How To Slow Down
If you are feeling worn out, anxious, and in need of some calm, this is the place for you.
This post contains slow living tips to help you slow down. They’re designed with a busy lifestyle in mind so don’t need a lot of extra time to implement, just dedication to making some small changes in the everyday. Lets begin…
1. Reconnect with your senses
The first slow living tip is to reconnect with your senses. As you carry out your morning routine, drive to work or do everyday chores, draw your attention away from your busy thoughts and towards what you can feel or hear in the present moment. This is my go-to slow living tip for whenever I feel anxious, as I find that reconnecting to the physical world helps to centre my thoughts. The present moment isn’t going anywhere, so we might as well enjoy it!
Feel the soft wool of your sweater, smell the aroma of that fresh cup of coffee, wonder at the detail on the leaves as they sway in the breeze. The beauty of this is that it doesn’t take any extra time to do – all it takes is using your time differently. To wonder, rather than to worry, and to gaze, rather than to glance.
2. Take quiet intervals throughout the day
The second slow living practice I recommend is to take quiet intervals throughout the day, simply to breathe and get away from the noise. It’s all too easy to get lost in the sea of social media and sink into a virtual haze but these patterns don’t bring the deep soul rest we actually need. The brain is like a sponge, soaking up incoming information and working hard to process it. So, it’s no wonder that continually checking “what’s going on” can leave your mind feeling full and heavy. Taking quiet intervals where you choose not to check the internet (e.g. while you eat a meal or wait in a queue) gives your mind space to wring out the mental debris and hone in on the stuff that really matters.
3. Switch social media for a hobby
On this theme, the next idea for how to live more mindfully is to take up a new (or old) hobby. I know what you may be thinking: “I don’t have time for that!” Hear me out.
On average, internet users spend 2 hours and 24 minutes on social media per day - just think how this time could be turned around for nourishing, nurturing activities! For myself, I found that when I wanted to read and paint more, I needed to reduce the time I spend on social media and Netflix. Due to the addictive nature of social media, this definitely isn’t an easy switch to make, but I can attest that it is an incredibly fulfilling one. To reduce social media consumption in favour of slow living hobbies, it can really help to visualise how you will feel after doing that thing you’ve always wanted to do versus scrolling mindlessly through Facebook. If you’re looking for some slow living hobby ideas, I recommend you check out this video:
4. Practice a weekly day of rest
My final slow living tip is to take full 24 hours once a week to do nothing but rest. Extreme, I know. However, if you only take away one point from this post, then I hope this is it. Without a doubt, I can say that this slow living habit has made the greatest difference in my life. It doesn’t mean sitting still staring into space all day (unless you’re really into meditation) - day of rest is going to look a little different for everyone. For one person, a day spent cooking or spending time with people leaves them feeling full up and well rested – for another, this may leave them feeling exhausted.
For an idea of what an ideal Sabbath looks like for me, I’ll spend the morning sleeping in, doing a peaceful yoga session, praying, then worshipping with brothers and sisters. After a hearty lunch with loved ones, I might go for a walk in nature then spend the afternoon reading or taking joy in some life-giving creative activities such as baking or painting. This slow living practice not only reconnects me with the joy of God, my loved ones, and myself, but also increases my productivity during the week, as I am better able to work from a place of abundance, rather than lack.
So, for a summary of slow living practices to help with slowing down:
reconnect with your senses
take regular mind breathers
switch out social media for a hobby and
take a weekly day of rest
I’m still very much on a journey with these slow living practices but so far, I have found that following them has really helped me enjoy my life in a deeper and more fulfilling way. I hope these slow living tips will be of benefit to you as well, so do let me know in the comments if you have tried these, or other slow living practices of your own!
As always, it has been lovely to have you here.
