Have you noticed how often people ask, “Keeping busy?” And how it’s almost always said like a good thing? Somewhere along the line, “busy” became synonymous with “successful,” “worthy,” “productive,” even “important.” As if our value lives in how many plates we’re spinning.

If you’re feeling stretched thin, running on adrenaline and coffee, wondering why rest never quite feels restful anymore… this episode is for you.

Today on I Love Me The Podcast, we’re going to slow everything down. We’ll talk about what happens when we stop equating busyness with value, and start exploring what it really means to live — not just exist in overdrive.

So if your nervous system could use an exhale… you’re in the right place.

 

Simple, inspiring lessons in self-love. Hello beautiful, it’s Tamra here.

We live in a world that rewards hustle, glorifies the grind, and measures worth by how much you can squeeze into a single day.

But here’s the quiet truth:

Constantly doing more doesn’t always mean we’re living better.

In fact, often, it means we’re missing the very moments that make life meaningful.

But it’s not just meaning we lose, from rushing around like Superwoman, it’s energy.

Yes.

Rushing about drains our energy.

And not just a little — it leaks it, constantly.

You would have felt it.

When you rush around all the time, you end up feeling depleted.

And the reason for this, is because it drags us into the future.

It pulls us out of the one place where our true vitality lives — the present moment.

And when we’re not present, we disconnect from our natural rhythm.

We stop listening.

We stop feeling.

We stop being.

I know this pattern intimately.

It was built into me from childhood — a household of endless motion, always moving from one task to the next.

Help dad in the shed to make pottery, do my homework, do my extra-curricular activities, go to the market to help dad sell the pottery every Sunday, and so on the pattern would continue.

That sense of no matter how much I do, there’s always more to be done.

Later, as a journalist and newsreader, I learned how to multitask with flair.

Balancing a full time radio gig with writing and offering therapy on the side, alongside study, and playing and performing in a band.

I was efficient.

Productive.

A master of the ‘to-do’ list.

I wore my busy like a badge.

But beneath it all, I was tired.

So tired.

I’d get up at 3am to go to work, read the news til midday, come home have a nap, then either go off to do an acting gig or rehearse with my band.

Sneak in a few hours more sleep, and then I was back at work again the next day.

And the truth is, I wasn’t building a meaningful life — I was just managing the chaos.

I lived most of my 20s and early 30s on fast-forward.

To-do lists a mile long, rushing between projects and people.

I squeezed in yoga and massages, tried to meditate, once I left radio I made sure I got 9–10 hours of sleep every night.

On the surface, it looked balanced.

But all those good habits?

They were just my way of surviving the pace — they weren’t addressing the deeper issue.

Because no matter how much rest I gave myself, I kept running out of steam.

I was resting to recover from the rushing, not from life itself.

And eventually, those tools that once helped me cope, stopped working.

I needed more and more downtime to feel just halfway okay.

Then I had a child.

And we moved countries.

Three times in three years.

I was parenting, unpacking, repacking, adjusting, and constantly starting again.

There was always something to do.

Paperwork, logistics, things no one really sees — but they add up.

And underneath it all, I was still carrying that internal ‘rush’.

That invisible pressure to keep up.

And yet, the real lesson I’ve learned is this:

You can’t outrun your own nervous system.

You can’t push your way into peace.

If anything, I’ve found that the more I slow down, the more my life starts to work — in quiet, surprising, and deeply satisfying ways.

For example, I’ve noticed that when I stop rushing, my relationships soften.

Especially with my seven-year-old.

If I’m hurried and tense, everything takes longer.

Resistance builds.

But when I give space — real, relaxed space — we flow.

He cooperates.

We connect.

And time opens up.

That’s when I see the true magic of slow living.

Pause

So let me ask you:

What would your life look like without all the rushing?

Without the constant ‘busy’?

But instead, with a focus on slow living?

Can you imagine it?

Even just for a moment?

Would there be more joy?

More presence?

More energy?

Would there be more you?

We live in a world that rewards performance, but often punishes stillness.

But stillness is where clarity lives.

It’s where wisdom speaks, telling us:

‘This is too much,’ or ‘This feels good,’ or ‘Please, slow down.’

Stillness is where your body gets to heal.

Slow living is where we get to feel into the true joys of being alive, so we can thrive!

So today, my invitation is simple:

What would bring you an exhale of relief?

What’s one thing — even one — that you could take off your plate?

So you could welcome in more slow living?

Maybe it’s a commitment that isn’t truly yours.

Maybe it’s a habit — like checking your phone first thing — that leaves you more scattered than satisfied.

Maybe it’s saying yes when your body is begging you to say no.

Whatever it is, can you let go of just one thing today?

And then ask yourself the second question:

What are you ready to welcome in, instead?

More delight?

More softness?

More time in nature?

More slow mornings?

More real connection — the kind that doesn’t come in text bubbles?

It doesn’t need to be dramatic.

You don’t need to quit your job or move to the mountains — unless that feels right.

But often, real change begins in small, honest choices.

Choosing to pause.

Choosing to breathe.

Choosing to walk slower.

To leave more margin.

To sit in the sun for no reason at all.

To embrace the wonders of slow living.

One of the practices I’ve returned to again and again is this:

Watch the sunrise.

Let the first light of the day be sunlight — not your phone.

It’s such a simple act, but it resets something profound.

It realigns your internal rhythm with the natural rhythm.

It says:

‘I’m here. I’m awake. I’m beginning again.’

Spring does this for us naturally — it invites fresh starts.

And if you want to journey deeper into the gifts of Spring, and how to flow with the seasons, listen to last week’s episode.

There is so much juicy wisdom in there.

This invitation to start afresh, is available every day.

You can always begin again.

A meditation I once did with a beloved teacher helped me see this even more clearly.

She guided us to imagine having only a year left to live.

What would you do with it?

Then, only a day.

Then, just an hour.

That meditation stripped away all the noise.

It showed me what matters.

Not the endless busyness, not the striving — but the feeling.

The presence.

The aliveness.

Because life isn’t built like a pyramid — adding more and more to stack your way toward meaning.

It’s carved out, like sculpture.

It’s revealed by subtraction.

What you remove becomes just as important as what you keep.

So today, I’ll leave you with this question:

If busy wasn’t a badge… what would you wear instead?

Peace? Ease? Curiosity? Rest?

Whatever it is, that’s your direction.

That’s the place your energy wants to go.

So go there — with grace.

If this episode on slow living awoke something within you, please share it with me, in the comments or on my Instagram.

Let’s get the word out, that it’s time to slow down.

To connect more deeply with our purpose, and to channel our time and energy into the things that truely fill us up.

And if you’d like some practices to support you in doing less, and getting more connected to your inner voice, jump over to my website gettingnaked.com.au and sign up for the Self-Love-Starter’s Kit.

It’s FREE, and it’ll give you four foundational practices that only take a few minutes a day, to invite in a calmer, more centred, you.