the tortoise & the hare

Welcome to the first episode of The Tortoise - a podcast that digs deep into the power of slow. 

Brooke and Ben are back with the first full episode of The Tortoise, and it's a good'un. They start by talking about what you can expect from the ploddie, and then dig in to today's juicy topic: is a four-day work week feasible? 

This is a hot-button issue right now, as many companies around the world look to the results of a recent six-month four-day working week trial. Ben talks through his own experiment with trying to establish one, and the benefits and challenges of doing so as a self-employed person, while Brooke puts her idealist hat on and talks through a couple of interesting case studies. 

They also dig into the topic of hobbies - What are they? Do we need to try and improve at them? What happens if we want to turn a hobby into an income? - and discover that it's harder than we think to separate productivity from leisure. 

Brooke also gives an update on her 1% experiment and Ben talks about his Japanese lessons as his current form of continual improvement. 

Head over to The Tortoise for the Episode 1 show notes, and if you haven't already, make sure to subscribe to the free weekly newsletter while you're there. 

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're so excited to introduce you to The Tortoise - a podcast (plodcast!) that digs deep into the power of slow. 

Ben and Brooke are back with a new iteration of their slow living conversations, and the first full episode will be released very shortly. Until then, take a few minutes to get reacquainted, learn why The Slow Home Podcast is no more (RIP) and hear a little about what's in store for The Tortoise. 

If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to The Tortoise in your favourite podcast app and head over to the website to sign up for a free weekly newsletter. 

We're so excited to introduce you to The Tortoise - a podcast (plodcast!) that digs deep into the power of slow. 

Ben and Brooke are back with a new iteration of their slow living conversations, and the first full episode will be released very shortly. Until then, take a few minutes to get reacquainted, learn why The Slow Home Podcast is no more (RIP) and hear a little about what's in store for The Tortoise. 

If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to The Tortoise in your favourite podcast app and head over to the website to sign up for a free weekly newsletter. 

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After 8 years and 400 odd episodes Brooke and Ben discuss closing the door on the Slow Home Podcast and announce an exciting new iteration...The Tortoise

Links

• Subscribe to The Tortoise for weekly slow-living blog posts and newsletters

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brooke and Ben check-in and provide a quick update on the year that was, as well as what Brooke is working on and plans for the podcast in 2023. 

Links

• Subscribe to The Tortoise for weekly slow-living blog posts and newsletters

Love Slow? Support the show! 

• Buy us a coffee and share the love

Looking for more?

• Follow Brooke on Instagram @brookemcalary
• Or leave a rating or review in iTunes

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brooke and Ben are back for this season's hostful where they discuss teens and tech, Brooke's new hobbies and provide an update on her Dad's health and so much more. 

Links

• Head to slowyourhome.com/season9 for the complete show notes and links to everything mentioned in today's show 

Love Slow? Support the show! 

• Subscribe to The Tortoise for weekly slow-living blog posts and newsletters
• Buy us a coffee and share the love

Looking for more?

• Follow Brooke on Instagram @brookemcalary
• Or leave a rating or review in iTunes

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's guest is the wonderful Mary Beth Larue - a yoga teacher whose soulful, deep-diving brand of slow flow yoga is 100%, completely and utterly Brooke's jam. 

Mary Beth shares her yoga origin story and why she now focuses so much of her teaching on slow flow yoga. She and Brooke then dive into a beautiful exploration of how to practice embodiment not only through yoga, but probably more importantly, how to practice in the mundane moments of life.

They also discuss:

• Mary Beth's journey to motherhood through foster-care and adoption
• how a yoga practise helped her navigate the uncertainty of those years of not-knowing
• slow flow yoga - what is it and how to practise?
• how to apply the idea of slow flow off the mat
• navigating periods of profound uncertainty using our values and an attuned inner-knowing
• how to ground yourself in the moment when you feel yourself becoming disconnected

Links

• Head to slowyourhome.com/season9 for the complete show notes and links to everything mentioned in today's show 

Love Slow? Support the show! 

• Become a patron
• Or buy us a coffee and share the love

Looking for more?

• Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod 
• Or leave a rating or review in iTunes

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tricia Walker has inspired a lot of people. From her decade-long work blogging about sustainable living, to her more recent role of nature connection facilitator, she is leading the way in what it looks like to live a truly nature-connected life.

Recently returned from what she calls a ‘midlife gap year’, in today's episode, Tricia talks about the potency of stepping back from the status quo of life, and how to do that even when our circumstances won’t allow a full gap year. 

Brooke and Tricia then dive into the topic of cyclical living, the power of using moon cycles to structure our lives, and why the gap year (or gap day, or gap moment) can help us to process the stresses of our busy modern lives, and, by extension, help us to avoid the worst emotional symptoms of PMS and even menopause.

They also discuss:

• heading in to the bush with no food or shelter for days a time

• lessons learnt in solitude

• how to structure your life around the waxing and waning of the moon

• why every cycle of nature is an invitation to clear out the crap in our lives

• the role that busyness plays in PMS and menopause

• the realities of living in a one-room home with a family

Links

• Head to slowyourhome.com/season9 for the complete show notes and links to everything mentioned in today's show 

Love Slow? Support the show! 

• Become a patron
• Or buy us a coffee and share the love

Looking for more?

• Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod 
• Or leave a rating or review in iTunes

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’ve spent any time in the permaculture and climate activism spaces online over the past few years, you’ve no doubt come across the work of illustrator and permaculture educator, Brenna Quinlan. Brenna takes complex, overwhelming topics (think decolonising permaculture, doughnut economics, privilege and regenerative disobedience) and presents them in a simple, accessible and - most importantly - positive way.

This conversation lands at such an opportune time, as so many of us are feeling overwhelmed (once again) by the challenges of our ever-changing world. Brenna has a way of reframing things so that we can focus on positive solutions rather than negative doom-scrolling, and if there's something we all need right now, it's positivity. 

In this chat, Brenna shares where her interest in permaculture began, and what the three guiding principles of ‘earth care, people care, fair share’ mean to her. Brooke and Brenna talk about the distinction between creativity as work versus creativity as play and why she believes art and education are two of the most powerful forms of activism.

They also discuss:

• The bike trip across the Americas that began Brenna's relationship with permaculture and activism

• Using art as a way of teaching kids about positive climate solutions

• What an ‘intentional community’ is and what it’s like to live in one

• Living in a converted firetruck and building a strawbale house

• The importance of gentle activism and what to do when it gets too heavy

Enjoy!

Links

• Head to slowyourhome.com/season9 for the complete show notes and links to everything mentioned in today's show 

Love Slow? Support the show! 

• Become a patron
• Or buy us a coffee and share the love

Looking for more?

• Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod 
• Or leave a rating or review in iTunes

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s little doubt the world is undergoing significant changes right now. Pandemic, war, the climate crisis - it’s all impacting our visions of “normal” and, for many of us, prompting an uncomfortable amount of reflection. What is important? How can I have a positive impact? Is the way I’ve been living in alignment with those things?

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or wondering just how the hell to start making changes when it feels like the system isn’t set up for you to change, then today’s episode lands right when you need it.

Brooke talks with the wonderful Dr. Kate Litterer - a productivity coach who specialises in both sustainable and well-being oriented productivity - and while they do talk a lot about productivity (and its relationship to capitalism), they also talk about the obstacles so many people face (classism, ableism and privilege, to name a few) when it comes to making necessary changes to their lives.

Kate also talks about her experience with workaholism and its relationship to sobriety, as well as the impact that living with a chronic illness has had on not only her work, but also her choices, priorities and boundaries.

In this episode they also discuss:

• How to apply slow productivity to work when you’re not self-employed, and the limitations on your time are more rigid

• Creativity and slow living

• Kate’s work with undergraduate students and why it’s so important to develop sustainable habits early in our careers

• Detaching our identity and value from our output and efficiency

• How Kate structures her working week

• How to maintain a sense of flexibility to our rhythms in order to flow with the inevitable obstacles life serves up

Enjoy!

Links

• Head to slowyourhome.com/season9 for the complete show notes and links to everything mentioned in today's show 

Love Slow? Support the show! 

• Become a patron
• Or buy us a coffee and share the love

Looking for more?

• Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod 
• Or leave a rating or review in iTunes

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.