Slow Living - Doing It Old Style!

Sausageroll14

Heya folks, I really wanted to get back into the slow lane after the Christmas period so it was an actual relief to get up slightly earlier and head off to the gym. I have this really relaxing wander to get there. After the gym it's just a nice way to cook down and enjoy the post work glow 😁😁😁

Moorviews

Well done on the early gym session 😊 being able to enjoy a walk as a warm up and a cool down sounds perfect!

There aren’t any gyms near me and I don’t want to start the day with a car journey, especially as we try to limit our use of it now. I used to have a book about exercise in the garden which I am going to look out. It is going to take some willpower to do it in the cold though!

I have been the opposite, with leisurely starts to the day and cups of tea in bed! I am thankful for an east facing bedroom to appreciate the sunrises and then the bright sunshine. There is plenty of birdsong too to listen to. New Year’s Day was mostly spent reading, apart from lovely visitors for a couple of hours. I haven’t done a big chunk of reading like that in ages and had forgotten how much it can clear my mind of the junk that often swirls around in there. 

The fresh food in the fridge is nearly finished so I am in that creative zone of making the most of it and holding off going shopping. Last year, I wanted to use the supermarket less but still ended up buying most of our food there as the year was so complicated. I shall have another go this year though as I don’t get any joy from shopping in a supermarket. The staff and customers are lovely but the produce is mostly packaged in plastic and I would like to reduce that. I do use my net bags for loose produce but we still end up with a ridiculous amount of packaging so I need to have a good think. 

MissRikkiC

Have you looked at Riverford @Moorviews I used them a lot about 12 months ago and also tallied up the cost of the box in Tesco for similar produce and it was actually very very close. I appreciate it might be more than you’re used to spending, but it’s excellent quality, the customer service is outstanding and it really helps keep you away from the shops! 

MissRikkiC

I haven’t had much slowness the last 2 days but I have had late starts. I think I’ve been spoilt a little with less routine over Christmas that it’s helped me slow down, the true test will be next week when the children are back at school/nursery. 

Moorviews

@MissRikkiC - thank you, I agree that their boxes are excellent. It is especially great to have deliveries when you are very busy too.
I think that I shall probably buy directly from the farm shops; there are several that are actually closer than the supermarket. I would like to have a more simple shopping experience that has some personal interaction. Also, I want to buy less and more thoughtfully too. I don’t tend to go overboard in the farm shop because of the higher prices. 

I visited a garden yesterday, in all its wintery, frosty beauty it was completely magical. So tranquil in its stillness, yet full of life because there were bulbs pushing up their leaves everywhere I looked. There is something about seeing a garden in winter that is perfectly lovely. 

MissRikkiC

I don’t know what it is about farm shops, probably their sometimes expensive goods makes me want them more! I’m definitely better off out when I’m trying to be frugal! 

My slowness today was a walk with the dog this morning. I’d been on my phone for 5 minutes until I realised that it was a beautiful morning, crisp, but the sun was shining so I enjoyed 30 minutes of phone free, time outside. Less slow was this evenings run but still very slow compared to my old methods of training so I’ll count it. I needed it, the headspace and time to just listen to podcast and not think. 

Hope you’ve all had slow days/moments. 

Moorviews

It sounds like you adapted your run to perfectly match your needs. It can be good to drop the sense of pressure and just be in the moment. I haven’t run for years as my body wouldn’t like it now, however, I remember the lovely meditative aspects of it. Certainly I miss it for that, and being out at 5 am on a summer morning when the roads are quiet. I don’t wake up with that kind of energy anymore!

The cold weather and dark mornings have made me enjoy being snuggled in the warm bed having a couple of cups of tea to start the day. I like to watch the dawn and the sun coming up from a cosy position! It is so interesting watching the different daybreaks without being in a rush. Also, to notice when the birds start to wake up and sing. I know that I am lucky to be retired, along with my husband, so we don’t usually have to hurry ourselves about getting ready. I am trying to drop the sense of guilt about not being up and dressed early when there is no need to get up in the dark. I can do it when I have to!

Having a quiet afternoon to myself yesterday, I lit the fire and curled up with my book for a couple of hours. A cup of tea and a lebkuchen to hand! I most enjoy reading when the house is completely quiet for some reason. 

MissRikkiC

That all sounds dreamy @Moorviews I really don’t have the opportunity to do that but that’s okay, there will be a time. For now, where im at in my life, I expect to be up at all times of the day, however I’d hope that it was inline with the routine for school and nursery etc. Yesterday was not the case, the children woke up at 7:45 and we didn’t set an alarm either! which was far too late to be organised for school so that was not slow at all! Today was more organised, everyone was up on time! 

MissRikkiC

I’ve often thought about this thread in my absence from the forums (life got in the way) and wondered if everyone was slowing down still. 

I’ve always found it difficult but have definitely found that I’ve slowed down more this year than ever before. Yes I still rush most days for the school run, am late for most things more times than I’m on time but I’m seeing more and hearing from and feeling more. For me that’s about slowing down, my mind mostly to appreciate smaller pleasures and I’ve been doing that in various ways. The birds in the morning are really quite lovely. We currently have 5 baby chicks and they are a joy to watch with their mum chicken and I have been regularly just sitting by them and taking them in. 

What have you all been doing recently to be slow? 

Brie

MissRikkiC said:

What have you all been doing recently to be slow? 

I retire today!!! 

Shame in some way as I mostly enjoy the job but I've decided it was time to declutter responsibilities.  So I'll stop being a team leader of a gang of volunteer debt advisors and just be an advisor on an ad hoc voluntary basis.  After a 2 month break.  Or 3 months.  Don't know yet.  

fyi - got some lovely presents yesterday at work when we had a little party - cheeky people gave me a beginners guide to painting watercolours despite me having lessons for about the last 10 years!!  But they also gave me a £50 Hobbycraft gift card so I'll forgive them.