Slow Living: The Secrets to Slowing Down and Noticing the Simple Joys Anywhere (Decorating Book for Homebodies, Happiness Book)

by Helena Woods

Overview

Make Slow Living Part of Your Everyday!

“Slow Living is a work of art…I observed a sense of calm within myself as I read its pages and appreciated the beautiful pictures.” —Andrea Henkels, author of Herman Heals His Heart

Living peacefully is within reach if you slow down your life. With Slow Living, you too can embrace simple living and mindfulness for peace-induced days!

Looking for peace and happiness? Book a personal reading hour with Slow Living, your guide on how to slow down your life and live peacefully. Helena Woods, author and creator of popular YouTube channel Simple Joys, reveals the wisdom she has learned by moving abroad from the US and living a slower life in France. With beautiful prose and original photography, she provides inspiration and guidance to create a simple living environment wherever you are.

Slow Living is for anyone looking to simplify life. Personal growth books for women tend to leave out men and children, but this book was intentionally crafted with everyone in mind! If you're looking for how to improve yourself and how to get into simple living, then this is the guide for you! For many, a slow European lifestyle seems out of reach, but with the direction in this book, readers are able to craft this lifestyle for themselves anywhere, anytime.

Inside, you’ll find:

• Ways to value quiet moments, which bring simple joys to your life
• How slow living takes root when less becomes more in your home
• A guide on how to simplify your everyday life for mental clarity
• How to create routines that enrich your mind and feed your soul

If you like books for homebodies or if you enjoyed Slow, Essentialism, or Simple Pleasures, you’ll love Slow Living.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684811649
Publisher:	Mango Media
Publication date:	04/11/2023
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	1,029,675
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Helena Woods is a creative storyteller, photographer, Youtuber and blogger. Her first love has always been writing, she’s been writing stories since the age of 7 and has over 60 journals completed. She’s been consistently blogging since 2015 and she currently writes a monthly column for Radiant Life Magazine. She’s been a guest on several podcasts such as the Wild + Awake podcast with Bridget Nielsen, Cozy and Connected podcast, Health & Soul and Spiritual Assholes. She resides in France. You can visit helenawoods.com for more on this author.

Read an Excerpt

“How we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives.”
—Annie Dillard

We live in a society that has an intense sense of urgency. We want things done quickly and efficiently. We want fast food and fast cars. We don’t always celebrate the quiet things that develop slowly. Things that require patience. Like jewelry making or painting a work of art that takes meticulous detail and brush strokes. Look at growing a baby or tending to a garden. These things take time.

Time doesn’t actually move quickly. We just think it does.

If you’re someone who tends to say, “Where did the beginning of the year go…it feels like it was just yesterday,” that’s a clear indicator to slow down. Time doesn’t fly by, we’re just rushing through it. We jam pack our schedules, filling it to the brim with work meetings, side-hustles, and social events, that it does, indeed, appear like life is moving fast. But that’s because we’ve made it so. But you can make the conscious choice to embrace simplicity, a life of less, and opt to live slower. For it’s when we live slower that we have more time to revel.

What we do with our days is how we spend our short but beautiful existence. And how we start our day is a great indicator of how the rest of the day will ensue. We’re living life deliberately, rather than living life by default. When we begin our day from a peaceful place, we’ll remember that initial feeling throughout the rest of the day when our work and family life gets a little chaotic. We’ll have a measurement, a setpoint, to remind us of the energy and values we want to embody for the remaining hours in the day. To put it simply, when we wake up, we need to hop on the appreciation train.

There are two rules to starting your day mindfully:

1. It needs to feel good doing it.
2. It needs to be completely and entirely focused on you.

Your mindful morning practice is not for anyone else. It’s not to be seen by your friends, your partner, or your followers on social media. This is your sacred time. How many hours in our days are spent focusing on other people? Responding to other people’s emails, working and chatting with others, sharing life with someone else. There is plenty of time in the rest of the day to share and give, reciprocate and serve. But this is not the time for that. This is a time for you. This time in the morning is meant to dazzle and delight you, it’s meant to open you up to the magical mysteries of your inner world, to nourish yourself and remind you that life is worth celebrating. Your mindful morning practice is not the time to scroll on social media or respond to emails. It’s a time to get quiet and listen to the inner whispers of your heart, the whispers that can only be heard when you get really still and silent. 

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1 WHAT IS SLOW LIVING
The myths of slow living + productivity
How we’ve been taught to be happy
What we’ve been taught to believe success is
We need to define our own success

CHAPTER 2 THE FOUNDATION
What we learn from death—your time matters/your life is valuable!
Your Core Values

CHAPTER 3 SIMPLICITY
Essentialism
Boundaries
Work + Worth
Don’t turn your want-tos into have-tos
The Energy We Consume: cut back/digital detox (and physical stuff)
Silence

Chapter 4 SLOW LIVING HABITS
The Importance of Slow Routines: Morning & Evening Routines
Stop thinking you need to respond ASAP
The importance of time in nature

LEISURE TIME

French Lifestyle (silence, quiet, focus on rest & enjoyment)
Pleasure > Perfection
Self-Care & Pampering
Ambition while living slowly
Efficiency and productive living
Presence and Meditation

CHAPTER 5 APPRECIATING THE SIMPLE JOYS
Inspiration of children and importance in having fun / lightness
The power in seeing life big-picture (zoom out)
Follow your excitements

CHAPTER 6 CONNECTING WITH YOUR INTUITION
Intuition vs the ego
Losing our connection with ourself.
Other people: listening to others
Be Your Own Influence: Self-sovereignty
Your multifaceted self
Developing trust and connection with yourself.
How to access the inner voice (breathing, gut, presence)

Chapter 7 GOING BEYOND
Allowing What Is
Surrender
Stoicism
Nonattachment – stop trying to force things. Thirsty energy.
Patience & Trust: trusting the divine timing of your life
Resilience

CONCLUSION

Editorial Reviews

I loved the sentiment Helena showed toward nature which allowed me to slow down, breathe, and enjoy visualizing animals that were quite vivid. I loved the vision of the snail and the significance of all of God’s creatures. Thank you, Helena, for allowing me, once again, to enjoy life.”
—Janice in France, YouTuber

“Deeply inspiring. Helena shares her unique vision for living a beautiful and intentional life. After reading this book, you will feel inspired to go out and connect with nature, pay attention to the little details of your life, and tune into your inner voice.”
—Sophie Daquis, Malama Life, YouTuber

“Helena’s words speak to your soul. An awakening we all need to live in alignment with our higher being. She shows you that no matter where you are in the world you can take charge of your life and that you have all the tools you need within you. A must-read to feel joy and connection to ourselves that we all crave.”
—Sam Fournier, YouTuber

“Slow Living is a work of art. The words and advice on slow living in this wonderful book offer peace, insight, reflection, and wisdom to any reader. I observed a sense of calm within myself as I read its pages and appreciated the beautiful pictures. Helena implores us to slow down and cherish the wonder that exists in our world, and in doing so, come back to ourselves. I believe Helena reveals many of the secrets to genuine happiness and life satisfaction within these pages.”
—Andrea Henkels, author of Herman Heals His Heart

“Helena's book couldn't have come at a better time in an ever-increasingly fast-paced and distracting world. Her sensitivity, thoughtfulness, and intentionality are just what our bruised world needs right now. Slow Living highlights the importance of being present in the moment and coming home to yourself holistically. Full of thoughtful reflection and insight, this book will be a gentle yet essential reminder to reconnect to ourselves, our loved ones, and nature.”
—Alanna O’Neil, author of The Art of Picnics and The Outdoor Table

“This book is a gentle reminder and guide on how to be present with oneself, with nature, the world around and with ones current stage of life. Following these simple, yet powerful, activities described in this book will lead to a happier outlook on life.”
—Bex of The Witches Cookery, YouTuber

From the Publisher