Slow & Gentle Living for you, designed by you...

Learn how to bring simplicity, joy and calm to your life

This voiceover is an audio version of my Slow Sunday Letter below. It is unedited, so may have some stutters, imperfections, and background noise. I hope you enjoy listening to it anyway!

Welcome to Generosity of Spirit, a space to share my slow and gentle living philosophy, alongside my love of books and reading. Please do subscribe to join me on this gentle journey of discovery and receive my Slow Sunday Letter straight into your inbox.

Welcome back to another Slow Sunday Letter! I hope you have had a slow and gentle week.

“Be a curator of your life. Slowly cut things out until you’re left only with what you love, with what is necessary, with what makes you happy.” Leo Babauta

This week I want to explore how you can create a slow and gentle life that feels right, and suits you! Often I think Slow Living can feel apart from our every day lives, and something that only suits a certain ‘quieter’ lifestyle. I really don’t believe that, I know that slow and gentle living can fit right into every single person’s life in one form or another.

How can you live a slower life when you have a busy job, a demanding home life, limited funds, or live or work in the city?

Not everyone can quit their 9-5 to live their creative dreams (I wish!), or pack up their bags and move into the countryside, live a minimalist life, grow all their own food or any of the other many ‘typical’ slow living images or ideals.

I believe at the heart of slow and gentle living is a lifestyle that can work for everyone. You can make small and steady changes to your daily life without spending much money or making drastic life decisions. At its core, slow living is about getting to know yourself on a deeper level, working out ways to simplify your life and making small adjustments so your lifestyle compliments your values and passions, and feels all the more authentic and enjoyable.

So, grab a cuppa, get cosy and let’s see what your Slow & Gentle Living Life looks like!

The Slow Secret of Life

Slow down the pace

Learn how to be more present

Take some time for yourself

Be more observant of the world around you

Spend time doing what matters most

Design Your Slow & Gentle Life

“Slow living is a mindset whereby you curate a more meaningful and conscious lifestyle that’s in line with what you value most in life.

It means doing everything at the right speed. Instead of striving to do things faster, the slow movement focuses on doing things better. Often, that means slowing down,  doing less, and prioritising spending the right amount of time on the things that matter most to you.” slow living ldn

I think the best place to start when designing your slow and gentle life, is to start with your why?

Slow Living: Journal Prompts

• What is the main reason you feel pulled or intrigued by slow living?

• What (and who) is most important to you?

• Where do you spend most of your energy?

• What does a life well lived look like to you?

• What do you stand to gain by slowing down?

• When you picture a slower life, how does it feel?

• What do you treasure the most? (physically and spiritually)

We want to create some positive change, create balance and even a shift in mindset that truly supports our values and passions. Slow and gentle living places intention on our actions and helps us focus on what is truly important. Taking time to understand your why, will help you live more mindfully and in line with what matters the most to you. This is hugely personal and will be unique for everyone. It is so much more that a ‘one size fits all’ approach. We are designing a life that really nourishes you and sits at the right pace for our inner work, as well as our balance, motivation and purpose.

Follow the link below to do some more work on mindset and balance.

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Embrace Slow Living YOUR way!

“Slow living is all about creating time and space and energy for the things that matter most to us in life, so ask yourself what do you stand to gain?” Brooke Mcalary

Now we have thought about why we wish to embrace a slow and gentle life, we can start making conscious changes to invite this energy in to our every day lives.

In basic terms we are simplifying our lives, and finding ways to understand and support ourselves.

Slow living is not about being lazy or unproductive, rather slow living means prioritising and going easy on yourself when it matters. We all need time to recharge, and a compassionate space to grow and learn. Life is not perfect, and neither are we! Our best intentions to live by our slow living mindset and values can quickly fall away when we’re stressed and tired. This is why it is so important to take the time to think about what really supports you, and brings you peace and calm. From here, we can be more intentional with where we place our energy, create boundaries that help support our lifestyles, and create anchors that help maintain our balance when life gets hard.

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Slow & Gentle Living Tips For You:

Morning Routine

In a past Slow Sunday Letter I wrote about creating more structure around my daily practices, (Cultivating a slow daily practice) and I really think the best place to start is at the beginning of the day. Spending a few minutes before your day begins to truly make time for yourself and set the pace for the rest of the day is powerful. Read a few pages of a book, meditate, move your body, journal or simply sit quietly with your first cup of tea. Start small, and see how creating a morning routine that really speaks to you, can have a positive impact on your day.

Connect with Nature

I have recently leaned into my connection with the natural world and its restorative energy. Connecting with nature has so many benefits. I live and work in the city, so for me being in nature isn’t as easy as I would like – but even a city has many opportunities to reconnect with the natural world. I make sure to get outside most days, helped by my daily walk to work. I find the pockets of green, or spend time by the river near my house. I’ve tried to slow right down, to really notice the small things, and give myself time to appreciate the natural beauty right under my nose.

Slow down - literally

We are all guilty of wishing time away, and doing a bit of clock watching every now and again. One of the most important keystones of slow living is embracing it as a mindset, just as much as a lifestyle. Listen to your body, and tune into what your spirit needs. Allow yourself to take the time to enjoy every part of your day, often this can mean literally slowing down. Things will take as long as they take, and accepting this is such a powerful shift.

De-clutter

Busy lifestyles often equal cluttered homes so why not take the opportunity to simplify your living space? I have been embracing minimalism and have found it has really calmed my space, and decluttered my mind. Re-organise your space so it suits a slower pace of life, truly think about what you need and spend some time thinking about how you curate your living space. This has so much influence over slow living. I love my small home, and I enjoy creating a peaceful space that lets my spirit relax and gives my mind the opportunity to be curious. It can be as easy as lighting a candle, or burning some incense, lowering the lights and putting on some gentle music. It gives your body and mind the signal that you are safe, and it is ok to slow down.

Slow Cooking

I love cooking and for me slow living and slow cooking go hand in hand. Nourishing your body with goodness will make you feel good from the inside out. Take your time, plan your meals, enjoy eating seasonally. I like to batch cook for the week on a Sunday, and I love taking my time to meal plan. Not only does this help practically through the week, but it limits overwhelm, reduces waste, encourages me to try new recipes and ensures I eat a varied, balanced and healthy diet.

Saying No

You don’t need to change every aspect of your life to go slow, but eliminating activities that you have no interest in is a good place to start. As I live with anxiety, I am very used to creating a safe place for myself, and I think very carefully about what I say yes to in terms of a social gathering or activity. Just make sure you are moving with intention, and not out of obligation. Embrace the joy of missing out, and make time for those things you love.

Embrace your alone time

I am an introvert, so I do enjoy spending time alone, in fact it is a vital part of my self-care. I simply couldn’t ‘do life’ without a significant amount of time on my own and cultivating a very calm and quiet place. I think there is real benefit in embracing your time alone, and making sure you allow for some quiet. This can be through meditation, a walk with no headphones or just having a quiet bubble bath. We are constantly bombarded with noise, screens, people, and our minds are constantly flooded with stimulation. Learning to slow down is about getting to know yourself and giving your mind some much needed peace.

Allow for ‘free time’

We schedule in everything… work, appointments, social gatherings, exercise, food shops but do you ever schedule free time? Block out time in your week for nothing. It is all too easy to notice a free afternoon in a busy schedule and quickly rush to fill it. Leave your free time, free, and see what happens. Make this non-negotiable – and let your day evolve organically and see how your day unfolds.

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Substack’s Slow Living Community

The slow living community here is warm and generous, I just wanted to link to a few of my favourites. There a plenty more but these are a good place to start:

The Tortoise

Brooke McAlary

Slow Scottish Stories

Molly Ella

Rediscover · Reconnect · Re-Emerge

David Barton

Seasonal Living with Victoria Harrison

Victoria Harrison

slower space

Jodie Melissa Rogers

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I really hope this has inspired you to design a slow and gentle life that works for you. We are all unique and so your version of slow living will be different to mine. There are so many benefits of slow and gentle living, and though I am slightly biased - I just know that embracing a more conscious lifestyle will help you connect with yourself on a deeper level, and help you fulfil your purpose, by living more in line with your authentic self, values and passions.

I would love to know your thoughts, and if any of this resonated with you. If you feel able, please do share in the comments below.

Thank you for being here,

With Light & Love

Emily xxx

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