Embracing Slow Living: Savouring the Autumn Tranquility

Before the madness of Christmas ...

Slow Living sounds absurd, have you seen my to-do list?

It sounds like nothing much gets done so your house becomes a mess, you can't be arsed to dress properly & you become a sloth!

I'm all for Seasonal Life Shifts and I love watching nature do her thing with predictable wonder.

"Oh wow it's getting dark at 7.30pm now"

"Brr it's getting chilly I think we're done with summer"

Brits love to talk about the weather but not always so much about the magic it creates in our countryside.

No I'm not going all Alan Titchmarsh on you, although I do love his soothing voice on Sunday morning TV, but I have to say that getting into the FEELINGS that the seasonal shift brings is exciting.

Summer morphs into a golden Autumn that glides icily into Winter, that thaws us into Spring & back to life.

Autumn is our transition time to reflect upon our year thus far with only 3 months to go.

Have you had a good year?

What personal wins have you had?

How are your finances looking?

You see, I got to it eventually. Life is underpinned by our finances. But our finances aren't life itself.

Do Autumn's reflective vibes make you feel cosy and that you want to simplify your life a bit?

How can you create slow living & simplify a little?

If your life is 100 miles an hour, you've probably shrugged your shoulders & eyerolled a "ffhuh"

For me, it was deciding that Wednesday nights were my "spa night". Your typical bubble bath, candles, body scrub etc. Followed by clean jammies & watching Lydia Elise Millen on YouTube - I just love her and wish I could have 10% of her elegance. She has crafted the life I always wanted but never quite achieved but I'm working on it!

Slowing down for me is taking Saturday mornings to watch James Martin on the telly with my meal-planning kit in front of me, several steaming pots of coffee & my Country Living magazine. Then I go to town blitz cleaning my home - so it's all perfect again. (For an hour at least)

Having a dog means daily walks, so I have taken hundreds of seasonal pictures so that I'm living with what's changing around me. Researching what things are & foraging for blackberries and apples. (Ok, scrumping)

I was also taking half an hour to recky my money so I knew where I stood. Creating this routine meant I didn't fear or loathe doing it, it was just something that needed doing like bleaching the loo.

It meant I was always on top of my game, organised, not stressing about money - apart from the usual money worries. There is a huge difference between a worry here & there vs. long-term stress & anxiety.

Getting cosy with delicious smelling candles creating a warm glow, blankies & a good film with a glass of red. This simplicity feels so good when you intentionally have it in your mind to do it & actually do it.

What do you do & what else would you like to do?

How CAN you make it happen? Pop your comments in at the end, be lovely to have a conversation like pen pals.

Here are 5 ways you can consider slowing down this Autumn:

1. Tune into your senses. What can you smell, do you notice the golden glow of both the weakened sunlight & leaves wafting to the ground?

2. What beautiful clothes do you have that you will be wearing again this season? Get inspiration from Pinterest to zhuzh them up, maybe buy a couple of new things but appreciate what you already have instead of buying loads of new. Slow living is loving what you have & not constantly adding to your possessions. Less stuff = less clutter = less stress. Just watch Stacey Soloman's Sort Your Life Out!

3. Grab a coffee break and don't scroll your phone, look up, look around, connect with a colleague, read a few pages of an actual book & breathe.

4. Browse gorgeous independent shops in person, or via their insta feeds instead of going straight to Amazon. Seeing & touching items in person sparks creativity better.

5. Eating seasonal food, our bodies need the diversity of new fruits & veggies: apples, artichoke, beetroot, bilberries, blackberries, broccoli, butternut squash, celeriac, celery, chestnuts, chicory, chives, chillies, cob nuts, elderberries, fennel, garlic, horseradish, Jerusalem artichoke, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, marrow, medlar, parsley, parsnips, pears, potatoes, pumpkin, quince, radishes, rocket, rosemary, runner beans, sage, salsify, shallots, sorrel, squashes, swede, sweetcorn, thyme, tomatoes, turnips And get cooking! We got the slow cooker out yesterday for a chicken & sausage cassoulet - damn that thing was delish I'm so happy we've got 2nds tonight! Cooking for our families is a wonderful warm feeling, I find Sundays are the perfect day to do this with an extra dollop of love. Setting the table nicely, having a good playlist on & a nice bottle of plonk or two.

If you feel you'd like to slow down a little, & take stock of your finances thus far, I have a couple of gorgeous options for you that make it simple to achieve:

1. Grab your Financial Decluttering ebook for under a fiver to help you reflect & set the slower tone for Autumn & Winter:

Financial Decluttering Made Easy

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2. Chat it over with me so we can make it feel like a cosy experience with one-to-one mentoring.

I can guide you through so that you can identify what one thing you'd like to change that will make a big difference & we can set up your Fresh Budget together - so in an hour it's all done!!!

Mentoring to get you set up & ready to go!

Buy Now

Let's savour the Autumn Tranquility together, before the madness of Christmas kicks in - 3 months today!

Love from

Lucy x