What Is Gentle Living?
For some gentle living becomes a total new philosophy for life.
Others just need it during a period of recovery or hardship.
Or you may tap in & out of it when needed.
Who Might Need To Embrace Gentle Living?
People Struggling With:
- Neurodivergence
- Chronic Health
- Long Term Chronic Stress
- Recovery From Injury / Illnesses / Surgery
- Trauma & CPTSD
- Anxiety
- Mental Health
- HSP – Highly sensitive people
- Burnout
Why Change? Does This Sound Like You?
Where on the sliding scale are you at the moment?
1) Uncomfortable
Initially you will just think that you are being overly sensitive, and just need to get stronger. Life is tough, hard work. You feel anxious & stressed a lot of the time. So you embrace mindset, improve your health, exercise more, eat healthily. Maybe you do try to help yourself – so you buy the supplements, start meditating and go to yoga. All very valid options btw!
2) Health Impacts
Then you start to experience some ‘health niggles’ – perhaps your hormones are playing up? Or your digestion is getting tricky. Life is becoming more limited – there are things you can’t eat, places you don’t want to go to because they make you too anxious. Perhaps your weight is going up or even down? You find yourself crying or being angry more. Obviously the answer is to keep on going – double down on the ideas you had to improve your health. But don’t change your life style, don’t change your work, don’t change your relationships – it is your job to fit in with them, not the other way around. Besides, you are doing well right – probably really successful?
3) Relationships
It’s weird though – your friendships & relationships are a bit more tricky now aren’t they? You are sometimes so stressed, that you react or shut yourself away. Some of the people around you are making you feel worse about yourself, because you are still struggling to fit in. Perhaps your family is being supportive – they think that you need to look after yourself more? Or perhaps, they were part of the problem to start with, because you’ve never been quite good enough for them? You feel lost & isolated.
4) Impact Worsens
Then comes the time that the impact worsens. You body seems to be suffering more. Perhaps you developed a chronic health condition or depression? You often feel ‘a bit down’. Work are on at you to put in more effort. You keep trying to be more positive, but for some reason the problems aren’t going away. Recently you’ve not been making as much progress with your ‘goals’ as you used to. You wonder where the ‘joy’ in life went?
5) Incapacitated
What society doesn’t warn us about, is that for some of us healthy eating & changing our mindset isn’t enough and when we keep trying to fit into the norm, eventually we become incapacitated. Maybe you are hit with burnout & can’t get out of bed. Or the Chronic condition worsens, so that you can hardly do anything without a crash. The worst thing, is that now all you hear is how this is your fault, that you are lazy, scrounging off the country etc – but either no one is helping or none of the help offered is helping.
What Are The Steps To Change?
(1) De-Programming
Becoming more aware of the pressures put on us by society & our loved ones. Learning to step out of the box & off the rat race train track – either fully, partially, or just when needed. Plus a dash of re-education to see the fuller picture of your situation.
(2) Self-Awareness
Seeing the line between self responsibility & what is not within our remit to change. Knowing that there is no ONE answer & whatever you try is not for you, if it makes matters worse. We are aiming to embrace who we are, not feel guilty for our quirkiness & foibles.
(3) Balance Support vs Self Reliance
Sometimes we need support.
Sometimes we are well enough to become more independent & self reliant.
It’s a balance & we need tools for both.
(4) Healthier Goals
We aren’t aiming for a ‘cure’ or complete fix. The aim is to be happier & healthier. The likelihood is that we will always need to do something to stay on the ‘straight & narrow’ – this is about using our self knowledge & discernment to find the best ‘gentler’ options for us.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ
Is It Religious or contradictory to my religion
No it is not a religion and should not be contradictory to the rules you live by. However, it is unlikely that it is really suitable for anyone who does not respect nature & equality. Plus you may have to unpick unhealthy guilt from your community that has been pushing you to do activities that were damaging to your physical, mental or emotional health.
Is It The Answer To my problems
There is no ONE answer – self awareness & self knowledge are key to working out what is best for you. This is a flexible approach, that you will be able to adapt to what works best for you.
Is It Slow Living
We really appreciate the concept of slow living, but also understand that many or our more creative, ADHD participants would freak out at the concept of anything ‘slow’. Instead the focus is more on having less ‘push’ and more ‘flow’ in our lives. We also understand that the option to move into the countryside & leave modern life behind is not always possible, if inviting.
Does this replace my medical care
Absolutely not – and we would always recommend informing your medical practitioner or mental health team
I don’t want to fund Concessions & Scholarships
We appreciate that money raises strong feelings. But we are a CIC and feel that our services should be available to everyone without financial barrier. Our standard prices are not artificially raised in order to fund those discounts etc – we just take less profit out of the business. It is difficult to understand and appreciate being in a very black hole, where we are not always taking the most positive / healthy steps towards improvement – everyone needs a helping hand at some point.
The good news is that everyone benefits from the reduced workshop & meet-up prices.
* Coming Soon *
Gentle Living Workshop & Book
Coming soon will be a workshop &/or book to help everyone learn more about Gentle Living.
In the meantime, please check out all our socials for fun tips …. it doesn’t have to be serious to change our perspective!
And remember – this is a gentle journey, not a sprint. There is no rush, you’ll get there – be more turtle & less hare!
