THE SOLUTION TO A SIMPLE, MEANINGFUL, WELL-DESIGNED LIFE /
THE F Ê T E / LIF E PROJECT NO.
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SLOWING DOWN Welcome to the Fête/Life Project – a collection of helpful, useful and practical articles that can be applied to life at any time, but especially now. Sourced from the many magazines we have released, our message has never been more relevant or needed by our community today… let’s embrace the simple life and treasure what is truly important – human connection, community, self care and pure acts of kindness. SUPPORT WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST /
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PHOTOGRAPH BY SERAINA SIL JA HÜRLIMANN FOR MARJOLEIN DELHAAS
health / W E L L - B E I N G
PHOTOGRAPH / SERAINA SIL JA HÜRLIMANN STORY / DR LIBBY WEAVER
SLOWING DOWN There are some periods in our life that are unavoidably busy. We have an impending deadline, or a flurry of events we've committed to one after another, or it's school holiday time and we're trying to meet the needs of our children and work – all at the same time. Things tend to come in waves. But what happens when a wave subsides and we're left with not as much to do? Many people tell me that they feel restless
Our body cannot keep up with the rate
or lazy as soon as they're not doing
of change the world now asks of it and it
is the first time in all of human history
anything productive. This can feel
is imperative that we understand this and
that we have asked our bodies to live in
heightened off the back of an exceptionally
take steps in our lives to create periods
this way. And for many, this is resulting
busy period. You might notice this
of downtime – time in days, weeks, or
in health consequences.
particularly when you go on holiday.
months when we can truly rest. This goes
Even though you may think to yourself,
for both men and women. Just as we can’t
“I'm just going to chill out and do nothing",
go without sleep for too long, your psyche
you inevitably fill your days with activities
cannot push on for too long without some
because, well, you're on holiday and it
quality downtime. If it does, science is
doesn’t happen very often so you better
teaching us (and of course our intuition
make the most of it! We can fall into the
tells us) there will be consequences.
habit of perpetual ‘doing' just because we feel more comfortable being busy. But do you truly have so much to do or are you just caught up in the rush?
The past two or so decades – which have
All I want you to truly appreciate is this
At a cellular level, we basically have the same human body as our ancestors. Every generation evolves ever so slightly to be better equipped to inhabit its environment. This rate of evolution, however, is nothing compared to the change of pace in our world. Our conscious, thinking minds may have developed to
included the birth of the Internet and
keep up with the times, so that we are able
the invention of mobile phones – have
to flick off an email while we talk on our
unleashed the most rapid period of change
phone while remembering that we need
A few years ago now, I wrote a book about
in human history to date. It’s likely that
to book the car in for a service, but
the shift in women’s health and behaviour
you remember a time when you could leave biochemically we are much the same as we were 150,000 years ago. Still the same,
that I’ve observed over the past two
the house to take your kids to school or to
decades in my work as a nutritional
do the grocery shopping and you weren’t
too, is our subconscious mind, which
biochemist. I called the book, Rushing
contactable until you got home. Fast
research suggests is one million times
Woman’s Syndrome. Too many modern
forward to today and not only do our
more powerful than our conscious mind.
women are in an intense rush to do
smartphones ring at all hours of the day
everything and be all things to all people.
and night, they alert us to the arrival of
They’re tired and wired, never feeling as
emails, ping through the latest headlines,
though there is enough time in the day
online shopping sales or social media
for all of the things they need to get done.
updates. The majority of people I know
It doesn’t seem to matter whether they
don’t sit idle when the traffic lights are
have two or two hundred things to do in a
red… they grab their phone and scroll
day—they’re racing around no matter what. through social media or check their email. Don’t get me wrong, there are some ‘rushing men’ too. It’s just that I’ve seen it more frequently with women and this perceived need to rush is changing the face of women’s health as we know it in such a detrimental way. Sex hormonebased health problems such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, infertility and debilitating menopauses, not to mention exhaustion, have never been greater and the role of stress in this is undeniable when you look at both the body’s chemistry and the scientific research.
Once upon a time when the lights were red, we had to contemplate or notice the colour of the sky or feel grateful or listen to a great song on the radio. There was naturally, without effort, more soul food and downtime in our lives. For too many people, life now involves a daily double shift of work day and night and given that women only entered the work force in large numbers around the time of World War II, from an evolutionary perspective, this is still a very new way of living. Of course we are mentally capable of it. Of course we can do this.
Your subconscious mind is the part of your mind that you cannot access with your thoughts, the part that makes your heart beat and your hair grow and knows how to heal a cut without you having to instruct it to do so. Don’t you think those processes alone are truly amazing? I do not believe that our nervous systems, which enormously affect every cell of our bodies, every hormonal system, every organ, every aspect of fat burning and our perception of urgency, have been able to keep up with the rate of change that this time in human history demands of us. Probably without realising it you now ask your glands and organs, your liver, your gallbladder, your kidneys, your adrenals, your thyroid, your reproductive system, your brain and your digestive system to cope with your busyness or perceived need to rush.
ISSUE NO. 25 / FETEPRESS.COM.AU
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health / W E L L - B E I N G
TOP TIPS FOR SLOWING DOWN DOWNTIME ACTIVITIES SLOWING DOWN MIGHT LOOK LIKE READING A BOOK, GOING FOR A GENTLE WALK IN NATURE, TAKING YOURSELF AND/OR THE FA M I LY D O W N T O T H E B E A C H O R THE PARK. IT MIGHT BE TAKING 10 OR 30 MINUTES TO WATCH THE SUNSET, DOING A RESTORATIVE
We are not wired to cope with constant
So, you please people. Anyone and
pressure, perceived or real, nor are we
everyone. You can’t sleep if you are worried
equipped long-term to eat poor quality
you’ve upset someone and do whatever
food and lead sedentary lifestyles,
you can to avoid conflict – including taking
YOUR BRAIN A BREAK FROM
strapped to our computers, mobile phones
on more than you’re probably capable of
DEVICES AS WELL – BUT THAT
plugged into our ear sockets.
handling comfortably.
When we take our foot off the accelerator
There is a concept in emergency medicine
and create some space in our lives, our
called triage, where patients are assigned
VIGOROUS ONE OR MEDITATING. IN AN IDEAL WORLD, IT WOULD B E T E C H N O LO G Y-F R E E TO G I V E
MIGHT BE SOMETHING TO WORK TOWARDS IF IT FEELS TOO CHALLENGING.
TRY SCHEDULING IT IN
body has a chance to catch up. It's not
a degree of urgency based on how quickly
accustomed to running at a hundred miles
their wounds need treating. And I’ve
an hour from the time we wake up in the
decided this is what women do all day
DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START,
IF YOU KNOW YOU NEED A BIT MORE SPACE IN YOUR LIFE BUT
morning to the moment we lay our heads
long. Our daily existence can involve the
TRY SCHEDULING IN DOWNTIME
down at night and our body systems don’t
constant assessment of who needs our
TO B EG I N WI T H. I T M AY S E E M
function as effectively when we do.
attention the most… children, husband,
Slowing down improves our digestion,
work, best friend, mother, kind neighbour,
reduces anxiety, nourishes our nervous
not-so-kind neighbour, unwell friend,
system and can help to calm our thoughts.
overflowing rubbish bin. We tend to leave
It can improve our sleep, energy levels
ourselves off this list, yet if I were to ask
THAT TIME WITH SOMETHING
and immune system as well as encourage
the majority of women if they believe they
ELSE. MAKE A REAL EFFORT TO
optimal sex hormone balance. The benefits
have omitted themselves because they are
we can enjoy by simply slowing down can
selfless, most reply with an emphatic “No!
be truly life-changing!
I simply don’t have time”. If we don’t have
As I've already said, there are going to be periods in your life that are busy beyond your control. The art of slowing down is learning to recognise when you're filling
time for ourselves, if we don’t learn to slow down and create more spaciousness in our lives, soon we may have nothing left to give.
your time just because you've become
So make this the year that you commit
accustomed to living at a particular pace
to more self-care. Make this the year that
and you don't know what you'd do with
you take more time out for yourself and
yourself if you slowed down. What I’ve also
ask for help when you need it. Make this
found for many women is that the need to
the year that you say no when it doesn’t
be busy or the perception of urgency can
suit you and stop feeling guilty for not
stem from a desire to avoid feeling
being productive 100 per cent of the time.
something else and I would encourage you
Your body will thank you for it and you
to look within yourself to see whether this
will feel that you have more time on
is true for you. You know when you lose
your hands to do what you need to do.
someone you love dearly and in those initial stages of grief, you try to keep busy because it’s more painful when you stop? Many of us do this every day, without being aware of it. It’s human nature to do more to avoid pain than we will ever do to experience pleasure. It must be this way for all animals or else a species would die out and for so many women today, this perceived need to do everything and be everyone to all people stems from a belief that you need to be more than just you to be loved.
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YOGA CLASS INSTEAD OF A MORE
FETEPRESS.COM.AU / ISSUE NO.25
S I L LY T O P U T A S I D E 30 M I N U T E S T O R E A D B U T I F Y O U H O N E S T LY HAVE SUCH A FULL CALENDAR, SCHEDULING YOUR DOWNTIME CAN DETER YOU FROM FILLING
KEEP THOSE APPOINTMENTS. AFTER ALL, YOU KEEP YOUR APPOINTMENTS WITH EVERYONE ELSE SO WHY NOT KEEP THOSE YOU MAKE WITH YOURSELF?
ASK FOR SUPPORT REMEMBER ALSO TO ASK FOR S U P P O R T. M A N Y O F U S F E E L L I K E WE H AV E TO B E E V E R Y T H I N G TO E V E R YO N E A N D T H AT W E W I L L L E T PEOPLE DOWN IF WE DON'T HOLD TIGHT TO ALL THE STRINGS. MOST O F U S H AV E P EO P L E I N O U R L I V E S WHO WOULD LOVE TO OFFER US M O R E S U P P O R T. R E A C H O U T A N D ASK THE QUESTION. IF YOU'RE THE O N E I N Y O U R I M M E D I A T E F A M I LY WHO ORGANISES THE SHOPPING, IS THE PRIMARY CAREGIVER FOR THE KIDS, MAIN CLEANER AND COOK – COULD YOU ASK YO U R PA R T N E R TO TA K E O V E R SOMETHING? SOMETIMES WE THINK IT'S EASIER JUST TO DO E V E R Y T H I N G O U R S E LV E S B U T T H I S C A N I N E V I T A B LY A F F E C T O U R H E A LT H I N T H E L O N G R U N. TA K E C A R E O F YO U, YO U'R E S O W O R T H I T.
Dr Libby Weaver is a Nutritional Biochemist, best-selling author and speaker. Her book, W O M E N ’ S W E L L N E S S W I S D O M , is available at: DRLIBBY.COM