WP172 | Why Lent Matters for Practice Owners
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If you’re a practice owner, chances are you’re reading this while doing something else—answering emails, moving between sessions, or thinking about what still needs to get done today. I know that pace well, and I also know how easy it is for even meaningful things to become “just one more thing” on a full plate.
This episode isn’t about adding another strategy or asking you to work harder. It’s an invitation to slow down and reflect on why Lent matters for practice owners—especially in the middle of a season when everything feels like it’s speeding up. As client needs increase and leadership demands grow heavier, we don’t need more noise. We need grounding, intention, and space to notice what’s really happening in us and around us.
In this conversation, I talk about Lent as a rhythm of reflection rather than a task to complete. Whether you’ve practiced Lent for years or are just beginning to explore it, my hope is that this episode helps you see it not as something extra, but as a way to lead your practice—and your life—from a steadier, more faithful place.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing all the right things on the outside but longing for deeper grounding on the inside, this episode is for you.
You’re Probably Reading This While Doing Something Else
If you’re anything like me, you rarely sit down and read something without also thinking about the next email, the next session, or the next decision you need to make. Practice owners live in motion. We’re always carrying something. Clients, staff, systems, families, finances. Even the things meant to support us can start to feel like just one more thing to fit in.
That reality is exactly why this conversation about Lent matters so much right now.
We Started the Year With Good Intentions
January has a way of making us feel hopeful and capable. We rested over the holidays. We set goals. We made plans for boundaries, family time, and better rhythms. We told ourselves this was the year we would do things differently.
And then the emails started. The intakes came flooding back in. Taxes were due. Staff needed support. Clients wanted back on the schedule all at once. Before we knew it, we were running again.
When Busy Starts to Feel Heavy
At first, hitting the ground running can feel admirable. It sounds like success. But over time, that pace starts to weigh on us. We stop pausing. Reflection gets pushed aside. We tell ourselves we will slow down later when things calm down.
The problem is that later rarely comes.
Why Slowing Down Does Not Happen By Accident
I know for myself that slowing down does not happen unless I’m intentional about it. I can want to pray more, reflect more, or sit in silence more. But if I don’t build structure around those intentions, the doing always wins.
Sometimes that structure looks like accountability. Sometimes it looks like a book or a set time on the calendar. Sometimes it looks like waking up earlier than I want to. But without structure, I default to doing.
The Busiest Season Is About to Begin
Historically, January is manageable in my practice. February and March are not. Client needs increase. The intensity of sessions rises. Leadership demands grow. It is not just more work. It is heavier work.
That is why Lent arrives at such a meaningful time.
Lent Is Not One More Thing
Lent is not meant to be added to an already full plate. It is an invitation to set something down. It is a call to slow down right when the temptation is to speed up.
Ash Wednesday falls in the middle of our busiest stretch this year. That timing is not accidental. It reminds us that slowing down is not something we wait to do when life is easy.
What Lent Actually Is
Lent is a season in the church calendar that runs from Ash Wednesday to Easter. It is a time of reflection, repentance, and preparation as we remember Christ’s life, ministry, and journey to the cross.
It is not about earning God’s love. It is not about proving anything. It is about paying closer attention to God’s presence and allowing space for transformation.
Remembering Who We Are on Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday reminds us that we are dust and that our lives are not held together by our own effort. Many churches use ashes made from last year’s Palm Sunday branches. That image alone invites humility and stillness.
It is a moment that asks us to stop pretending we can carry everything on our own.
Fasting Is About Creating Space
Fasting during Lent often gets misunderstood. It is not about punishment or deprivation. It is about making room. Letting go of what distracts us. Creating space for God to meet us where we are.
That space might come from removing something. It might come from adding something. The point is not the practice itself. The point is attentiveness.
Slowing Down Reveals What Does Not Belong
When we slow down, we start to notice things that do not actually need to be on our plate. Tasks that could be delegated. Expectations that were never ours to carry. Commitments that no longer align with who we are becoming.
Busyness hides those truths. Stillness reveals them.
Who Are You Becoming Through This Work
Whether we realize it or not, our work is shaping us. Even when we are just doing the work, we are becoming someone.
Lent gives us space to ask that question intentionally. Who am I becoming as I lead this practice? As I make decisions. As I care for others.
When Faith Is Referenced But Not Forming Us
One of the quiet dangers for practice owners is letting faith become something we reference instead of something that forms us. We say the right things. We believe the right things. But we do not always slow down enough to live into them.
Lent invites alignment between belief and practice.
Why I Wrote The Practice of Becoming
I wrote The Practice of Becoming because I needed structure to slow down. I needed something that met me where I was as a practice owner. Something short. Something intentional. Something I could return to daily without feeling overwhelmed.
This devotional was written specifically for practice owners who want their faith to shape the way they lead.
A Steadier Way Forward
Lent is not about doing more. It is about being led. When we allow ourselves to slow down, God often does more in us than we could have planned ourselves.
If you are leading well on the outside but feeling ungrounded on the inside, this season offers a gentle and meaningful reset.
An Invitation, Not an Obligation
Lent is an invitation. You are not forced into it. You are welcome to it. It is a season of sacred work that reminds us we are not alone in what we carry.
My hope is that we walk through this season together. Paying attention. Letting go. Becoming more rooted as we lead.
Links and Resources
Get my book, The Practice of Becoming
Join the Wise Practice Membership Community
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[00:00:00] Whitney Owens: Before we jump into this episode, I wanna share something with you that I'm excited about the practice of becoming. It's a Lent devotional for faith-based practice owners, now available on Amazon. This book was written specifically for you being a Christian private practice owner. It is a time for steady reflection as we move throughout the Linton season.
[00:00:24] So if you're looking for a devotional that invites you to slow down, notice what's unfolding in front of you, and see God's work within you and within your business, I'd love for you to check it out. You can go search for the practice of Becoming or Whitney Owens on Amazon and find the book. Get your copy today.
[00:00:46] Hi, I am Whitney Owens. I'm a group practice owner and faith-based practice consultant, and I'm here to tell you that you can have it all. Wanna grow your practice, wanna grow your faith, wanna enjoy your life outside of work, you've come to the right place. Each week on the Wise Practice Podcast, I will give you the action steps to have a successful faith-based practice while also having a good time.
[00:01:09] Now, let's get started.
[00:01:13] Jingle: Where she grows your practice and she don't play. She does business with a twist of faith. It's Whitney Owen and Wise Practice Podcast. Whitney Owen and Wise Practice Podcast.
[00:01:31] Whitney Owens: Welcome back to The Wise Practice Podcast. I am so glad that you're here with me today. I know there's a. Lots of different things and shows that you could be listening to, and you choose to be with me and it means the world to me. Before we dive into this episode, I just wanna acknowledge something. If you're a practice owner, you're probably listening to this episode while you're doing something else.
[00:01:53] You hear me? I usually listen to podcasts when I'm running, but sometimes when I'm driving. So you might be maybe doing something else, answering emails. Walking between meetings, maybe you're listening and you were also just thinking about all the to-dos that you have within your practice or what you're gonna be doing when you're done listening.
[00:02:12] So this episode is, isn't just another strategy. But it's a time for us to look at why lent matters for practice owners. And I start with this example because we are always on the go. As entrepreneurs, I feel it. Another task on our plate. We do not want this to be that. We don't want listening to the show to just be another thing.
[00:02:37] But I want this to be a moment where we reflect together, right? Because that is what it's about. We wanna slow down. Pay attention how the season is actually unfolding, how your faith is moving throughout your life, in the middle of all the different things that you are carrying as a practice owner. So take a breath, maybe pause, and let's dive into it.
[00:03:03] So ever since this year started, when I ask people, how you doing? How's the new year going? I'm commonly told I'm busy. We hit the ground running this year, right? So January it kind of has a way of doing that, right? So we have these goals, these numbers, we have all these good intentions in the sense that we're gonna start strong, right?
[00:03:29] I, I rested, I'm ready. So we spend the holidays reflecting, being quiet, and then we get into January and it is crazy. Just one of my practice, I mean, one of my therapists the other day. She said, oh, I have so many clients this week, and this was the week and back into the new year because all everybody was wanting to get in.
[00:03:50] Right. And so you probably felt the same way. All your clients wanting to get back on your caseload, all the to-dos within your practice. It's also the time that all the taxes are due in January. It's a lot to handle, right? And so we have all these great intentions going into the new year. We figured out, these are my goals.
[00:04:11] Here's how I'm gonna interact with my family here, the boundaries I'm gonna set at work, but then things get away from us. Sometimes we feel like we're chasing it down. We're almost like chasing down our lives, right? Because it piles up the intakes the client needs. The staff needs the emails. It's a lot to run a practice.
[00:04:33] You're trying to set a tone for the ear, but you already feel like you're carrying such a heavy load. And I speak this from experience. You feel like you're hitting the ground running. At first, it sounds admirable. Yes, I got this. But over time it starts to really weigh on us. Then we never really pause the way we thought we would.
[00:04:58] We don't make time for reflection and we keep running. Things keep coming at us. I know for myself. Contemplation and meditation have been something I want to do this year because I know it will allow me to be a better leader in my practice. So those were my intentions going into the year, and then the tasks started adding up and I got into my do mode and I have to force myself to slow down, right?
[00:05:31] Sometimes for me. It's having something that makes me slow down. If that's accountability through someone, if it's some kind of book I'm reading, I'm setting my alarm for a certain time to get up, whatever that is. So I'm currently recording this episode in January, even though it's gonna be coming out in February.
[00:05:51] So January, start strong. It's not too busy with clients, at least historically, my practice, it's not like we're, we have some intakes, but it's not overwhelming. But when we get into February and March especially, wow. It's some of the busiest seasons of the year, at least for my practice and for other mental health professionals that I talk to.
[00:06:13] So client needs are higher and in general, not just more clients, but the caliber or. Intensity level maybe of what's coming from our clients. In sessions, it's more than we're used to, right? It's a tough time of year. There's more complexity, there's also more leadership demands. So for many of us, the first part of the year, we're trying to settle in things become chaotic.
[00:06:42] Then we start embracing ourselves for what's come. This is why it's more important than ever that we're creating those rhythms of reflection and slowing down. So I know I might sound like a broken record, but I want us to embrace this together. In fact, as a practice owner, I find that I need that structure in my life.
[00:07:01] So this is why we're gonna talk about L and why Lent matters to practice owners not as something extra on your full plate. But this is an invitation for change, an invitation for rest from your busyness. Lent arrives, right when many of us are tempted to go faster, right? What I'll say in the busy season this year lent is Ash.
[00:07:28] Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, and that's on February 14th, so right in the middle of when things start getting busy. So instead of doing more. We are gonna have to be intentional about slowing down and making space now. I can tell you when I was young, I didn't necessarily know what Lent was. Lent was not a regular occurrence in my church growing up.
[00:07:55] But as I got older and attended different churches, different places in my life, different states that I lived in, they were all doing it differently. And one church that I went to introduced me to Lent, and it really is a season in the liturgical calendar. I love history and the church and just the seasons of liturgical calendar, right?
[00:08:19] So when I say liturgical calendar, I'm kind of talking about like the church calendar really. And it's a historical thing. I mean, people have been practicing Lent for centuries. And so I think it's so cool this idea that I am practicing lent at the same time as Christians all over the world. And as Christians have for many years.
[00:08:38] So let's talk a little bit about what Lent is, just in case you don't know, or maybe it's been a little while and you need a refresher. Lent is the season from Ash Wednesday. To Easter. It's this idea that we are moving towards the resurrection, towards the cross, and we're remembering Jesus's time spent on the Earth doing ministry.
[00:08:59] It is 40 days now. You might be saying, Hey, well if you really count it up, it's more than 40 days. This is true. So when we look at Lent, we're looking at the days of the week plus Saturday excluding Sunday. So really it's more like 46 days I believe. Sundays are considered many Easters. So those are times that we celebrate the resurrection while we're on our lint journey, right?
[00:09:26] So historically lint is a time of reflection and repentance as we prepare for Christ, and we remember his road to the cross, the sacrifice he made. And then that brings us to that place of, you know, repentance and understanding in our hearts. Now, it is not a time that you have to earn God's love or you have to do something for God.
[00:09:51] Those pressures are not on you. It's think of it as an invitation to pay more attention to God's presence in your life and how he wants to do a work within you, right? In this rhythm of the church here, the lint comes after that busy celebration of the early calendar. So after you've gone through Christmas and you've celebrated, and then we have epiphany.
[00:10:13] And these are all exciting times. And then we start leading up to Ash Wednesday. And Ash Wednesday is exactly what it sounds like. It's when you remember from Ashes you came, and from Ashes you will go. I love the Ash Wednesday service and the tradition of a lot of churches. The palms from Palm Sunday are burned and created into ashes and held onto for the next Ash Wednesday.
[00:10:42] And then you put the cross on the forehead and remember who we are and what we're entering into. So it reminds us of intentionally slowing down and really we're nothing right. Becoming nothing, because all we are is what Christ makes us. And Lent often goes along with fasting, so letting go of the things that keep you from God potentially, or things that are gonna allow you to think about God.
[00:11:15] Fasting can look like lots of different things. And in our next episode, we're gonna go a lot more in depth of what it looks like to practice lint. So I'm not gonna get too into that today, but I want you to be thinking about that now and be in prayerful reflection of, okay, God, what are the things that are holding me back in my relationship with you?
[00:11:32] Maybe things that distract me, or what are some things I wanna pull outta my life or add to my life so that it pulls me closer to you? Right. It's about creating space and doing something that's gonna make you think more about God and his work in your life. And like I said, Sundays are the days that you celebrate, and so technically you would break your fast every Sunday during Lent so that you could celebrate.
[00:12:01] So Lent again is not about punishment. It's about getting more discipline, focusing more on God, and bringing him more into your life. It's about having reflection, but also that full plate we were talking about. A lot of times when we slow down and pay attention, we start noticing that there's some things on that plate we don't need.
[00:12:20] Either that we don't have to do, that we can give to somebody else, or maybe that just aren't all that important. So the heart of Lent is about creating space to notice how God is creating us, paying attention to what he's already doing, making yourself open and available for listening down and the things that he wants to do in and through you loosening your grip on things.
[00:12:42] As entrepreneurs, we carry a lot, so we need to let go of some things and depend on God. So honestly, what matters even more is that all these people are depending on you. All these decisions are carrying, you're carrying the weight on your shoulders. We start to get really focused on productivity, and we lose sight of what's important.
[00:13:05] So this slant season is a time to come back. To what's important in your life. So as practice owners, we're always in motion, always planning, always doing, and we hold that emotional weight. So Lent is when we are going to be counter-cultural leaders, giving ourselves that permission to pause, to slow down and reflect.
[00:13:25] 'cause often, even as I talked about in the series in January, it's when we slow down that God does more right in and through us. And it's a time for you to ask yourself, who am I becoming through this work I'm doing? When you're just doing the work, you are becoming something. You might not be paying attention to what you're becoming.
[00:13:45] So slow down and pay attention to who it is that you're becoming. One of the most subtle dangers for us as practice owners is letting faith become something that we're just referencing rather than something that's actually forming us. So we're just kind of saying the things I am big on that I, I say the things.
[00:14:03] I don't always do the things. I'm trying to do the things, but Lent is a time where I am going to slow down and think about those things. Right? So this is why I wrote Alin devotional book, right? I love the Liturgical calendar, and Alin devotional book goes along with that. And as Christian practice owners, we can all.
[00:14:26] Do this book together and the book has times of reflecting. It has times of Bible verses questions, journal prompts. And so if you're like me where you're kind of needing structure to be able to do Lent, this devotional book will give you that structure because I would, I have to have that to be able to engage, right?
[00:14:48] I need to know that people are doing it with me. That extra support means a lot to me. And remember this book was specifically written for practice owners, so together we're gonna move towards the cross together. So each devotional book, like I said, it's short, it's intentional, and it's every day, except for East, sorry, it's every day except for Sunday.
[00:15:10] But I did add in Easter because y'all, we gotta celebrate Easter together, right? So how does the practice of becoming the Lent devotional book. Help you as a practice owner. It's gonna give you grounding when you're feeling urgency, so it's a daily reminder to sit down. You could probably read it in less than 10 minutes.
[00:15:33] I would encourage you to give it 20 minutes so that you're reading it and reflecting. It's gonna give you reflection questions to think about as a practice owner in changes that you can make in your business that go along with your faith. And it's gonna give us a slower, steadier posture to the work that we do.
[00:15:50] Lent is not about doing more, it's about being led by God and being attentive. So when you give yourself that permission to slow down, God will do great things within you and within your practice. So I want you to see Lent as an invitation. Not forced upon you. It's a season of slowing down and reflecting and letting faith influence your leadership and quieter.
[00:16:14] If you've ever felt like you're leading well on the outside, but you're longing for more grounding on the inside, lent is a really good time for that. So I would love for you to walk with us through Lent together, and you can do that through the practice of becoming Lent devotional book. My hope it's not just another book, but that it has great impact in your life and that God uses it to ground you and teach you and grow you, and that we would all grow together as we share with one another how God is working in us through these devotionals.
[00:16:51] So before you go, I encourage you head over to Amazon and grab the practice of becoming between now and next week. Start thinking about how you want to do. Lent what that means to you. Maybe you wanna research a little bit about Lent. I think it's such a beautiful season. It's not easy, it's challenging.
[00:17:16] And on our next episode, we are gonna talk more about those practical steps, but I invite you to this special season, the Sacred Work, the liturgy of it all, and that we do it together. Thank you for your support and I look forward to being with you next week.
[00:17:36] Jingle: So click on follow and leave a review and keep on loving this work we do with Whitney Owen and Wise Practice Podcast, Whitney Owen and Wise Practice Podcast.
[00:17:54] Whitney Owens: Special thanks to Marty Altman for the music in this podcast. The Wise Practice Podcast is part of the Site Craft Podcast Network. A collaboration of independent podcasters focused on helping people live more meaningful and productive lives.
[00:18:08] To learn more about the other amazing podcasts in the network, head on over to site craft network.com. The Wise Practice podcast represents the opinions of Whitney Owens and her guests. This podcast is for educational purposes only, and the content should not be taken as legal advice. If you have legal questions, please consult an attorney.
