Cultivating a slow daily practice
‘May the autumnal equinox be the beginning of new things in your life.’
Welcome to Generosity of Spirit, a space to share my slow and gentle living philosophy - alongside my love of plant based living and food. Please do subscribe to join me on this gentle journey of discovery.
Yesterday marked the Autumn Equinox. During the equinox, the sun is positioned exactly above the equator – meaning day and night are theoretically of equal length all over the world. In the Northern Hemisphere, the September Equinox marks the end of summer, and the start of Autumn.
This year, I am paying more attention to the moon, and the passing and changing of the seasons. I love how the ritual of this has guided me and helped me really notice and feel influenced by the natural world around me. This Autumn Equinox feels like a welcome invitation to do some soul searching- to look inward, embrace change and connect back with the spirit.
Creating your own Daily Practice
A daily practice is any activity that becomes part of your regular routine and encourages you to pause, to go inward and slow down.
As discussed in my newsletter Welcoming Autumn last week, I've been exploring this year! Trying new hobbies, saying yes more, lifting limits on my myself and really being curious about life and spirituality.
I love being curious, and by nature I think humans are always searching for new ideas, new ways of doing things, new opportunities, and new ways of finding ourselves and reconnecting with our spirit. But, despite our enthusiasm we often get overwhelmed and even practices or activities you have enjoyed fall by the wayside.
A daily practice offers the chance to truly consider how you spend your time, and where you place focus.
I feel like I have been leaning into it more recently. When I do spend time planning and thinking about how I divide up my days and weeks, I always move with more ease and a greater sense of motivation and intention. It helps me live slowly and gently, by creating balance and intention which helps in all aspects of my life.
Molly aka Hippy Highland Living Slow Planner on notion, available on her Etsy store has been invaluable to me this year. I have felt so inspired by it – and it has helped me really see the benefit of creating intention and planning. You can read about Molly’s planners here - Slow Planners
Where to start?
As I've seen the benefit of committing to daily practice in a more mindful way I've wanted to get a bit more serious about creating a daily practice that works in my life. I see how integral a daily practice will be to my slow and gentle life. Offering structure to organise my mind and create space for new thoughts, ideas, and opportunities.
Examples of what you can do as part of your daily practice include some of the following:
Journaling
Writing
Breathwork
Meditation
Nature
Movement
Intention setting
Manifestation
Affirmations
Gratitude
Prayer
Learning
Reading
Yoga
Pilates
Vision Board
Inspirational podcasts and audiobooks
I do practice a lot of these examples, and find enormous peace in them, but I explore sporadically. Over the next few weeks – I am going to spend some time creating some plans and structure, as well as some morning and evening routines.
“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.”
– F. Scott Fitzgerald
As we stand at the beginning of a new season, I think it is important to acknowledge and take time to be grateful for what you have achieved this Spring and Summer, but move into Autumn/Winter with more intention and support. The colder, darker, shorter days can be challenging, and it's important to give yourself the best chance to continue to live slowly and gently whilst also achieving your goals.
To mark this Autumn Equinox and to prepare for creating this new daily practice, I took some time to set some affirmations, intentions and wishes for the coming season.
I invite you to do the same...
Affirmations
Take a moment to read through the affirmations below… if any resonate with you, jot them down. I like to write affirmations at the top of my journal. Sometimes it acts as a journaling prompt, or it serves as a positive jolt when I need it.
I love the process of becoming who I am
I am ready to embrace change
I look inward for inspiration
I nurture and listen to my instincts
I start and end each day with a grateful heart
I am gentle with myself
I see change as an opportunity to learn and grow
I am grounded in the present moment
I shed that which no longer serves me
I allow my mind, body and soul to rest when it needs it
I am able to flow with life
I welcome new opportunities and possibilities into my life
As the seasons change, I accept the transformation that comes with it
Intentions
Take some time to think about what Autumn represents, the invitation to change, and the beauty that comes with it.
As the leaves change colour and fall to the ground – I like to see it as a symbol of what you have spent time on over the Spring and Summer, all that flourished and grew. Now as the leaves fall, those accomplishments act as a foundation to support your rebirth into the latter part of the year.
Note down some intentions for the coming season...
Wishes
I don’t follow a manifestation practice, but I do often spend time thinking about my dreams and wishes - and learning about manifestation - I am not sure it would be such a leap. For this Autumn Equinox, I wanted to try a manifesting ritual. I like to start from a place of gratitude, so the first thing I did was write a gratitude list. I almost fell into an ‘end of year’ mindset, thinking about this change in the season as quite literally a fresh start.
After my gratitude list, I got two bits of paper – on one I wrote everything I would like to welcome for the rest of the year, and on the other, I wrote a list of everything I would like to let go of and allow to fall away. I have kept my list of things to welcome, but my list to let go… I screwed up the bit of paper and I threw it away. I was surprised at how freeing this felt. This was a gentle first step, but it has stirred my curiosity, and I want to read more about manifestation (watch this space!).
Why not give this ritual a try yourself?
I've definitely got some thinking to do as I start designing my own daily practices and routines. I want to start with my strengths, and look firstly at what I already do daily, or what really delivers peace and calm.
I have been writing daily the last few months, and I have been loving the process and feeling more committed to it. I like the idea of starting the week (Monday) with some mindset work, and finishing the week with a deeper check in (Sunday). In between I want to create a bit more structure in my daily journaling.
I really hope this inspires you to take a moment to reset, and think about how to let this new season inspire some new daily practices. Please do share your thoughts, and if you do follow any daily practices already!
Until next time, have a slow and gentle week.
Lovely ideas. I have finally, after many years of trying, settled into a nourishing morning rhythm which sets me up for the day. My own personal routine allows me to car e out a little space for myself. We live, learn & work together as a family so this precious routine is vital for my own self are. I love your idea of daily wishes, something I would like to weave into my daily rhythm. 🙏
Lovely, words to be proud of and to live by. Love the F Scott Fitzgerald quote too. Thanks for sharing