seasonal slow living: a simple way to approach slow living
I'm pretty sure I made this concept up, but I'm sticking with it because I do believe it's one of the easiest ways to incorporate slow living into your life.
Firstly, what is seasonal slow living? Think mindful and intentional practices that are closely associated with the seasons.
If you don't experience all four seasons, that's okay! You can approach this with however many seasons you experience OR hold onto some ideas for when you're traveling to areas that have a different climate than you're used to.
It might be difficult to visualize what seasonal slow living actually means, so below are ways to start thinking about it and how you can adopt the concept into your routines.
Seasonal Bucket Lists
This is by far the most effective and simplest way to approach seasonal slow living. Grab a pen and paper, use your notes app, Notion, whatever you like best. Then, list out a bunch of fun activities you can do that is centric to the particular season you're in/approaching. For example, autumn is approaching! Some items on your list could be: pumpkin picking, watching a Halloween movie, or baking apple cider donuts. Not only will creating a bucket list help with getting ideas flowing, but you'll likely get inspired and excited to embrace the season for what it is in ways you find most fun.
Seasonal Slow Living Prompts
These prompts are most helpful with shifting your mindset. So, if you have no idea how seasonal slow living will actually benefit you, these are great questions to consider. Feel free to use them in your journal, as conversation starters, or for your own contemplation:
1) What do you love most about this season?
2) How can you incorporate what you love about this season in your daily/weekly routines?
3) How can you make the most out of this current season of life you're in? Consider at least one concrete habit/practice/activity/hobby.
4) Identify at least three tangible things you love or can appreciate about this season.
What does seasonal slow living actually do to benefit your slow living journey?
While it may seem silly or overly simplistic, embracing the seasons for what it is is a big lesson in perspective and mindset. Being able to embrace life in small, simple, and mindful ways is the whole premise of slow living. So, if you're struggling with getting to that mindset, this can be one of the most accessible ways to start understanding and adopting it. Once you're there, it only gets simpler as you move through your slow living journey. We all experience weather. And you'd be surprised to realize just how much weather impacts our daily surroundings, culture, society, etc. This allows seasonal slow living to be approachable by all of us.
Give seasonal slow living a try, whether it be in the midst of our final summer days or as we approach autumn!
