The Simple Sophisticate - Intelligent Living Paired with Signature Style
Self-Improvement
About
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.*
Episodes
- Un Moment de Méditation: No. 20 — How to Find What is Needed
Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment20
- Un Moment de Méditation: No. 19 — How to Find Peace
Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment19
- 425: The Intermezzo Effect: Chess Champion Jennifer Shahade Teaches How to Win at Life
Chess. At first, the idea of thinking like a chess champion may sound like an impossible feat if we do not know how to play the game, but as winner of two U.S. Women's Chess Championships and the first woman to win the U.S. Junior Chess Op…
- Un Moment de Méditation: No. 18 — Where We Find Stability
Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment18
- Un Moment de Méditation: No. 17 — A Curious Mind's Gift
Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment17
- Un Moment de Méditation: No. 16 — Relaxation as the Byproduct
Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment16
- 424: Talking with Sharon Santoni about the Art of Antiquing in France
"The key is to enjoy the moment, and never stop learning along the way." —Sharon Santoni encouragement to explore France's many antique and vintage markets, fairs and shops France. The history, the ambiance, the food, ahhh, and the antique…
- Un Moment de Méditation: No. 15 — The Easiest Task of All
Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment15
- Un Moment de Méditation: No. 14 — Give Yourself Patience
Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment14
- 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…
- 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
- 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
- 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 startli…
- 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
- 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
- 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. D…
- 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
- Un Moment de Méditation: No. 8 — The Feeling of Connection
Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment8
- 420: How to Invest to Build Wealth and Financial Freedom for a Long Life You Love Living
"The goal, here, is options— the power to choose the life you want. And this life is not going to happen without investing."—Amanda Holden, author of How to Be a Rich Old Lady The key to learning anything we don't know is to choose to lear…
- Un Moment de Méditation: No. 7 — Letting Go vs. Willpower
Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment7
- Un Moment de Méditation: No. 6 — What the Future Can Never Possess
Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment6
- 419: The Foundation of Decorating a Home and Transforming It into a Sanctuary
"My Four Tenets of Good Design are not rules to follow, as much as they are a framework to help you think about design, not just as something pretty to look at but as something that inspires you to be the best version of yourself in the mo…
- Un Moment de Méditation: No. 5 — Letting go of Comparison
Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment5
- No. 4 Un Moment de Méditation — Less Thinking, Deeper Breathing
Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment4
- 418: Neighboring — How to Do It and Why It Will Enhance the Quality of Your Everydays
"There's a sense of comfort and safety that can come with knowing [our neighbors] — and building a safe and caring community is a valuable way to stay connected to the place you live." —Diana Opong and Janet W. Lee, in their article " How…
- No. 3: Un Moment de Méditation — An Ease in Everyday Life
Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life blog - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment3
- No. 2: Un Moment de Méditation — How to Heal
Find the text for this mini-episode on The Simply Luxurious Life blog - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment2
- 417: How Our Relationship with Ourselves Sets the Tone for the Health of All Relationships
"The relationship we have with ourselves is the most important relationship we will ever have, and we will have to continuously work on that relationship to break through the barriers that prevent us from true emotional intimacy with anoth…
- No. 1 Un Moment de Méditation — Courage and the Mind
Welcome to the first mini-episode of TSLL's new limited series, Un Moment de Méditation/Moment of Meditation. Find the complete text on The Simply Luxurious Life blog - https://thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/moment1
- Introduction to New Mini Series - Un Moment de Méditation/Meditation Moments
A new limited series begins in 2026, offering guided meditation to help listeners deepen their mindfulness practice. Learn more by listening to this trailer. Un Moment de Méditation is a weekly limited series that will run for one year, sh…
- 416: How to Find Peace — The Joy and Necessity of Solitude
"The moment being alone stops bothering you, your whole life levels up." —Uriel Maksumov With the holidays upon us, I have come to discover an unexpected gift of enjoying my own company during this time of year - the realization of what I…
- 415: The Life Nourishing Benefits of Welcoming Art into Our Sanctuary (and how to curate your own collection)
"Art is a language without words." —Kate Bryan, author of How to Art: Bringing a Fancy Subject Down to Earth Why art? Why bring it into our lives? Why spend our hard-earned money on it? We often hear about the skyrocketing headline-making…
- 414: The Art of Trusting Yourself (And Why It's the Key to a Joyful Life Journey)
"The more you practice reflection and appreciation, the more you build a reservoir of evidence that you can draw from in difficult times. You start ot see patterns. You start to recognize that while life has its ups and downs, you have con…
- 413: 13 Ways to Finesse the Art of Spending Money
"The best use of money is a tool to leverage who you are, but never to define who you are."—Morgan Housel, author of The Art of Spending Money If you ever want to know what a culture values, what a country values, look at their tax laws. I…
- 412: The Human Connection — 10 Benefits of Proficiency in a New Language
"You live a new life for every language you speak. If you know only one language, you live only once." ―Czech proverb Did you know that 92% of students in Europe learn another language in school, and nearly a quarter of Canadians can hold…
- 411: How to Deepen Your 'Joyspan' which will Lengthen Your Lifespan and Elevate the Quality of Your Entire Life
"Joy is the experience of contentment, gratitude, and meaning, regardless of our external circumstance. Joy is not simply feeling happy. Joy encompasses quality of life and the ability to contribute to the world with a sense of meaning and…
- 410: What True Compassion Is and How to Employ It By Default, part Cinq/Five of "What Lies at the Heart of Living Simply Luxuriously"
"Just as we are wired to be in connection with each other, we are wired with an impulse to help, with an instinct for compassion." —Deb Dana, author of Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory Empathy in action.…
- 409: How to Make Living Itself An Art, Part Deux (Who is TSLL Written For?)
To look up the definition of art through an academic lens is to discover there is no one agreed upon definition of art, and to my eye that is what makes it all the more beautiful to cultivate in the way we live each of our lives if we are…
- 408: How 3-Years of French Language Classes Elevated My Experience While Visiting France
The journey of learning anything new, putting in the hours, the practice, and progressing in a controlled environment eventually must make its way into the real-world to ensure any confidence we have gained is sound. Over the past three ye…
- 407: The Joys of Living Alone —By Choice or Circumstance
"'I think that's just how life panned out. I had children and it was difficult to have a relationship with a man who was not the father. And I started thinking, OK, I'll take care of the children and then when they're grown up, I'll be ava…
- 406: How The Essence of French Cooking Elevates the Everyday and is Simple to Learn (even if you don't like cooking!)
"Food need not be extravagant, complicated, or mysterious to be good. Quite the contrary." —Patricia Wells in her Introduction to Robert Olney's Simple French Food cookbook Whether you love cooking, loathe cooking or fall anywhere in betwe…
- 405: How to Be Loving to Ourselves which Allows Us to Heal
"Love has the shape and feel of water. It is simultaneously flexible and powerful. It can adapt and roar; it can also be silently nourishing." –Yung Pueblo, How to Love Better We know we need to heal when we slip into being defensive, reac…
- 404: 11 Classic British Wardrobe Details for Effortless Style
As we are in the middle of TSLL's 7th Annual British Week, I wanted to share with you 11 classic contemporary British wardrobe details for achieving effortless style. Each item and outfit shared below is not dependent on trends of the seas…
- 403: 10 Ways Integrating Buddhist Psychology into Your Everyday Life Cultivates Contentment
"Buddhism is not a belief system. It's not about accepting certain tenets or believing a set of claims or principles. In fact, it's quite the opposite. It's about examining the world clearly and carefully, about testing everything and ever…
- 402: How to Keep Ourselves Healthy - Mind and Body - for the Rest of Our Lives (specifically for perimenopausal and beyond, but for all ages too)
"With the right training, nutrition, lifestyle strategies, and the power of the mind, women in their fifties and beyond can still [accomplish amazing feats] . . . women prove every day that our best years can be ahead of us no matter how o…
- 401: What France Continues to Teach Me About Living Well
"France is Europe's most diverse, tasty, and exciting country to explore. It's a cultural bouillabaisse that surprises travelers with its varied, complex flavors." —Rick Steves The rain in Bretagne/Brittany. The dry hot heat in Provence. T…
- 400: What I've Learned in French Class, So Far . . . : Part Neuf
When beginning this journey back in September 2022, I never imagined I would feel comfortable speaking French without thinking too far ahead of myself nor caring if I spoke incorrectly (which is still quite often), but two and a half years…
- 399: Eight Things I've Learned in my 46th Year
There is an awareness available to anyone who steps fully into their forties. It often happens a couple of years after turning the big 4 - 0, but it's there, waiting for each of us to realize we are half-way through (if we are so fortunate…
- 398: The Simple Two Word Phrase that will Transform Your Life in Extraordinary Ways, as taught by Mel Robbins (and it's not on the cover of her new book)
"Taking back your power means reclaiming responsibility for your life. It means demanding more of yourself because time is ticking, and you've wasted enough of it worrying about things that don't matter. It means being laser focused on the…
- 397: The Serenity of Savoring Being Single and the Abundance of Love that is Present
With Valentine's Day right around the corner, an annual holiday to celebrate love, those we love in all its different relationship forms, it can be helpful to be reminded that love doesn't have a hierarchy. One type of relationship be it a…