In fact, I would take it one step further and say that not only do we need to daydream more, but we also need to allow ourselves and our children to get bored. Just like with daydreaming, boredom encourages our minds to wander, and the natural lull allows our energy to replenish. It also encourages creative thinking. Remember when you were a child and you would say you were bored? What followed would be an interval where you had to use your initiative and imagination to think of something creative to occupy yourself with.

  It is evident that time spent daydreaming or being bored is essential for our mental well-being, and that now more than ever, when there are many distractions to keep our brains occupied and engaged, we have to be more mindful and intentional about making sure we have gaps in our days to let our minds slow down.

  Well-Being

  BODY

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  We often do all our “thinking” with our minds, even though our bodies possess inherent intelligence. They often know what is best for us: when we need to rest, when we need fresh air and exercise. If we take just a moment to think about all the amazing things our bodies do—all the movements, automated bodily functions, brain processing, tissue growth and repairs, hormone releases, etc.—then it makes sense for us to put some time aside to take care of and look after them. By slowing down things, we are able to listen to our bodies with more clarity and develop our body-mind connection, which in turn allows us to feel connected to our “self” in new ways.

  LEARNING TO LISTEN TO OUR BODIES

  For many, the desire to slow down comes from listening to a faint call from deep within the body. We instinctively know that something is not right—that the pace of life is too fast. Ignoring or silencing this voice, because we are too busy, is only a temporary fix. That raw impulse to slow down will not disappear; instead, if we can learn how to tune in to our bodies and converse with this voice, we can allow it to guide us.

  Learning to listen to our bodies is a fundamental life skill, but what exactly do we mean by “listening”? We receive messages from our bodies all the time. Physical messages, such as hunger, thirst, and pain, are often the first signals we are aware of. Our body also sends us subtle messages, signals in the form of emotions and feelings. Listening encourages us to become more aware of the general sensations in our bodies. Importantly, it helps us identify what tension feels like, and in contrast, what relaxation feels like. It also helps us distinguish between good pain versus bad pain and tune in to our emotional intelligence, which improves our intuition. However, it is easy to miss these subtle messages when we have so many distractions in our lives that hinder us from listening to our bodies. These distractions range from clutter in our home and overscheduled weeks to information overload and virtual consumption.

  When we are aware of what our bodies are feeling, many of us have become good at suppressing these messages and feelings. It is understandable why we numb ourselves; some of the feelings that come our way, like sadness, grief, and loneliness, aren’t much fun to experience. However, there are several problems that come from quashing how we really feel. Firstly, we cannot pick and choose which emotions we want to feel. A numbing of one, leads to a numbing of everything. If we suppress sadness, we also never get to experience the brilliance of joy, or the intense pleasure of passion. Secondly, once we start to shut down the conversations and the ability to understand the messages our bodies send us, we struggle to really know what we want and need. By learning to nurture ourselves and by being more self-compassionate we will begin to change the way we interact with ourselves. With time, we can gradually learn to open up a dialogue with our body, develop self-trust, and allow ourselves to experience the whole gamut of our emotions.

  LIVING LIGHTLY

  The Benefits of Listening to Your Body

  Here are some of the benefits of learning to listen to your body and developing your body-mind connection.

  Better health. Overall, you will feel better, as you will have an increased awareness of your body and will recognize when you need to rest and do less.

  Increased intuition. By listening to your body, you can increase your intuition and become more insightful, which in turn helps you understand what you really want (your heart’s desire).

  Less aches. Once you are able to converse with your body and understand where any aches are coming from, you will also know what you can do to help improve them, such as posture adjustments or stretches and exercises.

  Discernment of good pain versus bad pain. If you have ever heard the phrase “good pain” and not understood what it meant, you will start to be able to notice the difference between different types of pain. For example, when doing physical activity or stretching, you will be aware of pain that is expected and productive and of pain that has a detrimental effect and means you are damaging something. It is helpful to be able to distinguish between these two different types of pain.

  Better understanding of stress and anxiety. By becoming curious about how your body and mind work, you will gain a deeper understanding of why and how you become stressed and anxious, which in turn will help you know what you can do to alleviate such feelings.

  Healthy relationship with food. For many of us, our relationship with food can be complicated. Understanding when you are actually hungry and truly full is vital, along with deciphering what your body is craving and why, and then working out what your body actually needs.

  Improved emotional intelligence. Emotions are complicated because they can feel so big and all-consuming when they are happening. Or alternatively, we are fearful of feeling too much, so we try to completely quash our emotions. It is important to acknowledge your emotions and understand that they will not magically disappear. It is also equally important to understand that your emotional response to something does not define who you are. You will start to observe your emotions and recognize them for what they are—just a response to something that will eventually fade. Once we understand that how we emotionally react to something isn’t who we are and doesn’t represent the truth, it will help us not to overidentify with our emotions.

  Healthy relationships and boundaries. Becoming aware of taking on too much and people-pleasing will help you establish healthy boundaries. It is important to know when to say “no” in order to preserve your relationships.

  More pleasure. Once you stop suppressing your feelings, you allow yourself to be open to the full spectrum of emotions, and therefore, will start to experience more pleasure and joy.

  Self-trust. Once you start to believe and trust in the messages that come from your body and see the positive impact of listening to your body, you will gain more trust in yourself and the process. This in turn will help to alleviate general anxiety and self-doubt.

  Increased autonomy. Once your self-trust grows, you will realize that you have the necessary tools within yourself to cope with life’s challenges and are therefore able to navigate whatever comes your way.

  THE BODY-MIND CONNECTION

  By learning to listen to our bodies, we cannot help but explore the body-mind connection. The body-mind connection acknowledges that our minds have the ability to affect our bodies—our thoughts, feelings, and emotions can positively and negatively impact the way our bodies function. In reverse, our bodies also can affect our minds—what we eat and how much sleep we get affects our thoughts and how we feel.

  This body-mind connection also helps us better understand how all the parts of our bodies fit together and move. Watching children move and play is so inspirational, as they instinctively know how to be connected to their bodies. As we age, our bodies become well worn and marked with our life experiences. We often learn bad habits in terms of movement and posture, and often become disconnected from our physical being. Spending time reconnecting the body and mind allows us to correct bad posture habits and helps us move more freely and with ease.

  By slowing down and creating space to understand the body-mind connection and by listening to our bodies, we can live fuller lives. Paying attention to the messages our bodies send us positively impacts our well-being, from better health and less aches and pains to having a clearer understanding of stress and anxiety. If we allow them, our bodies can be great at guiding us to a more balanced way of life.

  A Slow Home

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  Our homes and what we surround ourselves with are deeply intertwined with our slow-living experience. And it is essential to invest some time looking closely at our homes and whether we have them set up in a way that supports us and encourages a slower pace. How our homes feel, and the space around us, can make an impact on our well-being. A slow home can help us to connect deeply to ourselves and allow us to focus on the important things.

  CREATING A SLOW HOME

  When talking about creating a slow home, a good place to start is with simplifying our homes. Ideally, we want an environment that is easy to manage, comfortable, organized, and functional. There are three main areas you should focus on to achieve this: the design and decor of the space; the belongings that are in your home; and the habits, routines, and rhythms of the people who live within your home.

  When looking at the design and decor of a home, it is crucial to think about how calm a room feels. The materials, colors, and fabrics that are used within the room, as well as the furniture and items, all feed into this. With the design of a slow home, there should be pockets of space to allow life to happen. Is there room for children to be creative and play? Is there a space that encourages rest? Finally, consider how ethical and natural your home is: Is it a space that nourishes your health and well-being?

  Try to be thoughtful about the belongings within your home. It is helpful to adopt a conscious shopping habit and take time to think about whether you really “need” an item. A slow home takes time to come together, especially when purchasing key pieces like furniture—it is good to develop the patience to wait for the right piece of furniture to come along. It is also necessary to consider how well your belongings are organized. If things are a mess and jumbled up, it makes day-to-day living harder than necessary because you don’t know where to find anything, and even more importantly, you don’t know where to tidy things away. Of course, the fewer belongings you have in the first place, the less “stuff” there is to sort through.

  Finally, to truly have a slow and simple home, we need to look beyond the decor and the things we own and focus on our habits, routines, and rhythms. By spending some time thinking about these things in regard to your home, you will be able to truly assess how slow your home is. Is there space for any calm pauses within your day? Think about how you can alter your routine to make space for some slow moments. Are there any negative habits surrounding how you live in your home that you can specifically look at to help your day flow more smoothly? For example, do you find yourself always in a rush in the morning? If so, perhaps you could improve your sleep routine at the end of the day so you go to bed earlier and more relaxed.

  Of course, our daily rhythms are affected by our living space, and vice versa, but if we solely focus on our environment, we are only doing half the work. To make long-lasting, deep changes, we must look below the surface and tackle our routines, rhythms, and habits. Only then will we really be able to experience a slow and simple home.

  SIMPLIFYING OUR BELONGINGS

  It is important to be able to look around our homes and feel calm. If we are surrounded by clutter and mess all the time, it is bound to negatively impact our mood and well-being. By simplifying and getting rid of some of our belongings, life can feel lighter and easier to manage. Clearing the clutter helps improve day-to-day life because everything is organized and has its place. It also helps us to live in the present moment, free from distractions and any associated stress or guilt over the piles of “stuff.”

  When looking at simplifying what we own, sorting and organizing our things can feel like a massive task. For motivation, when clearing the clutter, it is good to have a specific intention to come back to, to help keep you focused on what you are doing and why. One approach is to have the intention to get rid of needless things; however, what we “need” can be subjective. We could arguably live without lots of the items we have in our homes, but by owning them, life seems more comfortable. Or we could set the intention to surround ourselves with things that add value and joy. Thinking about how much value a possession adds to your life can be really helpful when deciding what to let go of. For example, someone might own a collection of thousands of books, a piece of art, or a family heirloom that they don’t really “need,” but surely, such a treasured collection or item brings great value and joy into their lives—we all “need” a bit of that too. Whatever your intention, hold onto it when simplifying your belongings.

  When sorting through items, it can be helpful to sort by category—clothes, books, paperwork. By piling all our items of a specific category in one space, we will realize how much “stuff” we actually have, which is another great way to motivate us to get rid of the excess. In fact, just the process of sorting through our belongings in this way provides a great opportunity to reevaluate things altogether. It helps us become aware of how much we consume and what items are really necessary.

  Once we have sorted through all our belongings and have decided what we are happy to let go of, we must remember to rehome and recycle what we can. We want to try to avoid everything just ending up in landfill. Can any items be repurposed or donated to charity, and finally, can they be recycled?

  It is also sensible to spend some time looking at how we store our possessions in the most effective way. It’s comforting to know that every item has a specific home and a place to be put away. It makes it easier to keep the home tidy, which in turn means we are less stressed and more able to relax.

  It can be easy to fall into the trap of constantly searching for more and more things, and the act of simplifying our belongings helps us appreciate what we have. Instead of being distracted by the clutter, we can better appreciate all the treasured and personal items we own. An uncluttered environment also allows us to tune in to the important stuff in life. We can focus on creating memories, being present, and enjoying all those wholehearted moments.

  LIVING LIGHTLY

  Decluttering Your Home

  Here are some simple, tried-and-true tips for decluttering your home.

  Pick one area to focus on. Don’t try to tackle the whole house at once. Chances are you will feel overwhelmed and never actually begin.

  Sort by category, not by room. This great tip from organizational guru Marie Kondo means you will not repeat the task over and over. It is also harder to decide what you can let go of when you haven’t actually collected all the items together.

  Organize your belongings. As soon as you have cleared the clutter, organize your things. Put like with like (e.g., all batteries together, all spare bedding in one place). In order to have a tidy home, every item needs a place to be tidied away into.

  Utilize storage. It is amazing what good storage can do for a room; effective storage allows you to have less surface clutter. Make the most of the space you have, by using extra hooks or by storing things under your bed or sofa. Try to keep the contents of all storage and drawers tidy, too, so things are easy to find. If there are lots of smaller items in one drawer, subdivide the items into containers. Just be careful that you don’t use the storage as an excuse to hoard more things.

  Go digital. Can you go paperless with banking, paying bills, etc.? Or is it time to digitize all of your CDs?

  Try to tidy little and often. Things come in and out of our homes on a daily basis; therefore, it is important to tidy frequently. Make it part of your weekly routine to stay on top of the clutter by putting time aside—only fifteen minutes a day—to sort through it regularly. It’s amazing the difference fifteen minutes a day can make.

  Involve your children. Help your children learn from a young age where things live in your home. By teaching them the importance of putting things away, they will be able to help you keep your home tidy. It will also help them appreciate their toys and belongings, which is an important step in establishing healthy boundaries when shopping with your children.

  Sort your paperwork. Paperwork comes into most homes daily, in the form of letters, bills, notifications from school, etc. Think about setting up a system for how and where this paperwork can be stored, recycled, and shredded. This will help reduce paper clutter and also make it easier to find things.

  Collect charity donations. Have a bag for charity donations somewhere in your home. When you come across something that isn’t used or needed, it can go straight into the bag. When the bag is full, donate it to the local charity shop.

  Create a memory box. Designate a box for sentimental items that you want to keep but that don’t necessarily need to be displayed in your home. We have created one especially for our daughter, as she often creates drawings and artwork, along with schoolwork, that we want to hold on to and treasure. By creating a memory box, you have somewhere specific to put those precious items, without them spreading throughout your home. Remember to be mindful about what you keep and place in the box.

  Seasonal Living

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