Slow Living Activities for Spring

Here are some meaningful and simple ways you can embrace the new season.

By now, spring is definitely in the air. I thought for a minute I might even be writing this a little too late in the season, but the cold snap we’re currently experiencing in my part of the country reminded me that we are still very much in spring.

I have to admit to you that I’m actually more of an autumn gal. It’s my favorite season and the time I most look forward to every year. But, I noticed about a month ago, when our first warm day popped up, how more relaxed my shoulders suddenly got.

How I took a deeper breath than I had in the last few months.

How life felt a bit lighter than it had been, and I saw the beauty that is springtime.

This year, I’ve embraced spring more. Especially having a little one running around, it’s forced me to get out and be in nature a lot, and I’ve come to immensely enjoy this season for the fresh and exciting time that it is.

So I decided to put a little list together of some ways you can embrace slow living in the spring. You’ll have to let me know if you do any of these, and what you’re enjoying as the leaves grow back and the weather warms.

• Visit a garden center

This is probably my favorite thing to do once spring is officially in the air. It’s such a great way to get into the season of regrowth and newness. I am notoriously horrible at keeping plants alive and yet I love to have plants all over the house. But my family knows, once the weather starts to warm up I have to add at least one or two houseplants to the collection (we’re actually going to the garden center as soon as I finish writing). One thing that is helping me keep my plants alive is the Plant Food fertilizer from Happy Happy Houseplant. I use this every time I water my plants and they love it.

• Buy flowers from the farmer’s market and make your own arrangement

I used to just buy flowers from the grocery store or a big flower shop until I learned that buying flowers locally is a form of activism. By buying locally, I am saying no to harsh chemicals, exploitative labor practices, carbon emissions from long-distance shipping, and a flower industry that values quantity over quality. I’ve been walking up to our town’s farmer’s market every weekend and picking out some stems there and then making my own bouquet at home. It feels almost meditative putting together the flowers, and making bouquets are a beautiful form of art.

• Go for a bike ride or hike

There’s nothing quite like biking along a pretty path with fresh flowers or trees surrounding you, or if you’re lucky some form of the coast. I love the fresh spring air against my skin as I bike along on a sunny afternoon adventure. Since having a baby, I’ve been trading my usual bike rides for hikes or walks (I need to get a bike attachment for our little one). I recently bought this jogger that I’m so excited to use to get a bit more adventurous out there and maybe even get back into running some (you’ll know about that if you saw this post).

• Make a delicious breakfast and sit outside

Reconnecting with nature is such an important part of slow living, and I find myself often eating meals outside when the weather starts to warm. This is such a simple way to take something you’re already doing and adapt it to fit the season. Around this time, I also usually switch from lots of warm oatmeal and sourdough breakfasts to more fruit, smoothies, and vegetable-filled omelets like this French-inspired one.

• Take a ‘photo walk’ to hunt for springtime

There are so many beautiful blooms out in our own backyards, and I love recharging my creativity by taking my camera out to capture them. The trees and flowers really only bloom for a few weeks, so I take it as a sacred time to get outside more and document this short piece of the season. You can definitely use your phone camera too, as I have over the years. If you have littles, consider bringing a notebook and some colored pencils so they can draw what they find. I love involving the whole family in this springtime activity.

• Practice earthing

We don’t really have a backyard with grass, so every day I try to make a point to take Maverick over to the green in our town to do some earthing. Earthing, also known as grounding, is basically when you walk on the Earth barefoot. There are a ton of benefits to doing this, such as better sleep and reduced pain, and it’s a way for us to directly connect to the Earth and utilize its natural electric charges to stabilize.

• Be your own tourist

I live in a spring break town and while it can be frustrating a lot of the time there’s a renewed sense of energy when the tourists first arrive. It makes me remember how special our town is. I think there are special things about everyone’s own town and sometimes we forget that when we’re in the everyday mundane tasks of living. So, try taking a walk around your town, go out to a local restaurant and play “tourist” for the day and see what kind of joy that brings.

• Spring clean your home

Okay, I have to call myself out here and say that I actually don’t do the majority of the cleaning in our home. My clean-obsessed husband does it and I’m super grateful for him. But I do love to be the one to shop for our cleaning products, otherwise, he’ll just grab some bleach and tide and be done with it.

It feels so good in the springtime to do a reset of our home. We’ve been living in it for the last few months of winter and now that the transition to being outside more begins, it always makes me feel good when I swap our heavy throws out for lighter ones, change up the bedding to linen, and do a deep clean of the house. My favorite cleaning products are Supernatural. They’re an investment but smell like heaven and aren’t full of any toxic chemicals. I also love Dropps for our laundry and dishwashing. My husband wanted pods specifically and these were the most eco-friendly ones I could find. You can use this link for 30% off your Dropps order!

• Create your own spring bucket list

And finally, I think the best way to have slow living activities for spring is to create your own bucket list. I love getting together with my family and having everyone list a couple of things they’d like to do this season, then we write them down and spend our weekends ticking each one off. It’s a great way to connect, enjoy the season, and have everyone be involved.

I hope these activity ideas inspired you to have a wonderful spring season and to find the magic in the mundane amidst it all. I’d love to know what’s on your to-do list for spring, and how you’re embracing a slower season of life.