For some people, another aspect of healthy living is voluntary simplicity, also known as "down-shifting" or simple living. Lifestyle choices of this nature are deliberate and meaningful. People cultivate behaviours which are congruent with their values about money, work, relationships, community, consumption and the environment. Support helps to make these transitions easier; frequently people join sharing-circles or study-groups.
One of the classic resources is the bestseller Your money or your life: Transforming your relationship with money and achieving financial independence by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin (1992, Penguin). This work is championed by The New Roadmap Foundation (http://www.newroadmap.org); Robin is currently the president. For additional information about voluntary simplicity, see http://www.simpleliving.net. The following is written by Robin, from the Simple Living on-line newsletter;
Simplicity isn't something you buy. You create it by chipping away the unreal, the useless and the meaningless until, like Michelangelo's David, you are left with a life that is breathtakingly beautiful. Simplicity is about having something more than you love "more." It isn't yours by buying a car or a laptop computer or a cigar or a spa-vacation.
from Simplicity is not for sale, April-June 2000