The Medicine of Slowness & Simplicity

The topic that is on my mind and heart today is: the medicine of slowness and simplicity.

The significance of this “medicine” comes after Summer, so let's start there.

Summer is the season we as a society thrive.

It is the season that most aligns with producing, performing, and “productivity”.

Summer is a beautiful season for this very reason.

It is the season of incredible growth and it brings with it great harvests, literal and metaphorical.

At some point, the energy of Summer got put on a pedestal.

I say this in a general, societal sense, but I can see how it has become a learned (and even a forced) pattern in so many individuals. In some ways, I've even seen it in myself.

The part I want each of us to remember is that Summer is just one season and that each season offers their own medicine, their own gifts, their own strengths, and even their own version of “productivity”.

Autumn energy is quite different from the energy of Summer,

And it isn’t the same as the energy of Winter either.

Some of the medicine that Autumn brings with it is simplicity and slowness.

A simplicity and slowness that invites in gentle pauses amidst otherwise busy days.

A simplicity and slowness that invites in a bit more rest just as the sun begins to settle.

A simplicity and slowness that is not jarring after the Summer days, but is instead a gentle invitation or a balm for the “sun-kissed” bodies and minds. (Again, literal and metaphorical)

What might it look like to invite in some of the simplicity that Autumn is offering?

What might it look like to invite in some of the slowness that Autumn is offering?

It doesn’t have to be complex or big.

It can be as simple as:

• Making space to have a warm beverage outside in the morning or evening.

• Meal prepping a batch of easy to digest porridge for breakfasts.

• Taking intentional micro-breaks in your day to notice nature and notice your body.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” - Lao Tzu

Be Well 💜

~ Kara