Are you doing it slow?
No, no clickbait here. Or maybe just a bit :). But are you doing it slow?
By that I mean: what’s your rhythm, how fast are you living, how fast do you finish your tasks or over-accomplish? Are you truly experiencing life or consuming it like it’s a box you need to tick on your agenda?
Today, we rarely think of slowing down. From the coffees we drink to the devices we scroll on or the countless holidays we want to go on, from the advertising that tells us we can do more or buy faster, every system we are integrated in screams at us and pushes us to the limits. We are taught that: “if you feel you can’t, you can a bit more.”
We no longer have to run for our lives from a lion, but we are definitely choosing to live in the middle of a savanna every day.
Yes, we are choosing. You heard me right. Some of us consciously choose to live like this, burning life at both ends. Other don’t actually know what life and boundaries are. It’s definitely not our sole fault, but it is our responsibility to mend it.
What slow living is
Slow living is a mindset whereby you curate a more meaningful and conscious lifestyle that’s in line with what you value most in life. It means doing everything at the right speed, not at a slower speed. Instead of striving to do things faster, the slow movement focuses on doing things better. Often, that means slowing down, doing less, and prioritising spending the right amount of time on the things that matter most to you.
Slow living is part of the wider slow movement which began in the 1980s in Italy. Faced with the opening of a McDonald’s in the heart of Rome, Carlo Petrini and a group of activists formed Slow Food, a movement that defends regional food traditions.
Carl Honoré, one of the most well-known authors and speakers on the slow movement, helped bring the concept of slow living into the mainstream in 2004 with the publication of his book In Praise of Slowness. His speech is extremely relevant today. Because more and more people are acknowledging that faster isn’t always better.
We are living the fast life, not the good life.
Why we live with speed:
we like adrenaline and the rush of blood that we experience
we are part of systems of working and being that don’t mean well for real, they just need to exploit us for their own benefit or profit.
slow has been demonised as a word for years and years, you don’t want to seem the slacker of the bunch
when we rush, we don’t think about the reality of our life
Choose 1 day. This is all I ask you. 1 day. Do things with intention, whether you are washing dishes or sending emails. Try to slow down. And understand that slowing down is not actually slower. We are all living at a faster pace that we should. Even exercising slow living - we want to do it quickly. Slowing down is just…normalising life rhythm.
Pick 2 gateways to slow living from the above:
choose to drink a herbal tea not coffee first thing in the morning. Coffee has nothing to do with helping your body get active. It only hides the tired effect (being tired is stored in kidneys and adrenals) and throws you on a caffeine spiral for the rest of the day. As a long time caffeine aficionada, I almost reached 3-4 coffees per day in 2019-2020. I was angry and trembling and tired all the time. When I quit caffeine I began to see the benefits of experiencing the right amount of time in a day, with its natural rhythm. Turn to lemon warm water and qualitative sleep if you want to see how it works better for your body. If you can’t quit coffee, add warm water or ghee to it and stop drinking it after 1-2 PM, or else your circadian rhythm (which mean quality of sleep) will be deeply affected.
look at your day agenda or list or planning and choose 1 main item for the day (personal an/or at work). Concentrate on that item (project, endeavour) and make it intentionally the centre of your active day. You will see that all other items on the list will get done if you want to, in their own rhythm. Be rational about the time you have in a day to do stuff, overly crowded agendas are usually markers of people that: have low self-esteem and get their validation from the crowded agendas and being masters at busy, have low barriers and don’t know how to fulfil their needs properly, or have no idea of what time management means. Either cause is fixable, either with a coach, book, therapy and most of all with individual motivation.
yes, I know cycling and running and gym and HIIT are very popular right now. They are also helping you be part of a community and get you be connected with other people. I understand, it’s great. But we as a species need high cortisol in small amounts and definitely not on a regular basis. HIIT sequences though effective, are also increasing the inflammation in the body and generate severe anxiety if they are done often, also affecting sleep. If your stance on this subject is: “I’m fine, I just don’t have time to work out anyway, so I’m safe”, it’s also wrong. Movement has never been about getting into a dark room and sweat for hours. Movement is also you picking up cherries in your grandma’s orchard. Movement is you cleaning the house. Movement is a slow walk in the morning or after a summer rain. Movement is yoga while you also notice your body and how it moves. Movement is hiking on a mountain trail. Movement is tai chi or qigong on a lake. Movement is dancing at a party or in your bedroom. And so on. If you are working out like crazy, slow down and opt for 1-2 slower trainings per week (at least). If you are not into sports, find a slow movement exercise and do it regularly, it calms the mind and grounds the body.
look at your hands. they are to be used not only to type or scroll, but essentially more for domestic activities and worldly experiences. Pet your dog or cat with intention, bake for your loved ones, take care of your plants, etc. Do this daily, for at least 10-15 minutes. See how it feels, especially in the mind, to be…human.
My written essay on the power of hands below.
learn to be smart with (your) time. Saturn is a very important part of our character according to astrology. The Lord of Karma and Time teaches us patience, building slowly and most of all (perceived) delays in our manifestation. If you don’t know how to practice Saturn and build resilience, write me a message and we’ll astro-meet. I know that you are a woman and by science, you can do them all, but do you want to?
practice slow sex. When Sting many years ago started practicing Tantra, many laughed. Nowadays, the world seems to be polarised between fast dating (and yes, dopamine-infused sex) and people aiming to make sexual experiences more intentional and qualitative. One of my past lovers once said to me: I don’t want it to go fast, I want it to go longer. It definitely surprised me (and my ego), but I took notice. I was so in a hurry that I neglected the main need: to enjoy sex more and over a longer time period. Why are we in a hurry to end something that we love?
Slowing down lets you savour your life. What do you want to choose for yourself? Well, getting in touch with your inner tortoise once in a while might just be a very smart way to…live richer, not faster.
Happy Full Moon in Capricorn, women! And take care, this is the second full moon in Capricorn this summer (we only get 1 per year) and it’s conjunct Pluto to the orb, trining Uranus in Taurus. Releases, releases, releases. Maybe you can release the busyness and just … slow down. Until next time, slowwwwwwww downnnnnn.
with love,
Roxana #WomenAreHealing
