The Simple Sophisticate - Intelligent Living Paired with Signature Style

Shannon Ables
  • 4.7 (881)
  • SELF-IMPROVEMENT
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The simple sophisticate is someone who prefers quality over quantity, sensible living over mindless consumption, personal style instead of trendy fashions, has an insatiable curiosity for life's endless questions and a desire to live a truly fulfilling life rather than being led around by the nose. Inspired by her lifestyle blog The Simply Luxurious Life, Shannon Ables (the original Simple Sophisticate) shares with listeners tips on how to live a refined life on an everyday income, a life of true contentment. Founded on the principle of the art of living a life of quality over quantity, episodes explore topics ranging from creating an everyday life you love living, strengthening mindfulness practices, preparing seasonally delicious meals, building a capsule wardrobe, traveling the world (Francophiles and Anglophiles tune in as France as well as the Britain are favorite destinations), and living life to the fullest without breaking the bank because living well is really quite simple. *illustration by artist Sarah Löcker exclusively commissioned for the show

  1. 2D AGO

    423: How to Live in Sync with Your Inner Compass

    My niece is graduating from high school this year, and as an aunt, it is a practice in letting go and trusting the amazing person that she is that she will find her way in life. If I were her parent, it would be different, as there is more direct support involved. This has been a great practice in exemplifying what is talked about here on TSLL: Living with intention, having clarity, being loving and kind while honoring our integrity in all interactions, but not clinging, controlling or manipulating. Our life is our own, and every other person has their own life journey to travel.  Often, when a younger generation is reaching a milestone we too have passed through, we project our experience onto them, errantly making assumptions that we know what they are going through, what they will want and need. But the truth is, while the fundamentals may largely be the same, just as the fundamentals for surviving as a human being are the same for each of us – fresh air, water, sleep, food, shelter, etc., the details of how life will be lived to be fulfilling and enriching for each individual will be unique to them.  Now, let's flip the script and examine the journey as the journeyperson trying to figure out their path forward. How do we find ease with where we are going and how we are living? It often can be easier to tell others how to live their life than to examine whether or not we are living well our own. So the question then becomes, How do we know, without knowing, that we are heading in the best direction for our life journey? Let's explore the four approaches to incorporate into our daily life to ensure we are living in sync with our inner compass. Find the detailed Show Notes on The Simply Luxurious Life blog https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/podcast423

    38 min

  2. 4D AGO

    Un Moment de Méditation: No. 13 — Becoming the Chooser of Our Thoughts

    Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment13

    7 min

  3. MAR 22

    Un Moment de Méditation: No. 12 — What Seeds Are You Watering?

    Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment12

    8 min

  4. MAR 18

    422: How to Embrace Uncertainty and Why It Leads to a Fulfilling Life

    "We might think that security is everything. But to secure something is to bind it. To keep it still. In contrast, in embracing uncertainty, we discover an ever-changing freedom and flow." —Andy Puddicombe   An unexpected event. From startling good news that seems to come out of the blue or devastating loss, these events and anything in between that occur outside of what we imagine or have forgotten could happen or believed wouldn't happen for some time, provide a powerful medicine to bring out a deeply fulfilling life. These events that shake us awake to the reality that we cannot know how life will unfold from day to day are what American psychiatrist Irvin Yalom describes as 'awakening experiences'. And this awakening is an awesome opportunity, should we choose to see it as such. "Uncertainty has so much to teach us." —Anne-Laure Le Cunff, author of Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World  As a neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and now author, Anne-Laure Le Cunff shares how embracing uncertainty is ironically the "antidote to burnout and boredom alike—a counterforce to the fear, overwhelm, confusion, and loneliness", many people she knows and observes "try to apply old notions of success to the world we're living in today." Paired with befriending our curiosity, practicing mindfulness in our work around our approach to productivity, and keeping an open mind, when we welcome all four into our daily approach to live, that is when our life begins to sing – in the daily rhythm that deepens our contentment and in the outcome of wherever we have set our intentions to extend towards. "When you lean into your curiosity, uncertainty can be a state of expanded possibility, a space for metamorphosis. It's a way to turn challenges into triggers for self-discovery and doubt into a source of opportunity." —Anne-Laure Le Cunff Tune in to the episode to listen to the full episode and find the Show Notes on The Simply Luxurious Life blog - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/podcast422

    52 min

  5. MAR 15

    Un Moment de Méditation: No. 11 — Our Daily Life: Compost for the Mind

    Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment11

    9 min

  6. MAR 8

    Un Moment de Méditation: No. 10 — Create the Conditions and Let Go

    Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment10

    8 min

  7. MAR 4

    421: The Creative Cure — Strengthening Our Health and Well-Being with Daily Doses of the Arts, as taught by Daisy Fancourt

    "Art—alongside diet, sleep, exercise, and nature, is the forgotten fifth pillar of health." —Daisy Fancourt, author Art Cure: How the Arts Save Lives Pleasure reading – mandatory. Listening to your favorite music – a have-to, not a want. Dancing – required participation. Viewing something of beauty – a daily must-stop and do. Each of these and so many more examples of the various forms of art that we may enjoy, often are presented as discretionary, or if we have time, or if we have money. But the truth is, just as professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London Daisy Fancourt writes, we would be best advised to view them as necessities for living well.  In Art Cure, Fancourt writes to underscore how important the arts are, and reveals how varied and different forms of art can be. We're talking about how they improve our health, something we seem to be obsessed with as a culture, but as a culture often overlook the most enjoyable forms of becoming and maintaining good health. In today's episode, we'll explore what the arts consist of so you can find your choice of art, the many health and life benefits, and explore in detail how you can incorporate art daily into your life.  Let's get started.    Find the Show Notes for today's episode on The Simply Luxurious Life blog - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/podcast421

    43 min

  8. MAR 1

    Un Moment du Méditation No. 9 — Effortless Begins with Intentional Effort

    Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment9

    8 min
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The simple sophisticate is someone who prefers quality over quantity, sensible living over mindless consumption, personal style instead of trendy fashions, has an insatiable curiosity for life's endless questions and a desire to live a truly fulfilling life rather than being led around by the nose. Inspired by her lifestyle blog The Simply Luxurious Life, Shannon Ables (the original Simple Sophisticate) shares with listeners tips on how to live a refined life on an everyday income, a life of true contentment. Founded on the principle of the art of living a life of quality over quantity, episodes explore topics ranging from creating an everyday life you love living, strengthening mindfulness practices, preparing seasonally delicious meals, building a capsule wardrobe, traveling the world (Francophiles and Anglophiles tune in as France as well as the Britain are favorite destinations), and living life to the fullest without breaking the bank because living well is really quite simple. *illustration by artist Sarah Löcker exclusively commissioned for the show

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