Hello my beautiful friends!
Well haven’t I been rebelling against consistency culture! The last couple of months I’ve not been posting as per my own agreed schedule - it's given me a lot of shame and all sorts of other feels that I will write about in coming blog posts.
So as a sort of apology/wecome back gift, this instalment of my Seasons of Slow paid subscriber content is available to everyone! If you like this and want more, please consider subscribing. We have a new Spring mini course coming up and it’s going to be so fun to connect as a group in this way! (see more info below).
How can you spend less time, energy and money and still feel abundant?
In the Seasons of Slow methodology, Spring represents sufficient abundance. (Or, needing less!) Having what you need but not too much of it that it becomes overwhelming. Whether that’s food, clothing, entertainment, free time, work or anything else.
So I invite you to revisit what you truly need to feel fulfilled and how can you 'Spring clean' the things that no longer fit?
There's a big focus in our world on getting promotions, earning more and increasing your lifestyle. It puts a lot of pressure on us to keep working, or working more. We’re bombarded with news about various crises too - the cost of living, the climate, housing, the pandemic etc etc. You might be feeling and experiencing the very real effects of these in your personal life and then the news heightens that feeling in our bodies. This endless nervous system activation means we never feel totally switched off or relaxed.
If you haven’t already, consider ‘decluttering’ the news feed you are exposed to and see how it changes things.
The news, our social feeds and something called hedonic adaptation, where we get used to our current lifestyle level and our happiness returns to its baseline even after significant increases - can all leave you feeling like you should be pursuing more.
Using the practices of presence, mindfulness and gratitude help to curb these effects. To me, this is the true power of these practices - bringing you into your life and finding comfort in what you have rather than feeling lacking.
That’s why I love the seasonal approach to living.
It has these practices built into the process so you don’t have to find kid free time to meditate or have elaborate morning routines. Your life slowly becomes something that doesn’t need those things for you to thrive. Becoming aware of the changing seasons and making subtle changes to your daily rhythm in line with those changes can *be* the meditation.
For me, this means changing the scent in the candles I’m burning to more fresh and floral ones. Opening the curtains and windows to let in light and fresh air. Watering the garden in the early morning to prepare the plants for the coming heat of the day. More fresh vegetables rather than cooked ones. Evening activities like a neighbourhood walk now that the day is lasting longer.
If you took time for a more restful pace in Winter, it can bring clarity to 'see' your own desires more clearly in Spring. You might be able to hear your inner voice a little louder. Maybe you are even starting to trust it more. Now is the time to really hone in on that and clear the dead wood in your life.
If instead you feel a sense of tiredness rather than emerging energy, that is your sign that you really do need to scale back. Sometimes trees need a hard prune and sometimes so does your life. It is still possible to find your path!
I’m sure by now you have got a robust decluttering system for the physical stuff in your life. However I wonder how much time you’ve dedicated to reducing the flow of stuff into your home?
How much time do you spend thinking about: things you need or want to buy, being influenced by the purchases of others, where or how to store the things you buy, how you’re going to afford your next purchase? How much time do you spend researching, or at the shops or online shopping? Is all of it necessary?
For today’s toolkit, I have a workbook for you to assess your purchasing habits.
"We dont buy things with dollars, but with hours of our lives".
I hope you can see that reducing this pressure to earn/spend more can deeply contribute to slowing down the pace of life, just as much as learning to have better boundaries does. It's another layer, another approach to help you slow down holistically.
Click to get the toolkit workbook
In other news, Martyr To Matriarch is coming up for all paid subscribers! This is going to be an interactive four call mini course to discover your inner Matriarch. I can’t wait to spend some more time with you after my hiatus.
Check the calendar and mark your diary as we will have our first call next Wednesday at 11am Brisbane time. See you then (recordings will be available!).
Love Rachelle x