Aylyak Philosophy – The need to slow down and LIVE! #AtoZchallenge

This post is a part of A-Z Challenge for bloggers, that takes place every year in the month of April. Bloggers take part in this challenge for self-improvement and to overcome the “writer’s block”. Each one of us writes one article every day, starting from the alphabet ‘A’, right up to ‘Z’. My theme for this year’s challenge is – “Life Philosophies round the World”.

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When I came across all the philosophies that I’ll be sharing over the month of April, I was surprised to see how culturally, and geographically different communities believe in similar school of thoughts. It’s amazing to realize how we keep dividing ourselves into cultures, religions, and races, yet have similar perspectives and goals in life. After all, we’re all humans and are striving hard to be a good one.

Aylyak, pronounced as ayl-ak philosophy is followed as a lifestyle in the second biggest city of Bulgaria – Plovdiv. The literal Turkish meaning of aylyak is ‘idle’, but the philosophy that originated in Plovdiv is way more complicated to understand until you’re really looking for a way to live life peacefully.

Bulgarians explain aylyak in the simplest of words like this: “no matter how stressed the day is, we are as relaxed as our sheep.”

This art of living is the need of the hour, but we millennials are unaware of the need in the first place. It is an art of not worrying at all and doing everything at a relaxed pace. Sounds impossible, aye? Aylyak is all about finding time. Finding time in a busy day to sit down and have a peaceful cup of coffee without worrying about the next meeting, or the weather, or the upcoming bills. It’s about finding time to listen to music or simply enjoying a stroll in the park with a friend. It is about finding time to communicate and be present in the moment with the person you’re communicating with. But doing all with a stress-free mind. It is about finding time and space amidst the struggles of life.

Honestly, adapting this lifestyle isn’t as difficult as we imagine it to be. Say, everyday we have our cup of coffee worrying about work and at the end of the day, work somehow turns out to be manageable. Now, wouldn’t it be amazing if we stayed in the moment while sipping on our morning coffee and just enjoyed the view from our balcony? We will eventually manage life troubles as they come and go, but wouldn’t it be worth all the troubles if we could find a moment of peace in the entire day? Well, we can at least start with finding a moment of peace during the day, and eventually have a peaceful mind throughout the day, irrespective of the situations.

To a professional fearlessly aiming to climb the professional ladder, this might sound like a waste of time, but people who moved their base to Plovdiv to explore this lifestyle admitted that they got no less done, only everything was done with less stress. It is about recognizing the need to slow down and to live more in sync and harmony with the nature and ourselves. It is said that people of Plovdiv have mastered the art of escaping deadlines and running in the rat race for money to just be and truly enjoy it. Sounds beautiful, doesn’t it?

If you enjoyed learning about this life philosophy, then buckle yourself up for 25 more such philosophies practiced round the world, coming up during the entire month of April!

This post is part of #BlogchatterAtoZ challenge 2021.

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