The Tortoise with Brooke McAlary

As we begin to see some countries relax their pandemic restrictions and allow the general public back into society at varying levels, naturally our attention turns to what that new version of daily life might look like. In this host-only chat, Ben and Brooke discuss what they hope the 'new normal' might entail, whether we should simply be re-entering or re-booting society, and what each of us can do now in order to set that in motion.  Australia’s government is talking about a snap back to pre-virus ways of doing things. But doesn’t that just mean a return to old problems? What if we instead adopted the theme of rebooting back into society, rebooting the way we managed our finance, our view on the environment and even our values? Brooke and Ben dig in to what this means for them, why we need to reframe success and why we can take heart even amidst the pain and uncertainty.  Plus they pose some questions to you, the listener, that offer the chance to imagine your ideal post-Covid future and provide a place to begin creating it.  Looking for more Slow? Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season6 Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod Sign up for the Slow Post, Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters  Or leave a rating or review in iTunes Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lots of airtime has been given to the stress that parents and carers of young families are currently under, juggling working from home or job loss with remote schooling and caring for kids too young to understand why everything is different. Amongst all of that there has been little time given to the question of how people in single-person households are faring, so in today's episode Brooke sits down with friend of the show Sarah Wilson to talk loneliness during lockdown. Sarah is a former journalist, TV presenter, activist and author of one of the best books about anxiety and depression published over the past few years, First We Make the Beast Beautiful. With her incredible depth of knowledge on living with anxiety, Sarah shares not only how she's finding lockdown, but also why she thinks anxiety has given her an advantage to coping with strange times.  Brooke and Sarah also discuss how COVID-19 will impact Australia in terms of social, economic and climate issues, and talk about the need for resilience and the differing levels of emotional resilience across generations.  One of the other really common conversations people are having now revolves around what our 'new normal' might look like, and Sarah offers her typically thought-provoking, status-quo challenging insights and shares why we need to be both "slow and outraged" as we move forward.  Looking for more Slow? Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season6 Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod Sign up for the Slow Post, Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters  Or leave a rating or review in iTunes Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Undoubtedly we are living in times of heightened stress. Uncertainty, fear, anxiety, living in close quarters, loneliness - they're all stressful experiences and in some way or another, we're all grappling with them as we live through the Covid-19 pandemic.  Today's guest, Ellen Carr, is a holistic coach and yoga teacher who believes that Ayurveda - the ancient sister science of yoga - offers us a way to learn how to identify our stress responses, and importantly, how we can begin to balance them out.  In today's episode Brooke and Ellen talk about Ayurveda, how it can help us live a more well-rounded life and why it's so important to identify your stress responses, particularly in a time of high stress. They also discuss: What is a 'dosha' type and why is it an important part of Ayurveda? How to discover your dosha What happens if you're split across two or even three dosha types  Some practical actions that will help calm your nervous system, no matter what your dosha  What are some of the more common stress responses?  How do we identify our stress responses and work to balance them out?  Why naming it can help in alleviating some of the stress  Enjoy!  Looking for more Slow? Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season6 Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod Sign up for the Slow Post, Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters  Or leave a rating or review in iTunes Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Remote learning is one of the biggest changes many of us are facing as lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders continue, and Brooke and Ben know they're not alone in finding the transition challenging. Today’s guest Sarah is a high-school science teacher from Sydney who has some incredibly helpful, practical tips on how we can make this learning-from-home experience a little less stressful for everyone. The tips and suggestions Sarah offers apply to kids of all ages, but Brooke also knows there are a lot of parents of older high school students listening who have specific concerns about their kids' schooling, so she and Sarah delve in to that at the beginning of the episode.  Sarah also offers some advice on how to best advocate for your kids if they are struggling under the current learning conditions, as well as how to make some of the learning (which for many students is almost 100% digital and online at the moment) more analogue. Lastly, Sarah and Brooke talk about the ways in which local communities can come together and help show support to teachers during this tough time.  Enjoy!  Looking for more Slow? Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season6 Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod Sign up for the Slow Post, Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters  Or leave a rating or review in iTunes Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Brooke is joined by return guest and permaculture expert, Robyn Rosenfeldt, for a fantastic conversation centred on the vital role of community in times of crisis.  Robyn talks about the devastation of the summer bushfires and how that crisis highlighted the issue of food security in her community, before sharing the similar impact the Covid-19 crisis is now having on local supermarket shelves.  In times of crisis there is a tendency to turn our attention to community, and Robyn and Brooke talk about the importance of being community-minded as an antidote to the challenges that face us now and that may await us in the future. Robyn shares the three pillars of permaculture - earth care, people care and a fair share - and speaks about what they look like in daily life, and how we can all harness them to create stronger communities. Brooke and Robyn also speak about the tricky business of living a values-aligned life while also raising independent-minded children, how to pick your battles and why compromise is an important tool.  Enjoy! Looking for more Slow? Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season6 Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod Sign up for the Slow Post, Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters  Or leave a rating or review in iTunes Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Season 6 coming in hot! After some feedback and lots of questions about slow living in the time of Covid-19, Brooke and Ben decided to bring forward the new season. There are so many ways  slow living might be able to help as we all adjust to the weirdness of isolation, but even more importantly as we all start to think about what we'd like our 'new normal' to look like on the other side of it. So that's what Season 6 is going to focus on, and it will be full of practical advice, realistic suggestions and hopefully helpful strategies to navigate the world during a pandemic.  In today’s episode Brooke speaks with Louise Miller, a productivity coach who doesn't believe in productivity for productivity's sake. They discuss the ins and outs of working from home, with lots of tools and strategies for those of you who are very new to the remote working scene.   Louise shares her insights on:  The importance of grace and compassion right now as everyone navigates this new reality Why creating 'Ta Da' lists instead of 'To Do' lists is one powerful way of finding satisfaction in our work efforts - particularly on those days where we feel we're not doing enough Why the loss of your commute might be affecting you more than you think  How installing a buffer in to your daily rhythm can help create grace and compassion amidst the stress and worry Why 'slow productivity' gets such a bad rap and why she's such a big fan of it Looking for more Slow? Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season6 Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod Sign up for the Slow Post, Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters  Or leave a rating or review in iTunes Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

And just like that, the end of Season 5 is upon us.  In today's hostful episode, Brooke and Ben spend some time answering the most common pandemic-related questions as asked by you, as well as tackling some lighter topics to try and provide some much-needed balance to not only this episode but also their own mindset.  It's undoubtedly been an incredibly difficult few weeks for everyone, with many more challenges and dark days ahead. Today Brooke and Ben offer some insights in to how they're trying to use the tools in their slow living toolbox to navigate some of these hard days, as well as offering some suggestions for how you might want to adapt some of them in to your own life.  They also answer the following questions:  How are you managing remote schooling while also trying to work from home?  Do you think slow living is helping during lockdown? And if so do you think it will have a positive effect in the future?  What did you learn about schooling and spending a lot of time together while travelling? And has any of that been helpful during lockdown?  How to create rhythms for working or studying at home, for those who've never done it before?  What good new recipes have you tried lately?  What's bringing you joy right now?  What are you listening to/watching/reading right now?  Brooke and Ben end with a brief update of what you can expect from Season 6 (which will be in your ears shortly - they've decided not to take a break between seasons in light of the current situation and all of the excellent guest interviews they have coming up which may offer some help) as well as what to expect from the next round of the Slow Beginnings Online Retreat, which starts on April 26.  Looking for more Slow? Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season5 Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod Sign up for Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters Or leave a rating or review in iTunes Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Season 5 has thus far been a pandemic-free zone (mostly because all episodes previous to this one were recorded before the world turned topsy-turvy) but that changes today.  After having a couple of weeks to process some of the changes in their own lives and the world at large, Brooke and Ben chat about where they're at right now and the huge shift in pace that's happened. Ben shares the impact the crisis has had on his business and Brooke talks a little about trying to work around home-school responsibilities, heightened anxiety and a new normal.  Slow living has given Brooke and Ben a lot of tools over the years, many of which have been helpful in the first weeks of the pandemic and lockdown, and in the first half of this episode they share what they are and how they're helping. They also discuss: The impact the crisis has had on Ben's business Working from home while also trying to keep on top of home-schooling responsibilities  What's helping them the most right now Why limiting inputs of news and social media is so important How they're allowing themselves to 'feel all the feelings'  Why single-tasking has become more important than ever The second half of the episode resumes normal transmission as Brooke continue her follow-ups with guests of last season. This week she catches up with Elisa who shares some of the changes she has implemented in her days, before sharing one of her biggest ongoing challenges. One of Elisa's children has medically-complex needs and working out how to apply intentional living to those additional requirements is something she and Brooke discuss in-depth. Elisa will remind you of the power of resilience, and the strength in being able to encompass the messiness of life and the warrior of motherhood - and everything in between.   Looking for more Slow? Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season5 Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod Sign up for Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters Or leave a rating or review in iTunes Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In another 'pre-pandemic’ yet very timely episode, Brooke and Ben dig deep in to ’self-care’ and all it represents, as well as how they apply it in their own lives.  Slow living and self-care have kind of become synonymous in the mainstream, featuring a lot on Instagram and in books and blogs and magazines. There is undoubtedly a lot of crossover between the two, but there is also a lot of consumerism and privilege tied up in the modern-day vision of self care. In this episode Brooke shares her thoughts on that, and then she and Ben dig deep in to what they think self-care is, and why it's so important.  They explore: The origins of self-care as a movement and how society defines self-care now What it means to advocate for yourself How they each manage self-care now Where the words ‘want’ versus ‘need’ fit into self-care How important exercise is within their own self-care The enemies of self-care What self-care looks like for them in a practical sense The second half of the episode features Season 4 friend of the show Amy and follows up on her waste-reduction efforts in beautiful rural Maine. Amy shares how she's taken on board a lot of the changes and experiments we discussed in our last chat, including some composting ideas (and attending a composting conference!), and the ways she's finding balance between working from home and spending time with her family.  Looking for more Slow? Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season5 Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod Sign up for Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters Or leave a rating or review in iTunes Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is slow living anti-tech? In today's episode Brooke and Ben dig deep in to their relationship with technology, which was one of the most requested topics for this season of the podcast. Tech strategies and boundaries are something Brooke and Ben have spoken about before but as their work has shifted and their kids have grown, their approach has changed over the past couple of years. In this show they talk about:  The elephant in the room  – is slow living anti-tech? How they make technology work in a way that feels slow What they mean when they talk about tech The mindset they adopt when managing their relationship to connect-tech Other tools they use to develop and maintain tech boundaries  Other ways they manage tech use with the kids and themselves when not working How important it is to be a role model when it comes tech (and how challenging that can be) Whether they feel good about their relationship to tech or if there are things they're still working on  Brooke then has a wonderful chat with Sara from Season 4 who shares not only some of the shifts she's made since she and Brooke last spoke, but also some of the feedback she received from family and friends in her community. They talk about lifelong learning, finding awe and the ways Sara is supporting her community through her slow living efforts (not always in the ways you might imagine).  Enjoy! Looking for more Slow? Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season5 Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod Sign up for Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters Or leave a rating or review in iTunes Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.