The Tortoise with Brooke McAlary

When Brooke and Ben had a last minute interview cancellation earlier this week, they thought it might be a good opportunity to do another hostful, but this time spend it digging a little deeper in to the parts of them you may not know about. Parts that might surprise you (or not) and parts they’re a little hesitant to share. They talk about secret habits and vain concerns. They dive in to little-shared talents and personality traits. They disclose some rather embarrassing admissions about farm-based gaming apps and also share their thoughts and reasons for using social media the way they do (and the way they don’t). So take a listen as Ben and Brooke reveal 10 things you may not know about them, including… What’s Ben’s dirty little secret? Which of them was addicted to My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic? Just how successful is Jackrabbit.FM? Has Brooke or Ben has recorded an album? Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/165 for the full post, and enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brooke has invited Kevin Janks from Centred Meditation back for the next three Monday shows, and together they’ve designed three mini-meditation workshops for you. These workshops go back to the basics of meditation, with each episode focusing on one key topic, that, over time, will allow you to create a well-rounded meditation practice. The three weeks will cover: thoughts emotions present moment awareness Each episode will begin with a brief introduction from Kevin on the topic we’re exploring, followed by a short guided meditation centred on the week’s topic, allowing you to put in to practice what you’ve learnt. The focus of this week’s workshop is thoughts and these are the key takeaways from today’s mini-meditation lesson: We are not our thoughts, even though we’re the ones who make them up (which is really more reason not to take them too seriously!). We have a choice as to how we interact with our thoughts. In everyday life, start to notice the thoughts passing through your mind, without trying to change or wish them away. Just notice their transient nature and how they are not you. Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/164 for the full blog post, and enjoy!    ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The last time Tsh Oxenreider appeared on the poggie, she and her family had just returned to the States after a year-long, round-the-world adventure. In the 18 months since, Tsh has turned her family’s adventure in to a beautiful new book called ‘At Home in the World’ where she talks about the paradox of being a wandering homebody - someone who feels at home on the road but also yearns for the deep roots of community. In today’s episode Brooke and Tsh talk about that tension, and the freedom she discovered when she embraced both sides of her personality - the homebody and the wanderer - and why she is now happy to be deep in a home phase of life as she and her husband renovate an old house in a small Texas town. They also talk about community and what it means to Tsh. Her definition, “A place where we know, and are known,” leads them to the topic of finding community in a new place. How can you cultivate community in a place you’re new to? And also, how can you feel part of a community if you’re only going to be there for a few weeks? Brooke also takes the opportunity to ask Tsh one of the questions she’s asked most commonly: how to encourage older kids (tweens and teens, specifically) to embrace a simpler way of life. Tsh’s eldest daughter is now 12, so it’s helpful to hear her views on how best to encourage simplicity in kids that age, while also accepting that there will be tension on occasion. Such a great, wide-ranging conversation that may have you both yearning for adventure and completely content with life at home.    Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/163 for the full blog post, and enjoy!    ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A couple of weeks ago Brooke came across an article on parent.co talking about the benefits of starting a day with gentleness and decided that she really wanted to talk about it on the poggie. And while she is a big advocate for a little bit of slow in the morning, knows that many other people - both parents and non-parents alike - find the advice frustrating. There’s already so much to do in the mornings, so many pieces of the puzzle to fit together, that adding “start the day with gentleness” often feels a stretch too far. What the article suggests, and what Brooke has found to be true time and time again, is that if we think we don’t have time for a moment of slow in the morning, then we really don’t have time for a meltdown. Taking even just a few minutes to greet our kids with a cuddle, asking how they slept, letting them wake at the pace they need, means they’re far more likely to start the day feeling secure and happy, and less likely to feel overwhelmed or overstimulated right off the bat. Brooke and Ben also talk about the different things you can do for yourself in order to start the day a little slower, and why it so often leads us to be more efficient, more pleasant to be around and more positive in general. Ben also tells Brooke that he’d prefer she didn’t actually talk to him in the morning, so that’s a nice thing to learn on a podcast. Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/162 for the full blog post, links to the articles and this week’s take away action. Enjoy!Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's hostful time again on the podcast and this time (as always) the questions are SOLID.  Brooke and Ben have fun answering your questions, including these gems: I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you think the role of your job/career fits into ones life, if it doesn't link specifically with your 'why'. What are some strategies to manage the paper that builds up so that it does not become overwhelming clutter? How do you manage filing things that need to be kept, and dealing with the rest? What advice would you give your 18 year old self? How do I throw away gifts without the giftee noticing next time they visit?! Brooke has a lot of fun answering the 18 year old question (pink hair?!) and there's a good mix of practical and heart-felt advice to be had.  Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/161 for links and the full blog post, and in the meantime - ENJOY! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ben and Brooke are back with another simple experiment for you this week, and it’s all about empty space. Emptiness gets a pretty bad reputation. Seen as a negative trait, a lack of personality, a boring experience for a boring person. But Brooke is a big fan of emptiness and this week she and Ben talk about the fact that there is something wonderful to be gained by embracing a little empty space in your home, your days, your head… It’s not necessarily about convincing you that emptiness is something you should like. In fact, you may discover that you really miss the photos, the books, the cushion or the vases that you pack away, which is great. What this very simple experiment is doing is asking you to pay attention, to be intentional, to tap back in to your reasons for having things, rather than operating on auto-pilot. So while it might look like an experiment about stuff or space, it’s actually a reminder to notice more. Of course you may also realise (much like Ben and Brooke did when they removed all the artwork from their walls) that you enjoy the added space, and that’s awesome too. Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/160 for the full blog post and to share what part of your home you decided to empty this week. ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After her blog post, 'Top 5 Regrets of the Dying' went viral in 2009, Bronnie Ware was catapulted in to the limelight. Her words impacted countless people as she laid bare those regrets faced by so many of her elderly patients as they faced the end of their lives.  (If you haven't read it you can find a link to the full post over on http://www.slowyourhome.com/159).  Today, however, Brooke and Bronnie sit down to talk about what has come since that post went berserk on the internet. And it turns out it's been an incredible ride, full of unexpected growth and pain and discomfort and beauty. Today Bronnie shares her personal journey and insights with Brooke as they talk about what it means to live a regret-free life and why it's so often incredibly painful to do so.  They talk about why discomfort is the way through and how learning to soften in to it is vital in finding acceptance and gentleness in life, as well as the role of simplicity and meditation in unlocking that acceptance and gentleness.  Bronnie is a deep thinker, a modern philosopher, and there is so much goodness to unpack in this episode that it might just require a second (or third! or fourth!) listen.  Enjoy!  You'll also hear a sneak peek of our newest show - Sampled Conversations with Seamus McAlary at the end of this week's episode. Once you've listened to Bronnie go check it out and subscribe at http://jackrabbit.fm/sampled-conversations/)  ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a recent New York Times article, journalist Karen Rinaldi ruminated on the benefits of sucking at things: “The notion of sucking at something flies in the face of the overhyped notion of perfectionism. The lie of perfectionism goes something like this: “If I fail, it’s only because I seek perfection.” Or “I can never finish anything because I’m a perfectionist.” Since the perfectionist will settle for nothing less, she is left with nothing… “By taking off the pressure of having to excel at or master an activity, we allow ourselves to live in the moment.” In this episode Ben and Brooke dive in to the idea of being OK with not being good at something, and why there is a freedom in accepting that they may never move beyond the mediocre. Brooke talks about the fact that she enjoys things a lot more (like snowboarding, for example) when she lets go of the need to ride like a boss and that there is a lightness and a fun that exists in doing something for the pure joy rather than striving for constant improvement. They also talk about meditation and why it’s actually incredibly beneficial to not be good at it, as well as the joy and delight that lies in allowing ourselves to be beginners, forever learning. Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/158 for the full blog post and this week’s takeaway. And enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today Brooke chats with the wonderful, challenging, inspiring author Sarah Wilson. Sarah is someone Brooke has admired for years - not only for the work she’s done to promote the notion of drastically cutting sugar in our diets, preventing food waste, and her more recent work in mental health awareness - but also the way she goes about that work. She is honest and open, prepared to stand for something regardless of whether people agree with her, and she’s also funny and smart and good at not taking herself too seriously. In this conversation Brooke and Sarah talk about her new book, ‘first we make the beast beautiful: a new story about anxiety’ and dive deep in to how Sarah slows down in order to both strengthen herself against anxiety’s harmful side, and simultaneously go deeper in to it. They talk about the discomfort of true reflection and Sarah’s growing boredom with shallow conversations and external grasping (and why cocktail parties are the worst example of this!) as well as the idea that it’s not necessary or even helpful to slow down simply for the sake of slowing down, but rather aiming to slow down in order to be or do something meaningful. As an avid bush walker, Sarah talks about why she chooses to head off in to the bush every second weekend (more if possible) and what the rhythm and solitude of solo hiking provides her that other exercises can’t. Sarah shares her cure for insomnia and why one of her two major tenets of slow-ness is to simply walk. She also introduces Brooke to the French idea of ‘flâner’, an urban wandering, and why sometimes it’s enough to simply walk through our own neighbourhood, noticing, paying attention, watching people and observing the comings and goings that surround us. They also talk about meditation and why it’s the second key tenet of slow-ness for Sarah, and why it’s not only OK to suck at meditation, but why it’s actually incredibly useful to be bad at it. This is a cracker of an episode, packed with loads of inspiration. Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/157 for the full blog post, including links to Sarah's books, website and other resources mentioned in today's show, and in the meantime, enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today marks the final episode of Ben and Brooke’s series on uncovering and harnessing your Why.   As Brooke mentioned last week, she’s sometimes struggled to take her personal Why and use it to help steer her in the smaller, more everyday decisions, which is why she distilled her big picture Why (her eulogy) in to a list of personal values. It’s these values that they talk about today, and more specifically, how to apply them in the everyday.  Brooke shares how she puts some of her decisions on a values scale and asks herself, “On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being least compassionate and 10 being most, where does this choice lie?” The helpful thing with doing it this way is that she can see that not everything is going to be a 10. In fact, most things aren’t going to be a 10. But aiming for more compassion over less is a good place to work towards regardless. Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/156 for the full blog post and this week’s simple task, and in the meantime, enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support it, leave a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to the Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.