The Tortoise with Brooke McAlary

Welcome to the first episode of 2016! In today’s show Ben and Brooke talk about rhythms and why this time of year is the perfect opportunity to hit the reset button, rethink your priorities and recalibrate your time. Resetting and rethinking are super relevant for Brooke and Ben this year, as over the holidays they made some huge life decisions that are going to see pretty much everything change. They talk some more about what those decisions are and how they’re both feeling in the face of such massive shifts. They also acknowledge the fact that all these changes might not seem very ‘slow’, how they make it work within the framework of living a slower, more intentional life and why this isn’t really a paradox. EXCITING NEWS: From February 1, The Slow Home Podcast will be published twice every week, with a new style show on Monday and the regular show on Thursdays. Mondays will see Brooke and Ben diving into monthly experiments in different areas of slow living (things like quitting processed sugar, daily mediation and screen lockouts) and they talk a little more about how you can get involved too. Enjoy today’s episode and head over here for your show notes:  http://www.slowyourhome.com/41 ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support us, leave us a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to our Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! xx ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  We’re rounding out the year with a final hostful, where Ben and Brooke chat about the year that’s been, some highlights, some very exciting future plans, and answer three most excellent listener questions. (They were also interrupted approximately eleventy billion times while recording, so if they seem a little crazy - that’s part of the reason. The other part is that they're like that all the time.) The questions tackled in this episode are related to: - finding a balance between community service and living a slower life- how to avoid the ‘all or nothing’ tendency once we start to explore slow living- how to balance extra-curricular activities with a slower family life As always, there are rarely straightforward answers to any of these questions, which is what makes it so juicy and interesting to talk about. It’s hard to believe this is the final episode for 2015. It’s been such a cracking year, and we’re so incredibly grateful for everyone who’s listened, shared, rated or reviewed the show since we launched in April. Massive thanks to you, from us! Enjoy and head over here to find this episode's show notes >> http://www.slowyourhome.com/40 ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support us, leave us a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to our Patreon page to help support the show financially. Thanks so much for listening!  ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/39 Have you ever found yourself eating your way through a block of chocolate, despite the fact you stopped enjoying it a while ago? Or ordered the big plate of hot chips even though you know you’lll feel bloated and heavy and low on energy in thirty minutes time? So why do we do it? Why do we repeatedly eat food that we know will leave us feeling depleted? That’s what I unpack today with my guest, Ali Wright, a nutritionist who turned her own health around after reaching a crisis point just a few years ago. What I love most about this chat is that it’s not about dieting or following a certain food trend, and it’s certainly not about deprivation. Instead, Ali and I talk about the idea of ‘crowding out’ foods that don’t benefit us, with more of the foods that do. The focus is also not on weight loss or fitting some arbitrary vision of health and wellness, but rather on eating well to be well. Refreshing, right? Enjoy x ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support us, leave us a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to our Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! xx ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bea Johnson is a guru of zero waste living. Her family of four produce barely enough rubbish to fit into a small glass jar - every year - and she now spends time teaching others how to reduce waste and live simpler, more sustainable lives. She also has a kick-ass accent. Coming in to this conversation Brooke was expecting to walk away feeling overwhelmed and a little inadequate. Not because of Bea herself - she’s delightful - but because the subject of zero waste living has always seemed so all-consuming. So all or nothing. But it takes her only a few minutes to realise she needn’t have worried. As Bea and Brooke got chatting, she realised that creating a zero waste life is really similar to creating a slow, simple life - it’s something created over months and years. Change by change, day by day, one improvement at a time. Bea has a way of talking about these changes that seem completely do-able (and actually preferable) and Brooke walked away from this conversation feeling even more keen to ramp up her efforts to live a simpler, more sustainable life. Hopefully you will too. Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support us, leave us a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to our Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! xx ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/37 Mark Shapiro is a big fan of authenticity. In fact, he quit his job in television earlier this year to spend time teaching people how to live an authentic life. And what he’s discovered is that we humans play it safe. We stick very closely to whatever it is we “should” be doing, even if it means ignoring the truth of who we are and what would make us happy. Mark and I chat really honestly about the obstacles and changes in our lives, the stories we tell ourselves and what happened when we realised the “all” we had worked so hard to have wasn’t actually going to make us happy. I walked away from this conversation with a completely new outlook on what it is to live authentically and after he edited it, Ben told me that this is one of his favourite shows of the year! Enjoy x ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support us, leave us a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to our Patreon page to become a patron of the show and help support it financially. And thanks so much for listening! xx ====  Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/36 When people used to ask Rachel Macy Stafford just how she managed to fit so much into her life, she took it as a compliment. But as her world began crashing down around her, she realised just how much ‘having it all’ was actually costing her. In today’s episode I ask Rachel about the moment she realised things needed to change and how giving just 10 minutes of undistracted time to her family was enough to turn things around.  We also talk about people pleasing and the modern day myth that busyness equals success. This show is full of big moments of realness - just like Rachel’s writing - and there’s a lot in this conversation that I’ve been revisiting over the past couple of weeks. Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support us, leave us a rating or a review in iTunes  or head over to our Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! xxJoin The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/35 Linda Esposito is a psychotherapist who’s passionate about helping stressed out, sleep deprived adults, angry teens and their frustrated parents. When I sat down with her recently we wound up talking about depression, social media, the power of disconnecting and the importance of routine. We also chat about the work she does with mindfulness, how we can learn to better manage our stress and why she’s determined to reduce the 46+ million Xanax prescriptions written each year in the US. It’s really interesting to get an insight into the clinical research into living a slower, simpler, more mindful life because so often it feels like the slow movement has been co-opted by commercial brands and turned into a trend. Talking about the real world benefits of it with someone who sees the result daily was fascinating. Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support us, leave us a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to our Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! xxJoin The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/34 Sometimes I’ll have a conversation with a guest that leaves me feeling like I’ve spent an hour chatting with a friend, and today’s episode with Jen Hansard - one half of the dynamic Simple Green Smoothies duo - is one of them. Jen and I talk about the massive success of Simple Green Smoothies and the brand new book (out today!) but we also talk about the health crises that started it all. Like a lot of us, Jen was addicted to coffee and getting by on a diet high in processed food. Her energy was flagging and she found herself and family constantly sick. It wasn’t until she was forced to make big changes to her family’s diet that she really recognised the impact our food has on our health and well being. The Simple Green Smoothies movement grew from there and now the girls are rockstars of wellness. But we also talk about balance and being realistic in the changes we make, why there's always room for Pizza Fridays, the importance of community and Jen’s favourite smoothie recipe. I also share my non-recipe for a go-to breakfast smoothie that looks disgusting but tastes amazing. (And now I’m hungry.) Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support us, leave us a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to our Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! xx ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/33 This is a special bonus episode of the show, featuring a chat I recently had with Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist. Joshua and his wife have just launched The Hope Effect - a charity designed to revolutionise orphan care. To be honest, I had no real idea of the difficult and damaging environment many young orphaned children are brought up in, and once I heard Joshua's reasons and the plan behind The Hope Effect, I absolutely had to share it with you. Today we talk about the work of The Hope Effect, what made them decide to start a charity (which is a story of great generosity in itself) and how you can get involved this holiday season. Take a listen, check out The Hope Effect and share this episode with your friends and family. Enjoy! PS. If you'd like to take part in fundraising for Homes for the Holidays, head here and contribute to the campaign! Try giving the gift of hope this holiday season. Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

http://www.slowyourhome.com/32 This week it’s hostful time, where we do our best to answer your listener questions. This week Ben even sings. It’s a beautiful thing. Fortunately though, this was our first time recording with a two-mic set up (we’re so professional) so Ben’s mic is a little quiet. We’ve done our best to shift the levels around and it should be fine but if things sound a little different, that’s why. We spend this week’s episode answering a handful of great questions straight from you, including: - How can I find support and guidance in my local area, particularly from those looking to live a similarly slow, simple life?- Can you give us an insight into your daily life? - Any tips for the upcoming holidays, especially the social engagements with friends and colleagues?- What have you found to be the biggest advantage or the most rewarding aspect of slow living? - Can you suggest some other podcasts in a similar vein to the Slow Home Podcast? It’s a great group of questions and I think we've got some good answers for you, in amongst the singing and general silliness. Enjoy! ==== If you're enjoying the show and want to know how to best support us, leave us a rating or a review in iTunes or head over to our Patreon page to help support the show financially. And thanks so much for listening! xx ====Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.