9. The Gift of Slowing Down with Annemarie Stolting

Annemarie Stolting is passionate about living an intentional life full of meaning and purpose.  She hosts the podcast “Let’s Slow Down,” a space for meaningful discussions on the benefits and daily habits of slow living.  Many people are on board with slowing down, but the question is how do we do it?  In this episode we explore this question and the many gifts that slow living can bring into our lives. Some of the key ideas are:

• Slowing down means you have the space to breathe, be in the present moment, witness to our lives, and make choices that serve ourselves and our family.

• When we’re on the hamster wheel we can find ourselves unconsciously committing to things that really don’t matter to us very much.

• Slowing down has enabled Annemarie to volunteer at her church in a special needs ministry and food pantry ministry, which has brought her true joy and purpose.

• Some of the benefits of slowing down include more connection, feeling less rushed, making memories as a family, and getting more sleep.  When you have down time you can actually relax, and be more present for what really matters.  Be not only physically present for your kids, but emotionally present.

• Getting more sleep is a game changer

• Even if you’re not getting as many hours of sleep as you’d like, going to sleep and waking on a consistent schedule helps to regulate our circadian rhythm.

• Decluttering our space brings a greater sense of ease and calm.

• In order to declutter your space, go through your wardrobe at the change of the season.  Donate whatever you can.  Another great time is at holidays or birthdays when a lot of new things are coming in, it’s a great time to let some things go.  Don’t put so much value in items. As a society we attach too much importance to stuff.

• Be more conscious of forward thinking rather than holding onto stuff that we don’t even realize we’re holding onto.

• Slowing down helps us to attain work life balance because when we slow down we have the ability to create the mental space to think about what’s important and gain perspective on things that you previously thought were extremely important, but you realize that they weren’t as big of a deal as you thought.

• One suggested read on this topic: Essentialism: the Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown.

• Redefine what success means to you.

• Slowing down enables us to consider what is really important to us 

• Decluttering our lives actually help us to live richer, happier lives of wellbeing

• 4-7-8-breath with Dr. Andrew Weil is one useful breathing technique that can help to regulate our nervous system.

• Taking 5 minutes to check-in with yourself and see what comes up with give you an indication of how you’re doing

• Annemarie shares how she lives the 4 Pillars of Coffee, Surf, Yoga, and Wine.

It’s a conversation you don’t want to miss!

- Would you like to learn more about living a Coffee Surf Yoga Wine lifestyle? Get your FREE guide:  4 Tips For Living A Coffee Surf Yoga Wine Lifestyle + Bonus Planner

- Follow Carey on instagram @coffeesurfyogawine.  Send her a DM. She’d love to hear from you!

- Join the Coffee Surf Yoga Wine Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/coffeesurfyogawine.  Be a part of this growing wellness community!

- Listen to AnneMarie’s podcast .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}