Permission Granted to Do Less

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. -Author Anne Lamott

I’m hearing from clients and friends around the country that they are having trouble focusing and feeling productive. Most share they feel “off,” and distracted. Are you feeling unsettled and restless? Are you pushing yourself to DO more but what you really want is more space to just BE?

We’re living in complex, intense and chaotic times that require more space for us to digest, process and integrate all that we’re experiencing.

Yesterday while leading a women’s coaching group, I listened to my friends share their guilt around not doing enough to help the victims of the recent natural disaster. They feel exhausted, overwhelmed, spread too thin and they’re craving permission to slow down and do less.

Our collective “not enough-ness” and desire for a slower pace, reminded me of a dinner I had with my son and husband. We circled up over homemade vegetable soup and cornbread one Sunday evening and took turns sharing what we each needed to hear to help us slow down and embrace a more humane pace … and perspective. And, the Permission Granted Manifesto was born. I’ll share it here in case this inspires you to write your own Permission Granted manifesto.

The Trudeau Family’s Permission Granted Manifesto.  We promise to give ourselves and each other permission:

To practice good is good enough so we can focus on what matters most (example: having oatmeal with fruit/nuts for dinner one night or giving a friend a birthday present a week late, so we can maintain our sanity as a family).
To change our minds and say “no,” as needed (example: deciding not to attend a weekend camping trip or changing our rsvp to a “no,” for a party because we’ve been going non-stop and need to rest).
To take a mental health day as dictated by our bodies (example: when you feel your health teeter after a super intense period of travel/work or a slew of exams, you call in sick and stay home and rest; don’t wait to get the flu to slow down).
To do less so we can put our relationships first (example: there’s a huge school festival happening on Saturday and we’re exhausted from the week; we decide to sleep in and only go for one hour instead of the whole day).
To skip outings and stay home (example: we already have two evening obligations this week and know that the Friday night school concert will put us over the edge—so we skip it, stay home for movie night and let our friends fill us in!).
To make downtime and naps/resting a priority on the weekends (example: we’ve all had a really challenging week at work/school and we’re supposed to visit family out of town on Sunday; instead, we collectively decide to course-correct, stay home in our jammies and rest so when Monday morning rolls around, we’re renewed instead of depleted). Read more on the power of REST.

One of my personal mantras for this fall—which is filled with a lot of teaching, service work and travel—is keep it simple. For me, this is about creating inner simplicity: a less busy mind, more internal space, a slower pace and greater inner/outer alignment. My mom always said, “When in doubt, do less.” Amen.

P.S. Is your family exploring ways to simplify and stress-less this fall? Check out these seven ideas. 

Warmly,

I’D LOVE TO SUPPORT YOU! HERE ARE FOUR UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES:

• ALMOST SOLD OUT! October 25 – 27th ~ Soul Tending: Cultivating Grace, Power and Intuition ~ A Women’s Self-Renewal Retreat at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health (Berkshire Mountains, Western MA).  From stillness comes discernment. Your soul is calling, are you listening? Join me for connection, replenishing rest, divine natural foods cuisine, song/movement, restorative yoga and more. Packages start at just $635 for this soul-nurturing weekend. Learn more and register.
• Secrets to Facilitating Life-Changing Women’s Groups/Retreats in Uncertain Times ~ a training course. Are you passionate about empowering women in your area through facilitating women’s groups/retreats? Based on Renee’s 30+ years experience training 450+ Facilitators and teaching at world-renowned Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, this self-paced video course offers everything you need to start facilitating women’s circles and retreats. Download today; available 24/7. Only $195. Learn more.
• Wild Souls Nature Adventures (based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western NC): authentic movement classes, community song circles, full moon hikes, meditation/resiliency workshops, women’s circles & more. Have me design a custom experience for your team/friends. Join us Sunday, Oct. 20th for our next Wild Souls Authentic Movement Class near Asheville, NC. NO CLASS OCT. 27TH. Learn more.
• *SAVE THE DATE*  December 21st 2024 ~ Solace: A Deep Rest Winter Solstice Retreat & April 25, 2025 ~ The North Carolina Creativity Conference for Women 

Subscribe here to Live Inside Out, a weekly blog written by mindfulness coach/author/speaker and catalyst Renée Peterson Trudeau. Passionate about helping men and women find balance through the art/science of self-care, Renee has been facilitating high-impact, interactive workshops and women’s retreats for Fortune 500 companies, national nonprofits/conferences and organizations/teams worldwide for 25 years. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Fast Company, Good Housekeeping, Yoga Journal, AARP Magazine, Spirituality & Health and more. She and her team have certified more than 450 facilitators in 10 countries around the globe to lead self-renewal groups/retreats based on her pioneering self-care curriculum. She’s the author of two books on life balance including the award-winning The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal: How to Reclaim, Rejuvenate and Re-Balance Your Life. She and her husband live in Western North Carolina and their son lives in New York City; her latest venture is Wild Souls Nature Adventures. More on Renee here.