7 Habits for a Slow and Intentional Life

🌱Unhurried - 30 days of slow living:

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How to stop feeling so busy. How to have a less fast-paced life. In today's video, I share 7 of my habits for living a slow and intentional life. These habits have helped me tremendously in slowing down my life, creating more breathing room into my days, and having more time for the things I enjoy.

Lots of love,
🌼 Vera

VIDEO CHAPTERS
Intro 0:00
Enough = enough 0:55
Creating margins into your life 2:51
When life speeds up, slow down 4:32
We shape our experiences 6:15
The not-now-zone 7:34
When something feels 'off', listen to it 10:10
No is just as valid as yes 11:40

FIRST TIME HERE? Welcome. This is a place where you can get weekly tips and inspiration for living a simpler, happier and calmer life. With this channel, I want to give everyone the opportunity to take a little break, to get inspired and to take care. We deserve to. Thank you for joining our community and subscribing, feel free to say hi if you’d like!

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[SimpleHappyZen]

Thanks to all of your support, I was able to invest back into the channel and get myself a better laptop, which made editing this video a breeze compared to my old laptop. So grateful for all of your support! Thank you to everyone here on YouTube, to all my patrons on Patreon, and to the brands who support the channel. Couldn’t be here without you all. :) Have a wonderful day!

[LilliSkog]

Slow living has saved both my sanity and life since I dropped everything and moved to the rural countryside to escape the pandemic back in 2020. I haven't looked back once! I thought I was escapung, but in truth I was coming home, and I found myself again. I am so grateful to see more people talk about this in a slow, down to earth way 💕 Thank you for sharing, Vera 😊🙏🏼

[Naomi-NZPS]

I love the very last bit: "Will this cost me more than it will bring the other person." As a lower energy person, this will help me say no. Sometimes what might not seem like "a lot" to others, ends up costing me, personally, a great deal (energy mostly). Thank you... nice pointers/reminders to hear after a crazy Monday; I feel realigned and reset already ☺ Naomi

[ksk]

My friends often think I'm anti-social, but I'm not. I just prefer quiet one-on-one get togethers. One friend is extremely loud, and I prefer to speak with her on the phone instead of in person, but she wants to go out to restaurants which i have never enjoyed....too noisy. I need to implement many of the slow living tips you gave here. I think a couple of them will allow me to maintain most of the less-stressful aspects of life while still showing my friends how much I love and appreciate them. I am glad that you are back, Vera! You look so rested!

[williamclark]

A few years ago I was working two jobs, had a senior dog to care for and was running to the gym six to eight times a week and trying to maintain a home. I was always so tired. Now I only have one job which I work from home and I refuse to be rushed by anyone in order to do it. I still exercise but have been doing it at home and not as often. I have learned to take a week off every so often when my energy reserves are low and just go on walks instead. Now I create margins to do as little as possible daily, especially on Sundays. I also stopped saying yes to everything and everyone. I no longer have a problem saying no because people would drain me at every opportunity because I was always the one that they could count on. I'm finally putting myself first.

[persephone]

✨Enough is enough. 💖 I quite like that better than “less is more” because sometimes, depending on values and hobbies, a little more can actually be more, but I really think it’s about being intentional about what we’re bringing into our space rather than having the least amount of things possible. Also, slow living is always an ongoing goal of mine.

[melaniemeyer]

I loved the "when life speeds up, slow down" part a lot! I often feel stressed at work because I try to rush through my work in order to finish it earlier. And then I get angry because I feel so stressed. So I will try your advice to just slow down and breath next time :). Thank you, Vera!

[christawildesen]

I love to do crafts…cardmaking, jewelry making, especially needlework…crocheting, knitting, and best of all.. counted cross stitch. I have an almost endless supply of patterns, threads, fabric, etc and will most likely not use them all in my lifetime…I am a 74 yr old retired RN. So “Enough is enough” should be my mantra. Your video makes me realize that. I am not saying I will not buy more supplies, etc, but I definitely need to cut back. I love your videos and you are one of my top You Tube choices…such good, sound advice. Hope you have a blessed day!

[DavidStarkie]

I’ve been gradually slowing down my evening routine and feel so much better for it. No rushing around to get everything sorted so ready for “me time” but instead slow and steady keeps allows me to build a routine which results in better time management for myself

[carbenyos]

1) Enough is enough 2)Creating margins into your life 5) the not now zone- all three of these are great. "Will this cost me more than it will bring the other person."-crucial for learning to say no. Very insightful video!

[lucylu]

I now have my Sunday dedicated to myself, just as you do Vera. It feels a bit weird in the beginning, some guilt of course when rejecting other activities. But having those "me time" Sundays is so precious for my well-being.

[whyyyyyyyyyme]

Number 6 has been most impactful in my life. The best choices and lifestyle changes I've made was through my gut 😆 My surroundings were saying to me that what I was doing was correct way but somehow I always had instinct to do it another way and 99% of the time it was a good decision. No one in my circle of friends is vegetarian and it sometimes causes inconveniences but I stopped eating meat anyway and it changed my life totally.

[louiseanne]

My favourite habit is to value the empty time in my schedule ... I've not yet found things that restore me if I'm feeling tired/overwhelmed (other than rest and time!), so I try and build plenty of empty time in my schedule to avoid overdoing it. I also love your suggestion of a 'Not Now' zone, I shall definitely try that one too.

[amygirl]

Really grateful to have found your channel. Another HSP here suffering burnout and trying to make a career switch, possibly whole lifestyle switch. Not as many social safety nets here in the US which makes it hard. Your tips about following your intuition and doing one thing well versus three things poorly really resonates. I think that’s what HSPs gravitate to naturally. Permission to do it my way. Thanks. 🙏

[julierichens]

Your "Not Now time" used to be called Sabbath, or Shabat. God told everyone from the very beginning of time to honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy. It was instituted long before the Ten Commandments were even given. It was a prescribed day of rest. Every seventh day was time to Simply shut down, unwind, and rest. It is still practiced and honored To This Day in Israel. The entire nation just comes to a complete halt for that day, and everyone relaxes, unwinds, and rests. What a lovely tradition! I wish all nations practiced it, especially the US. We are the most stressed out, overworked, Restless people on the planet! It's good to see that someone roughly half my age has figured this out and is sharing the value of quiet time with everyone. Thank you for a wonderful post.😊💛 I really enjoyed it! I felt my pulse slowing down, my breathing quieting, and my mind stopped racing as I listened

[NicolleMelanson.Powell]

I like "enough is enough" - it reminds us to enjoy what we have with a sense of satisfaction rather than hungering always for more or better (which is the vicious hedonic treadmill). Gratitude and appreciation are the gateways to contentment.

[cristina.mtz.bravo]

you always remind me, that life doesn't have to be all about achieving and being efficient and that it is ok to take breaks, to slow down, to enjoy the peaceful moments. Thank you Vera, is so good to have you back, I wish you a lovely weekend, peace, love and joy to you

[moonsidecafe]

Enough is enough, I needed to hear this today as I've recently been caught up in buying clothes again (after working hard to minimize my wardrobe). Thank you Vera 😊

[deborahmeyers]

I love the not now zone I'm going to also use not yet zone 😋 when friends push for a meet up despite the fact that I'm explained politely I love NO too Vera. Thanks for sharing your awesome beautiful videos Vera 😘

[PABWECG]

This is just the video I need right now. I am trying to create boundaries in my life. Around self-care, when I'm working and when not, where I want to spend my time, etc. So, thank you!!