the tortoise & the hare

Latest Episodes:

Listener Chat with Morgan Apr 20, 2016

Show notes

This week, we have a new Listener Chat with you, featuring librarian-teacher and all-round lovely person, Morgan.

When Brooke put a call out on Facebook for Calgary-based listeners a couple of weeks ago, Morgan was the first to volunteer her time. A few days later they got to sit down at Brooke and Ben’s holiday apartment and chat for a couple of hours.

There were two big themes that came out of this conversation - one being Morgan’s amazing literary brain. She has so many book suggestions and nuggets of wisdom drawn from her extensive reading, and you can find a list in the show notes. The second theme is that of living a values-based life, which has seen Morgan and her family make some massive changes over the past few years, all of which are aligned with their values and the kind of life they want to create for themselves.

Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/66 for the full blog post, as well as links and show notes from today’s conversation.

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.

Journal #3 Apr 17, 2016

Show notes

In this episode Brooke and Ben look at week three of this month’s Slow Home Experiment, where they’ve committed to spend time each day writing in a family journal.

This past week it’s turned into somewhat of a travel journal, but today Ben talks about why he feels like it’s actually taking him out of living in the present moment while travelling, which isn’t at all what they expected when they took on this experiment. But it does bring to light the difference between being present IN the moment and looking back on a day and focusing ON a moment with clarity.

Don’t forget, you can play along with Brooke and Ben by tagging your social media posts with #slowhomeexperiment and share your experiences. Hit us up on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and let’s get experimenting!

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 importance of intention with Joshua Fields Millburn Apr 13, 2016

Show notes

Today’s guest is Joshua Fields Millburn - one half of The Minimalists and a delightful human - and he and Brooke look back at his life pre-minimalism. They talk about why he made the shift away from the American Dream (hint: it wasn’t his dream after all) and how he started the process of simplifying.

They look at some practical approaches for dealing with clutter and the “just in case” stuff that trips so many up, and also talk about the importance of understanding our reasons for wanting to change. Both Joshua and Brooke have found that it’s these reasons that keep them going when things get tricky, so spending the time to uncover why is super important as you create a simpler, slower life.

Joshua also talks about simplicity and living a creative life, as well as the upcoming release of Minimalism: A Film - the beautiful documentary he and Ryan Nicodemus have produced.

Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/64 for the full blog post, as well as links and show notes from today’s conversation.

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.

Journal #2 Apr 10, 2016

Show notes

After a very, ahem, relaxed lunch, Ben and Brooke sat down for a chat about the current Slow Home Experiment and the first couple of weeks of their Canadian holiday.

The talk ranges from bears, to hiking, to the beauty of taking it slow on the road, before they get down to this month’s surprisingly challenging experiment of daily family journalling.

Ben talks about the messiness factor, while Brooke has been surprised by the transformation her thoughts can take simply by making time to write about the day.

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.

Slow medicine with Dr Christine Walker Apr 06, 2016

Show notes

Can we incorporate the philosophy of ‘slow’ into modern medicine? Today’s guest, Dr Christine Walker believes so, and is increasingly seeing the benefits of slowing down, becoming more mindful and practicing the mind-body connection in her PT practice.

In this episode, Brooke and Christine talk about her personal experience with stress, fatigue and illness and how a realisation that her frantic lifestyle was exacerbating these issues.

They also talk about the wider issue of stress and its impact on our bodies, as well as Christine’s personal experiences with meditation and the impact it’s had on her physical and mental well-being.

This conversation has some exceptional insights into modern medicine and the opportunity we have to combine the preventative benefits of mindfulness and overall health, with the incredible advances of traditional medicine over the past few decades.

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.

Journals #1 Apr 03, 2016

Show notes

This is the first episode Ben and Brooke have recorded while travelling throughout April, so they talk a little about their first few days away, as well as the embarrassing moment Brooke realised she’d posted an unedited version of the podcast before flying out!

They also look back at the March experiment of daily yoga - what went well, what was challenging, and whether they think they’ll be adopting into their lives.

They also talk about this month’s experiment of journalling as a family every day - which is already proving more challenging than expected.

Rather than use a set of rules, they’re keeping it pretty fluid this month and are both really looking forward to seeing how we enjoy the experiment and how it impacts gratitude, contentment, happiness and feelings of being present.

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.

We go deep Mar 31, 2016

Show notes

RE-EDITED VERSION! (Sorry guys - turns out we needed the vacation!)

In today’s episode Ben and Brooke answer some super tricky listener questions about the deeper issues of choosing to live a slower, more intentional life and, to be honest, they got a little stumped!

They include questions about:

Planning for the future vs living in the moment
How to minimise time spent talking on the phone, as it impedes our attempts to live a simpler, more present life
How simplifying life has impacted Ben and Brooke's relationships
How to balance work, family and down-time, particularly with a new job
What can we do to reconcile our work lives with our values, or how to overcome the discrepancy from one to the other.

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.

Yoga #4 Mar 27, 2016

Show notes

Brooke and Ben sat down to talk about Week 4 of the Yoga Slow Home Experiment, and specifically how they managed to keep it up over the past week, where work has been busy and mornings disrupted.

They essentially learned the importance of being flexible in a number of ways, and again the idea of reducing the scope and sticking to the schedule has been really helpful.

Brooke has spent a little more time off-script this week, doing what feels good as opposed to what is strictly in the videos, and is feeling more at ease in general.

They also talk about next month’s challenge, as by this time next week they’ll be a few days into it and wanted to give you a little heads-up in case you’d like to join in.

====

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.

Unsubscribe from the rat race with Paul Jarvis Mar 23, 2016

Show notes

Brooke is a long-time reader of Paul Jarvis’ Sunday Dispatches and long-time listener of his Invisible Office Hours podcast, so she was super delighted to sit and chat with him about simplicity, writing our wills, Netflix and priorities.

They also spend quite a bit of time talking about the importance of being our true self online, and the BIG difference between that and sharing things we haven’t actually processed yet. Paul has written a lot about comparison and the myth that everyone else is living more interesting, photogenic lives that us, so we dive in to that too.

Paul also talks about his lack of routine, why busy-ness is a crutch we lean on to avoid feeling our feelings, and what his most recent purchase was.

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.

Yoga #3 Mar 20, 2016

Show notes

When we first started this month’s Slow Home Experiment, the last thing Brooke and Ben expected were tears. And yet, late last week, on Day 18 of the experiment, Brooke found herself crying (yes, really) as she stood in her first ever tree pose.

She went on to bust out a fairly decent crow pose on Day 19 too and feels like this past week of the experiment has been a game-changer. She’s now seeing the massive benefits of yoga - beyond flexibility, or strength, or even striking an impressive pose and posting it on social media - and is excited to see what the rest of the experiment brings.

Ben, on the other hand, has had a kind of crappy week. He’s still determined to touch his toes by the end of the month and feels like a failure to do so will mean the experiment was a bust.

They’re also looking for your input on what the April experiment should be. Maybe ‘make time to play every day’? Or daily meditation? Head over to the blog post and leave a comment with your suggestions.

====

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.