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There is something different at my little farm in the southwest of France this summer (and your Fridays are about to get even better)
My archives are here: Margaretha Montagu’s Stories.
Last week I caught myself doing the thing again. You know the thing. Phone in hand, re-reading an email I’d already answered and mentally rehearsing a conversation that hadn’t happened and almost certainly never would. My shoulders were somewhere up near my ears. I was on high alert — the way you get when “high alert” has been the only viable setting for so long, you have long since forgotten your nervous system had any others.
Because last week, there were huge changes here at my little farm in southwest France.
And I’m not talking about the interminable heatwave, though it was the worst ever registered in this part of the world.
Helping others manage change is what I do, so you’d think I’d be a bit better at it myself, but I’m as rubbish at this as everyone else.
I just know what to do when I don’t know what to do anymore. I spend some time with my horses.
Now — picture a random Friday morning this summer. Without fanfare, an email lands in your inbox and you open it immediately. You’d been waiting for it. You quickly want to do the meditation before you leave for work, you’ll look at the rest in more detail over the weekend.
In your email:
- A short meditation video, filmed right there on the farm with the horses — not a guru voice, just me, a paddock, and a small herd of Friesian and Falabella horses.
- A breathing practice you can keep coming back to long after the six weeks are over, for whenever your chest does that tight thing.
- One practical nervous system resetting tool, like saying no without the three-day guilt hangover, worrying less about the things you can’t control, finding pockets of calm inside an ordinary Tuesday.
- And a story, gut-wrenching admittedly, but also hugely inspiring, to make the tool stick.
This is what my new summer series is all about: sharing with you how I cope when life gets overwhelming by taking time out to spend with the horses.
Because the “huge changes” are horse-related: you won’t just be doing this with Loki, Angelito, Tess and Zorie. Four rescued Falabellas have just joined the herd — Zofia and her daughters Estrella and Bianca, and a little boy named Valentino — and this series is their introduction to you.
My Slow Living Summer Series starts on the 10th of July — six Fridays, six emails with permission slips to switch from “high alert” to “maintenance.”
If you’d like to find out more, here’s the link. No pressure. Only open if you’re really interested.
Or come to one of my retreats.
Next available dates: 18-22 July 2026 (one place left)