A Slow Start to 2026: A Realistic Slow Living Manual

I’m honoured to share my online space with so many wonderful women who are working towards creating calmer, more meaningful lives for themselves. Slow living wasn’t something I was taught at home, and certainly not something I could name 10 years ago, when I first started realising that things needed to change in my life. I don’t even remember when this term slipped into my own dictionary, but today many of you associate me with it.

What a proud thing it is to look back. From trying to figure out my own way, I now share my lessons in the hope they will help you on your own journey towards slow living too.

So… what actually is slow living? There is no official definition and if you turn to the internet you’ll find anything under the sun. From homesteading and homeschooling families, growing their own food, nomads living in vans, minimalists, to simply wealthy people who live slowly because work and bills aren’t a concern in their world.

Everyone is entitled to create their own definition of slow living. Here is what it means to me:

Slow living is a lifestyle that prioritises a mindful and meaningful approach to everyday life.

Find our daffodil and snowdrop tea light holders here and our much-loved English Countryside candle here.

In this post, I hope I can help you figure out what it truly means to you, and how to practise it in a way that works for your life.

1. What slow living means to you, not the internet

The first step I invite you to reflect on is what slow living would actually mean to you - in a realistic way. Unfortunately, I can’t offer advice on how to stop working, bake bread or collect pastel-coloured eggs all day and still have money for bills and linen dresses. If you are serious about finding mental peace in 2026, I need you to be realistic here.

Without being influenced by online content or daydreams of suddenly becoming a millionaire, ask yourself this: what would a calm, peaceful life truly look like for you? Strip it all back. Forget pastoral aesthetics, countryside homes, freshly baked bread and cute ducks wandering through cottage gardens.

What remains?

Perhaps it’s a quieter office and clearer work boundaries. Quiet Saturday mornings spent catching up with a friend over coffee. Long nature walks with your husband. Evenings with a book. Or maybe it’s finally writing that book, or returning to painting after years away?

2. Now include your responsibilities

Much of our suffering comes from fighting reality. Of course, genuinely difficult things like illness or accidents happen, but the majority - and I repeat, the majority - of our suffering comes from resisting what is. Wanting more money, fewer responsibilities, waiting for the next holiday, wishing to work somewhere else or not at all… I’m not pointing fingers here, I’ve lived this myself. This mindset places us in a victim role, constantly craving a life that is out of reach.

This is where I sometimes read comments like: “I would live slowly if I were unemployed too” or “It’s easy to talk about slowing down without children”. My instant reaction? Lol. My husband and I likely work more hours in our business than many regularly employed people, while raising two children without any outside help. So how can I say I live slowly? Because slow living, for me, is not a way to avoid work or responsibility - it’s a way to make my life feel meaningful and worth living. Work and children are part of my everyday life - not an obstacle.

Now I invite you to consider this: how might your realistic version of slow living fit around your real responsibilities - children, work, bills and everything else that already fills your days? What routines, activities and mindset would help you feel like a more relaxed, calmer version of yourself?

3. What eats up your time and peace

Now we’re getting to the heart of it. You’ve already named what realistic slow living would look like for you within your current life circumstances. So the next question is: what is standing in the way?

Name the obstacles. Write them down. Spend time honestly thinking about what you could do about each one. See if there is anything you can remove, change or reduce... and if not, consider whether you can simply let it be. Often in life we have to accept things as they are, without allowing them to dictate our mental state.

Here are some of the most common themes I see mentioned in comments:

Children
By the time they are six/seven (no meme intended:D), many parents regain a decent amount of peace. It's intense, but it is also temporary. Accept it, enjoy it where you can and allow rest to be your version of slow living for now.

Social media
It often brings up difficult feelings: comparison, fear of missing out, not feeling good enough, even jealousy. But deep down, you already know the answer: Unfollow. Mute. Block. You wouldn’t keep eating food - no matter how delicious - if it makes you feel unwell, so why consume content that does the same?

Lack of motivation
Motivation is unreliable. Let it go. Replace it with self-discipline - when approached kindly, it will carry you much further than fleeting feelings of motivation.

Long working hours
Yes, I’ve been there. Sometimes you can work with your lifestyle - cut expenses, learn to spend less and as a result, need to earn less to meet your needs. But sometimes that simply isn’t possible. The next best thing you can do is soften your mornings and evenings. Say no to extra commitments, reduce unnecessary tasks and allow rest to become your priority when work life feels particularly hectic.

Difficult people 
At work or within your family. If there is no real possibility of removing them from your life or of holding them accountable in a practical way (such as reporting inappropriate behaviour at work), then sometimes the healthiest option is to let them be. Their feelings, bitterness and even anger are theirs to carry. They disturb their own minds and nervous systems - don’t allow them to do the same to yours.

Why the simplicity of slow living works

I know that listing slow living activities can sometimes earn an eye roll. Reading, walking, cooking, baking, yoga, journalling - it all sounds so simple. Too simple, perhaps. Everyone can do these things... and that is exactly the point.

Yet, despite their simplicity, many of us don’t choose them. Instead of reading an intriguing book, we reach for our phones and start scrolling. After a long day of meetings, we slump onto the sofa with one too many glasses of wine, even though a few minutes of gentle movement on the mat would loosen our tense bodies and ease that tight knot sitting in our belly.

The simplest ways to self-soothe and calm our nervous systems are within easy reach, but they still require a small amount of effort - something we are becoming less and less used to. Why get your shoes muddy on a forest walk when you can scroll your phone instead? Why bother cooking tonight when takeaway feels easier, even if the budget is already stretched?

The secret is that through these activities, we signal safety to our bodies and minds. We feel less overwhelmed and more present in our everyday lives. Over time, this creates a sense of steadiness - not because life becomes easier, but because we stop chasing imaginary lifestyles, become more grounded and learn to enjoy our lives as they are.

Ironically, for all the hustlers out there, this sense of joy and confidence in your current life is also the best mental state from which to work on your dreams and continue building the life you truly want.

A few closing words

Slow living encompasses many elements that come together to create a good, solid life: mindfulness, following seasonal rhythms and finding peace in our homes. It’s not just a online trend or ideology - it has a very real influence on our nervous system.

Slow life isn’t complicated or exclusive, but for it to work, we need to let go of unrealistic expectations and be willing to put in the work. Instead of choosing what’s easy, we choose what is right and what will support us in the long term. The small, daily choices are what shape the bigger picture of our lives - so choose wisely, but also remember that each day is a new chance.

To end this post, I just want to share how incredibly grateful - and slightly shocked - I am by the response to the first post in this series. Over 190 comments! It has become, hands down, the most read post in all three years of this blog and it reassures me even more that I am on the right path in life. I’m currently writing my first book (of many, I hope!) and it honestly just feels so right.

I truly hope that slow living helps you find the same sense of direction - even if it means less striving and more rest - in 2026. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being here.

Adriana x