What is simple living?

Simple living is all about cutting back your possessions and living a less hectic lifestyle. Here are some powerful tips to living simply.

The term “simple living” gets thrown around a lot these days.

It’s become a big trend with books, YouTube channels and podcasts all dedicated to simplicity. And ironically it’s also become a huge industry with online retreats designed to give you a less complicated life.

But simple living as a reaction against materialism is as old as antiquity – even if it’s now wrapped in a new package.

Religious leaders from Buddha to Muhammed have advocated for a simpler life dedicated to self-knowledge and good deeds.

And literary thinkers have left behind the excesses of their age to reconnect with life’s essence, from Henry David Thoreau and his sojourn to Walden Pond to Leo Tolstoy and his admiration for rural life.

The Greek philosopher Diogenes used his simple lifestyle to criticize the corrupt society of his day. More recently, the Bohemians of Paris lived for art above the pursuit of material possessions.