Recently I have come to realise there’s a theme that I have been working with for sometime – keeping it simple.  Basically making changes in life, or careful choices as things crop up, to literally make things more simple / less complicated.

For me, I’ve taken big career decisions (goodbye personal training business), ditched hobbies (bon voyage my little bee friends), erased beauty routines (au revior to the endless applying, and then later removing of, make-up), given away the TV (I recommend it).  Once you start it, the keep it simple theme can follow you everywhere.  For example, keeping things simple when cooking (a few good local ingredients), when eating (eating in peaceful surroundings), when going out (travel less far, less often), when talking (do I really need to babble on about what I’ve been doing today / my holiday / the weather?)

Is my keep it simple life poorer, duller, less fulfilling you ask?  Well, I earn less money and I go out less but, no it’s the opposite.  Keeping my life simple actually allows me to LIVE life more.  I am less stressed, less tired, less cluttered, less pulled in every direction.  I can ‘breathe’, I have the ‘space’ to live life now.  Perhaps there’s room in your life for a little re-shuffle, the odd delete here and there too?  Time to make a change, let go of something?

As for me, I am still working with this (it might be a lifelong mantra)!  Now when I get the urge to hatch out more chickens, get more dogs, go on another course, buy a new gadget etc. I pause and think keep it simple.  And I am so glad, for now I don’t create more work for myself or make myself too busy, so instead I can enjoy life.

Zoom zoom rush in your car
Zap your dinner, gulp your food
Race around
Rush rush rush
Why are you in a hurry? What are you doing? Where is the emergency?

Pregnancy and life with a newborn is teaching me so much.  One thing has been to go slow.  Don’t jam-pack a million things into your day.  Relieve yourself of the long to-do list that you give yourself.  Stop, smile, breathe, sigh.  Enjoy your journeys – look at the scenery, wonder at the sky, enjoy your surroundings, find beauty wherever you are, it is there.  Take time to prepare, cook, eat and taste your food.  Thank those who have grown, delivered, made your ingredients, your food.  Smile at your loved ones.  Smile at strangers.  Forgive and feel compassion for the unhappy people that are frowning through their day, chasing their tails without stopping to think why, and barking and unfriendly towards you.

My days have a lot of pauses in there that weren’t there before, as I stop to breast feed my 6 month old baby.  She does not care if I am supposed to be somewhere a certain time, have washing to hang out, or am in the middle of something.  She needs me to stop what I am doing and nurture her.  And as I have become accustomed to this new way of spending my time, I thank her for it.  I have become so aware of all the crazy rushing around that goes on around me.  As I enjoy my go slow I am glad of this change for me.  Sure I don’t ‘have time’ for all the things that I did before.  But what was I doing?  I think it must’ve been a good cull of the things I didn’t need.  And so I encourage you to become aware of any part of your day / week where you are rushing and chasing and cramming and maybe frowning, and encourage you to find a little go slow to replace it with.

This is my new blog.  When I have learnt my way around WordPress you might expect to find actual blog-type things here written by me!  I expect these will contain my current thoughts at a moment in time, with a general theme on how I am trying to live yoga more, not just be more bendy (which, if I am honest, was my initial attraction to yoga).

With a four-month old daughter, and things to do, like eat and sleep, there may be some time delay between my intention to blog, learning how to blog, and actual blogs occurring…