After last week’s post about Slowing into Winter. I begin to explore a little more about the need to slow the pace. Just as the plants slow down to protect themselves from winter, we can slow down to protect ourselves from our frenetic world. Chris Wallace’s paper published in Nature showed findings show that as many as one-fifth of all genes in blood cells undergo seasonal changes in expression. Our DNA actually changes with the seasons. And our bodies metabolism also slows down during winter.
This got me thinking about the concept of Slow Living and it’s benefits not only for winter but year round.
You’ve probably heard of Slow Living. It means creating time, space and energy for things that matter most. To live better, not faster. This is not about being lazy or unproductive. But about being aware enough to not rush through life on autopilot. It is a mindset and it takes a while to shift gear, because most of us live life in the fast lane.
Some of the concepts that accompany this approach include:
Embracing more time, creating space - that might mean downtime on your devices, or screen free days. Time just reflecting. Being not doing.
Being more present -spending time in nature, with loved ones, meditating.
Building stronger relationships - nurturing quality time with those that matter to you.
Reducing environmental impact - because when we slow down we are more aware of our impact on the planet.
Finding purpose - this is about putting your values at the heart of your life.
Seeking stronger connection with nature - getting outside and living seasonally - which brings me right back to my earlier post on withdrawing for winter.
Carl Honoré is a leading voice on the slow movement and one of the best names to seek out when exploring more about the history and concept of slowing down. His book - In Praise of Slowness - was a best seller when it was published 17 years ago. And just imagine how much faster we have become since then. Without radical action, warns Honore, speed will destroy bodies, minds, and natural places and their inhabitants, accelerating our ‘enslavement’ and dehumanisation.
“Fast is busy, controlling, aggressive, hurried, analytical, stressed, superficial, impatient, active, quantity-over-quality. Slow is the opposite: calm, careful, receptive, still, intuitive, unhurried, patient, reflective, quality-over-quantity. It is about making real and meaningful connections.”
What is important to you?
In Slow Living your values underpin how you want to live.
We can ask ourselves who or what is most important to us? Where do we want to direct our precious time and energy? What is would a life well lived look like to you? What would you like to be remembered for?
In this way we can begin to curate our conditions to fit around this heart felt wish. We free up diaries. We create space. We make time for others. We make time for reflection. Time for nature. Time to make good food. Time to look after ourselves, soothe our overstressed systems. Take naps, rest. We can reclaim time and tranquility, connection and care.
And we apply our values and principles more widely, valuing slow food, slow made crafts, quality over quantity. We simplify and take time to nourish ourselves and care for others.
Finding reverse
We have internalised a psychology of speed, our restlessness is fed by a fast paced, smart phone world where our attention is constantly pulled by the gravitational force of speed. I wrote about this in an earlier post in response to Johann Hari’s book on Stolen Focus.
Speed is an anxious state of mind. There is always something else to do, something more to add to the list. But this way we will never find what we are looking for: contentment and peace.
It will take effort to slow down; commitment and dedication to still the demands and drive of our speedy culture, endlessly pursuing goals. We need to reset the rhythm of life, rebalance our existence.
Buddhist monk Haemin Sunim in his delightful little book The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down said that while the world moves fast we do not have to. His book is full of pithy aphorisms and wisdom.
We know the world only through the window of our mind. When our mind is noisy, the world is as well. And when our mind is peaceful, the world is, too. Knowing our minds is just as important as trying to change the world.
And to know our minds takes space and time, focus and concentration, contemplation, reflection. The practice of meditation allows us to slow down for a short time each day (if we practice regularly) and observe our minds. We cultivate attention (that seemingly rare and precious thing).
I’d like to leave you with this talk from Vishvapani (you might know him from Radio 4’s Thought for the Day) explaining the significance of mindfulness practice.
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