July 12th is Simplicity Day
Simplicity Day was founded in honour of Henry David Thoreau who was born on the 12th July 1817 and was an advocate of living simply.
David Thoreau believed simplifying life involved reducing distractions to focus more on important things in life. A simple life requires personal reflection and awareness of all aspects of life to determine what is most important to you.
With so much going on in our lives how do we live simply? Allowing ourselves some time to ‘get away from it all’ is not easy but is important.
Some ideas for getting how to benefit from Simplicity Day are:
- Pick up a book
- Unplug from your devices. You will be surprised at how refreshing it can feel to not be constantly plugged into everyone else’s life.
- Try Mindfulness or Meditation.
- Have a relaxing therapy, such as Bowen Therapy, aromatherapy massage, reflexology, or hot stone massage – unfortunately this is not possible this year (owing to government guidelines but it is something to bear on mind for next year)
- Go for a walk.
- Try a relaxing form of exercise, such as yoga or Tai Chi
What’s good about National Simplicity Day
It’s an excuse to unwind
Our lives are constantly scheduled out between jobs, school, workouts, childcare, etc. We often forget how taxing it can be to always be moving from one thing to the next. Simplicity Day gives us a chance to put all of those elements of our lives on pause, even if it’s just mentally, and focus on the importance of the simple things.
It celebrates getting back to nature
For Thoreau, a big part of living simply was getting away from the distractions of everyday life by spending time in nature. That could be in the woods, by a lake, on a beach, you name it. Spending time in nature also happens to be one of those special, simple pleasures with an extra perk: it’s free!
It’s an ancient idea
Although Simplicity Day is celebrated in honour of Thoreau, the principles behind it go back way further than the nineteenth century and span across many different cultures. From the founders of the yoga practice to monks of both eastern and western traditions, many groups of people through the ages have banded around philosophies that emphasized simplifying your life in both mental and material ways.
There is more information about Simplicity Day on the Clarity website https://nationalsimplicityday.com/
