Over Autumn I feel like my pace has slowed not to a complete stop but more like a slow exhale. A season where I have had a reset.

While I started Autumn with an intention to slow down it was only in the last few days that I realised there have been themes to my Autumn.

These have been made up of tactile activities, softer mornings and evenings and a new found joy of listening to audiobooks.

Being tactile has shown up as colouring in while watching something on television or listening to an audiobook or music. It’s been calming and a lovely way to unplug from being online. I found myself building a few Lego sets that hadn’t been built yet. Collaging, cutting paper and gluing have always been relaxing for me and a form of creativity.

With the Autumn Equinox, I found it was time to change up my morning and evening routines. Instead of waking up and then wandering down to the kitchen to look at my phone. I am currently beginning my morning by reading a book in a comfy chair in the lounge, while drinking peppermint tea with the curtains open and the lamp on. It’s been a lovely way to be more intentional with my morning. While in the evenings, we have turned off the main lights and end the evening with a cup of lavender and chamomile tea.

The biggest thing I have enjoyed about Autumn is how reading has taken centre stage. Mainly due to listening to audiobooks. I have always preferred listening to music rather than listening to books. I only discovered a few months ago that I get fifteen free hours of audio listening on Spotify a month. There was a non-fiction book I had really wanted to read, rather than buy it or wait months on a waiting list at the library. I listened to the audio version of it.

I was hooked and since then I have listened to 14 audiobooks mainly through Libby via the library and investing in credits from Libro.fm (this has been a great way to support my favourite independent bookstore).

I found myself experimenting with listening to audiobooks and in between picking up the physical book and reading a few more chapters. I liked switching between both. This in turn created a dent in my “TBR” pile. There is something about pottering around and listening to an audiobook.

Reading during Autumn has helped create slower rhythms to my day and transition from Summer’s energy into Autumn’s nicely.

The added benefit of spending less time online has rippled out in our living routines. For example, my husband has increased his time spent reading. We have had a few TV free evenings reading in silence. We have found ourselves building Lego sets and completing jigsaws together which has been another lovely bonus of spending quality time together.

What gifts has Autumn given you so far? Or perhaps Spring if you live in the Northern hemisphere.

I came to Substack as a reader first, and stayed because it felt like a place where words – not urgency - mattered.

So hello. I’m Janine, writing from Wellington, New Zealand. I’ve decided to make this a space for reflections, seasons, and the small, honest shifts that happen when we stop pushing and start listening to our inner voice.

This year, I stepped away from my coaching business.

Not with a clear plan.
Not knowing what would come next.
And not even certain I would return.

I just knew I was craving something – though I couldn’t name it yet.

For the first time in a long time, I didn’t set goals. And for someone who thrives on structure, that felt exciting and yet uncomfortable. So began my year of getting comfortable with not knowing what would unfold.

I spent the first six months of this year feeling guilty for not working.
What surprised me most was how deeply I believed rest had to be justified.

When I stopped resisting, something shifted.

I began asking myself what I had energy for. I let go of outdated rules and structures that belonged to a past version of me. I listened to my body again. I honoured what felt true – not what looked productive.

Slowly, I allowed rest to take up space.

As this year began to draw to a close, I felt the nudge of a new idea taking shape.

What if I took this energy and created a business that was not built on urgency or pressure – but one shaped around energy, seasons, and permission.

I’ve come to call it The Seasonal Woman.

It’s for women who have been holding everything together, for so long that they’re ready to place themselves back at the centre of their own lives – without burning it all down or adding more to their to-do list.