PHOTOS: BORUT TRDIN/
/ISTOCKPH
OTO.COM
Nyamka Bayanmunkh, says talking
about money and how not to overspend
is crucial. “Money is important and we
need that to survive. It’s about how we
want to spend our money compared to
how we are spending our money.”
Nyamka, who works as a life coach
for young people, says tips toward
minimalism include a capsule wardrobe
and tuning out from society’s ever-
present pressures to be always on-trend.
Minimalism isn’t about keeping up or
judging others, and it’s not about trying
to reduce yourself to one box of
belongings. Marie Kondo, author of The
Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and
global declutter guru, says on her
website she wants to “inspire people to
lead lives that spark joy” and to help
people “create a happier home”.
Founder of the sustainable living blog
Little Eco Footprints – a website with tips
on welcoming butterflies, brewing
herbal teas, and the importance of play
and enjoying the moment – Tricia
Hogbin says, “I like to think I’m focusing
on living a life rather than earning a
living. I find myself making decisions
that don’t sit easy with me less often.”
Tricia, her husband and daughter
moved from an urban existence and paid
employment to live in a renovated
shipping container on a rural property.
Their small house measures 6 metres x
2.4 metres. Tricia has a large vegetable
garden, chickens, horses and “solitude”.
She nourishes her family with good food,
is active in her community, can help
friends, is not “burnt out” from an over-
committed schedule, is environmentally
aware and is not paying a big mortgage.
In the past Tricia was proud of her
“busyness” and attached to its apparent
importance. “I think we need to find
that meaning instead in how we spend
our days and what we do. Our being is
so connected to what we own that many
people – if you took away their homes
and possessions – would lose their self.
I want myself to be so strong, that if you
took away everything I own, I would be
exactly the same person.”
Annie Raser-Rowland, co-author
with Adam Grubb of The Art of Frugal
Hedonism: A Guide to Spending Less
While Enjoying Everything More, says the
title of her book means: “To enjoy life
more and feel more luscious about being
alive, and you can experience pleasure
more richly because you’re not over-
stimulating yourself and you’re not“I’ve realised there is
happiness – a quiet, even,
happiness – to be found in
contentment ... in saying that
what I have right here, right
now, is enough.”spoiling yourself rotten. You’re keeping
yourself alive to pleasure by exercising a
bit of restraint.” By not over-purchasing,
Annie says, “You give yourself more
mental space to focus on being that
person you want to come across as via
your personality ... you’re spending less
time trying to erect the object-based
version of that personality.”
Minimalism nurtures the ability to
notice the unnecessary luxuries of life, or
the excess of luxuries in our modern-day
First World. Annie, who learned toappreciate simplicity through her love of
hiking, says, “When we spoil ourselves
consistently we don’t enjoy anything as
much. The basic fundamental of human
lifestyle is to provide for yourself a
sufficiency of good-quality stuff that
respects the ecology you live in. Anything
on top of that I’m so appreciative of it
because it’s a bonus. I never want those
things to become invisible or automatic,
because it disrespects the resources
being used and it disrespects my own
capacity for pleasure.” 57july 2017yogajournal.com.au