Embracing Slow

March is my start of the year

Photo by Arno Smit on Unsplash

Regular readers and followers of me (Paula at U Can Yoga) may notice this newsletter has a new look. That’s because I’m now writing to you from Substack. You’ll still receive this to your email inbox, but now you also have the option to read via the Substack app if you prefer.

How has your 2023 been so far? Mine has got off to a slow start, and deliberately so. I feel an affinity to the animals who go into hibernation for winter and re-emerge in spring. In lieu of being able to hibernate, restorative yoga has strongly featured. I resist the pressure to launch into new projects in January and I’m not into new years resolutions.

That doesn’t mean I’ve been doing nothing in January and February, far from it in fact. But what I have been doing is embracing being slow. For me that has looked like intentionally not over scheduling myself and proactively taking things off my to do list. I wrote about this and other suggestions for creating space in your day in my book, Rest + Calm: Gentle yoga and mindful practices to nurture and restore yourself. 

This isn’t a place I’ve got to overnight. Years of being a workaholic, perfectionist, people pleaser, navigating self-employment and burnout have all combined to cement the importance of slowing down. If I’m constantly over scheduled and on the go, there isn’t the space for me to get clear about what I need or want. That space to pause has allowed me to consciously tune in and be aware of my energy levels and my mental and emotional capacity. Since hitting perimenopause I’m aware that things have shifted internally and my old ways (which tended to involve ploughing on regardless of how I felt and saying yes too freely) will not fly. As contradictory as it sounds, by not over scheduling myself and honouring my threshold physically, mentally and emotionally, I find that important things still get done, but even more importantly, I don’t lose myself or end up feeling resentful. Less can be more.

That said, it is a practice, especially in a society that demands and values productivity. By accepting this is an ongoing practice it means, for me, that complacency doesn’t set in.

The start of March has brought renewed energy and hope. Now that we’re here I feel like the year is truly beginning. Maybe March feels like the new year for me because it’s my birthday season as well as being the month where we see clear signs of Spring here in the northern hemisphere, signalling rebirth. This March also marks one year since Rest + Calm was published. If you don’t have a copy and would like one you can receive a 25% discount at bloomsbury.com/restandcalm by entering REST+CALM25 at the checkout.

To practice restorative yoga with me online, join me on Tuesdays 8-9pm at Mindwalk Yoga - there’s a 7-day free trial if you’re new.

Over to you:

How do you honour your threshold?

How do you tune into your needs?

What would embracing being slow look like in your life in this season? 

---