, but of course by the time I’d get home, I was too drained emotionally and spiritually to do anything but collapse into bed and dread doing the same thing for the rest of my days.

 I know not everybody can just quit their job to do whatever they want. My situation worked out well for me, but it isn’t a one size fits all fix. I DO believe everybody can start making small changes towards creating the kind of life they really desire.

 My own experience didn’t start out with the immediate, spontaneous quitting of the job. It had started a few years earlier with the tiny thought that there might be more to life. So, I started little experiments and life changes to find out what that might be, and ultimately it led me to quit my job.

Living slow is possible. It begins with a small mindset change.

Stop mindlessly doing what you’ve been doing and just look around for a moment. What about your life do you love? What do you hate? What doesn’t really matter to you at all?

Figure that out first, then start rearranging.

Those things you hate, you know, the ones you thought about above? GET RID OF THEM!!!  Stop focusing on them. Instead start focusing on those things you LOVE.

Do the things that make you happy FIRST.

MAKE TIME for your passions.

Start creating a lifestyle that is balanced and healthy. It starts with downsizing the obligations we place upon ourselves so easily. By eliminating some and un-prioritizing others, we can start to lessen our load which magically INCREASES our down time.
Even when we must do many things in a day, we can still change the quality of the day by HOW we chose to do those tasks.

 Start paying attention to each of your actions during the day, and really BE in that moment so you can be mindful of what you are doing. Here’s a good example of how to do that. When you get up in the morning, turn on the coffee as usual, but instead of walking away to do whatever you usually do…STOP.

Take a deep breath and just stand there, relaxing while you enjoy the sound of the coffee brewing and the delicious smell of it. When it is done, notice the dark splash as you pour it into a cup. Watch the swirl of creamer as you stir. Slowly bring the cup to your mouth, inhaling the aroma and anticipate the taste. Pause a moment with your eyes closed and breathe in and out before taking that first sip.

Wow, don’t you just feel more relaxed IMAGINING doing it like that? I know I do!! Let’s make a choice to start living each moment like that from now on.

Where else can we find ease during stressful moments? How else can we cultivate the art of going slowly? I am constantly learning new ways to de-stress and up-lift my actions. The KEY is being conscious. Being aware. Enjoying. Taking time to live life slow.

I love to hear from you. If you can, take a moment to write down your own ideas on how you can get slow in your life in the comment section below.    

Do you want to live your most natural life? What does that even mean? To me, living a natural life means living in a way that aligns to my values, morals, interests and talents. It means going WITH the flow of my feelings, desires and natural tendencies, not forcing myself to go against them. In Part 1, I talked about self care.

Part 2 is focusing on the home. Whether you live in an apartment, tiny house, RV, with your parents or in a mansion or a tent, having a welcoming, nurturing place to lay your head and just be yourself in all your glory is important.

Make your home your sanctuary.

Home should be a place where you can just be yourself. Create a haven and a vessel for you to fill with your inspiration and creativity.

Assess and take control of your personal space.

• Try to remove anything that doesn’t benefit you. Clean up clutter by either throwing away, giving away or selling.
• Make sure you have permanent places to put everything, and always put things away when you are finished with them.
• Create an organization system that works for you. Put like things with like so you always know where things are. If you use something often, keep it conveniently close.

Add your personality to the space.

• Consider color changes. If you can paint, decide what colors would feel right in each area. When we moved to the home (mobile home) we live in now, the walls in the 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms were either plain pink or a pink patterned wallpaper. For a number of years we lived with them as is, but within the past couple of years, my mom and I have painted the office and the bedroom lovely sage green, and the main bathroom went from the pink patterned wallpaper to bright white, thanks to D’s sister who came to visit a few years ago. The green walls in the office and the bedroom make it cool, relaxing and inviting, rather than the tense, gawdy feelings all the pinkness brought out.

• Now that your space is pleasantly hued, add elements that make you happy. Surround yourself with inspiration and comfort. Think of how you can decorate to please sight, sound, smell and touch. Bonus points if you shop second hand for the elements you choose. Browse through magazines or Pinterest for ideas. Go to an antique store or flea market and just randomly browse, noticing what colors and types of items you are naturally drawn to. Take your time to imagine and curate the items you want that will turn your home into your ideal place.

Ditch the toxins and bring in nature’s bounty.

• Once you have everything looking and flowing well, the next step is to begin removing chemical laden household and personal care products and replace them with natural, safer alternatives. There are tons of ideas and recipes and DIY tutorials for cleaning products and hygiene products out there using all-natural ingredients that are not harmful. The peace of mind and harmony that comes from knowing your home is toxin free and really, naturally clean is amazing.  

• Surround yourself with nature inside and out. Get some herbs for your windowsill. If it is nice out, turn off the HVAC and open the windows.  Put a few different plants around your home in beautiful planters. If you can have a garden outside, start a small one. Create an outdoor area to relax in. If you have a space to add a small fountain, having the sound of trickling water is naturally relaxing. Plant seasonal flowers in your outside garden, and when they bloom, bring some cut flowers inside.

Do you want to live your most natural life? What does that even mean? To me, living a natural life means living in a way that aligns to my values, morals, interests and talents. It means going WITH the flow of my feelings, desires and natural tendencies, not forcing myself to go against them.

My journey towards really living my own natural life started abruptly. In May of 2011, without much warning, I resigned from my cubicle job…the one I had assumed I would someday retire from. While it was terrifying to do, it was so much more appealing than picturing myself sitting there for more than 20 years waiting until retirement age.

I know not everyone can, or would even want to, quit a day job, but every single person can choose to put more focus on creating a lifestyle that is more in harmony with those natural tendencies. The key to remember is this: Where focus goes, energy flows and results follow. So if you want to have a more natural-to-you lifestyle, start tuning in and creating it!

Start making time to take care of yourself!!!!

Taking care of yourself is one of the MOST IMPORTANT things you can do to create a happy and healthy life. Women are great about caring for everyone else, but we often ignore our own needs, wants and longings. Having that frame of mind is not helpful.

Think of it this way… You have to be happy and healthy in order to care for everyone else in the best possible way, right? Once you begin being kind to your body, honoring your feelings and acknowledging your dreams and desires, you will bloom!

Here are three ways to get started with self-care.

1. Create a morning “inventory” practice.

Simply start being more mindful of your thoughts and feelings. Try to take just 5-10 minutes every morning and every evening to sit quietly and “take inventory.”  

• How does your body feel? Are you achy? Hungry? Tired? Are you relaxed, or do you notice any tenseness? Can you relax the tenseness you notice?
• Once you get more relaxed physically, allow your mind to wander. What does it think about? Are you worried about something? Excited? Nervous? Do you feel silly doing this?
• Think of 3-5 things you are grateful for and really spend some time appreciating those things. If you are alive and breathing, there is always something to be grateful for, even if it is difficult to see at first.

As you go about your usual routine, try to be mindful of what you are doing, how you are feeling, and how your body tenses or relaxes with each task. Instead of rushing through each task, try to really be involved in each one fully.

Think about what you are doing. Why are you doing it? Does it give you pleasure or is it something you dislike? If you aren’t enjoying it, is there some way to make doing this task more pleasurable? If it is a challenging task physically or mentally, allow yourself to feel grateful that your body and/or mind can complete the task. Appreciate your ability.

2. Nurture your body with water, vegetables and fruit.

• Drink more water! Our bodies need water to thrive. Carry a refillable water bottle with you everywhere. You can still drink your favorite beverage throughout the day, just get into the habit of always taking a drink of water before each sip of your beverage.

• Find ways to add more plants to your diet. Vegetables and fruit are packed with nutrients and lower in calories than other food choices.  Add a salad before your meal, or a green smoothie full of vegetables. If you aren’t a fan of eating vegetables, do an internet search for “ways to get more vegetables in your diet when you don’t like vegetables” and follow some of the suggestions until you find a few that you can do on a regular basis.

• Consider mixing vegetables in with the meals you already eat by adding similar texture and shaped vegetables for other ingredients. For example, when you have a rice dish, take half the amount of rice and add riced cauliflower to make it a full serving. If you make sloppy joes, use half the ground beef and add some cooked lentils to complete the amount needed.

3. Appreciate and activate your physical abilities.

• No matter how fit…or not fit…your body is, be grateful for the physical vessel you are living in. Whatever your physical abilities are, create a practice of moving regularly in any ways you can throughout the day. Stretch, dance, walk, bend, twist, clap, kick…whatever gets your parts moving and your blood pumping!!!

• Breathe deeply and often. Breath is SO important…moreso than food or water or movement. Without oxygen, our body will cease to exist very quickly. Most of us take breath for granted, when we should take time a few times each day to just focus on breathing DEEPLY and slowly while we consciously relax any muscles we are holding tensely.

• Laugh. Regularly and often. Find the joy, or at least humor, in all things. We are not here forever and no matter what we do, we will not get out alive! Enjoy the journey by keeping things light and give yourself the gift of not stressing over things you have no control over.

• See and smell the beauty of nature. Our earth is the most amazing place, we don’t appreciate it nearly as much as we should. Take some time to feel the sun on your skin, the breeze in your hair. Smell the rain, or the freshly mowed grass, or a flower or the woods. If you don’t live near a natural area, find a park or a way to go to the country for some much needed connection with nature.