Slowing Down

Our nervous systems are constantly being overstimulated

Never ending threads of notifications. Left, right and center.

There is such an overwhelming amount of everything to be attained and participated in. Our bodies are screaming to Slow Down. It is as if we are living at the speed of the internet. Faster. Faster. Faster.
The unconscious collective validates “doing”. If we are not “doing” and achieving all the time, we are left feeling inadequate. We feel we are missing out. Then comes FOMO.

Slowing Down is about restoring our innate rhythm. By slowing down and taking our time we can focus more effectively and make better decisions.

Slowing Down is Necessary.

The WHO has classified Stress as the epidemic of the 21st century. The fast paced lives we live have led this to be true and mental health diseases are on the rise costing the world millions of lives and billions of dollars. It is now commom knowledge that we need to recover our capacity to slow down, to make time for our health and for the health of the planet.

Slowing Down Requires Awareness, Willpower and Patience.

Most of us live such demanding lives that we limit ourselves to follow our schedules compulsively and unconsciously. Only when we become aware, sometimes in an unpleasant away, of how fast we are going, can we engage our willpower to take the time to slow down. The next step is cultivating patience in order to re-educate ourselves and our nervous systems to slow down.

Expanding and Contracting.

Everything in nature expands and contracts. Day and Night. Hot and Cold. Summer and Winter. Inbreath and Outbreath. However, we live in a culture that validates expansion and only expansion. To slow down and to retune to the rythms of Nature we must re-educate ourselves to long forgotten essential rhythms of contraction, resting and nourishment. Good examples are a good night sleep, a stroll in the forest, a moment of silence, watching the sun go down or simply enjoying a meal.

Slowing Down Takes Courage.

Slowing Down requires Awareness, Willpower and Patience but it also takes Courage. Courage to stop and be aware of the need to slow down, because in doing so we are reconnecting, once again, to parts of ourselves that have been brushed away for far to long. This allow us to become conscious of our real needs and what we need to change in our life to meet them.

Slowing Down Feels Good

Just because it does

When you stop rushing and slow down, you have the possibility to enjoy life more. Most of us have forgotten how to do this. Everything around us becomes more interesting when we slow down and dedicate time to it. Our curiosity is heightened. You become more patiend and care more for others.

“The high value put upon every minute of time, the idea of hurry-hurry as the most important objective of living, is unquestionably the most dangerous enemy of joy.”

Herman Hesse