How Slow Living Helped Me Heal: My Journey to a Simpler, More Intentional Life

Thank you so much for being here. I’m excited to know that there are more people, than just myself, who are interested in a slow way of living.

Let me explain what brought me here . . .

2024 was one of THE hardest years for me, personally. While there weren’t really any “outside” tragedies, or anything like that, there was a LOT going on inside.

I had been experiencing a fairly long mid-life crisis.

First, it was around the physical changes in my looks. I began noticing more wrinkles, it took more to cover my greys, etc.

Then . . .

My body started to FEEL old.

It ached.

It was stiff.

I felt like the tin man!

All of this FORCED me to look within.

FORCED me to slow down.

I couldn’t run from myself any longer.

While I feel I’ve always had a pretty deep connection to my intuition, this slowing down enhanced it by leaps and bounds.

Something within me just KNEW that I had to start processing some old wounds. I had to stop running from my emotions. I had to heal.

Enter somatic yoga.

I was drawn to sign up for my second advanced 300 hour yoga teacher training focusing on somatic yoga therapy. Even though I was mainly doing this for myself, not really to use it to teach others, I didn’t expect the massive emotional upheaval it would create.

I’m not trying to scare you and I don’t think somatic yoga will have the same effect for every person however, I do know what effect it had on me and suffice it to say . . .

It was life changing.

But at first, it felt life shattering.

I honestly didn’t know what was happening. I didn’t KNOW work was being done deep within me. I couldn’t logically process anything.

I couldn’t THINK my way out of it this time.

F*&$.

Then what was I supposed to do? The only thing I COULD do was FEEL. I couldn’t run. I couldn’t think. I just had to FEEL.

Definitely not something I was used to.

Honestly, I was used to running from my emotions - the deep ones anyway. You know, those emotions connected to traumas? Yeah, those.

For years, I used alcohol to run from these emotions. But, I realized, there are MANY other things we use to run away.

To numb.

To hide.

Right now, I have over 1000 days alcohol-free, which, for me, is pretty amazing. And now that I’ve done the healing that I have, I no longer pine for a drink - and THAT is even MORE amazing. To NOT want a drink? Whoa. But I know EXACTLY where that will lead me. I know how I’ll feel about myself. I know that one will turn into 4, 5, 6, or more. I know that it will push me further away from the kind of life I want to live. Away from the person I want to be.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not perfect and I still struggle with other things. For example, I do find myself being an on and off cigarette smoker. I find the urge to smoke becomes unbearable around times of very specific emotional turmoil and, instead of dealing with it, I numb it with cigarettes. While this doesn’t happen often, when it does, I tend to continue smoking for at least a month before quitting again - which I’m sure is actually harder than actually just quitting for good! Maybe part of me feels like I deserve being put through THAT?

Huh. That’s interesting. I never actually even thought of that until right now. Ha! That’s the power of writing - stream of consciousness-style!

Anyway, I do believe that urge will also go away, just like the urge to drink has, once that part of me has healed enough. And, until then, I am going to be compassionate toward myself (a new thing I’ve been trying for the last couple of years).

So how does all of this tie into slow living?

Well, it’s because what started to happen, as all these emotions came up, was that it triggered an existential crisis. I had thoughts going through my mind like “what’s the freaking point”? And no, I wasn’t suicidal. But I DO think thoughts like that and NOT being suicidal can coexist.

This question was a good one though. And, while super annoying and frustrating - it WAS pivotal.

I used to be scared of “dark nights of the soul” but what I realized is that sometimes, you just NEED them in order to completely shake things up. To help you re-evaluate who you are, your life, and how you want to live. And if we don’t face our stuff, if we continue to push it down, we won’t ever get to the point where our lives can change - for the better.

You know, change in a way where you’re living a life in alignment with who you truly are. Not the life you THOUGHT you wanted. Not the life that you want OTHERS to THINK you have. Not a life based on how it’s perceived.

But a life based on . . .

Passion.

Inspiration.

Joy.

And what BRINGS us those things?

Connection.

Finding pleasure and beauty in the every day things. In the things you already have. In where you already live.

Yes, it’s lovely to travel. It can be necessary AND fun to purchase new things.

But, the key is to NOT be attached to those things.

To be content with what you have.

When you make every day things more intentional, you create more beauty, more joy, and more inner peace.

And THAT is what slow living means to me.

So, my aim with this blog is to come together with each other in this journey. It’s fairly new to me too! I’m no expert. But I do feel I have found some slow and simple ways of living that I’d like to share and, at the same time, I’d love to learn from you as well!

Here’s to growing AND slowing together,