Demand for your attention has never been greater, society is a 24-7 roller coaster of dopamine hits and with so much available at the touch of a screen, it is becoming even harder to switch off and create boundaries around when you’re ‘on’ and when you’re unavailable. Slow living can help you do just that and here is how!
Sometimes, days go by without checking in with yourself and you end up sidelining your needs, sometimes this turns into weeks, or even longer. When you’re becoming exhausted, stressed, overwhelmed and close to burnout, changes in your pace of living and becoming aware of the hidden stressors that contribute to toxic load in the body can massively support your mental wellness.
Life is moving at a an exponential pace- in the words of Ferris Bueller “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” This is where embracing living life in the slow lane, flipping the off switch, and implementing loving boundaries around when you’re ‘on’ and unavailable is essential to help change the pattern. This is slow living.
Here are three key points for how to start slow living:
- Loving boundaries- Setting loving boundaries about when you are available is key to recovering some harmony in your life. This may mean blocking out time in your diary, switching your mobile to airplane mode or simply saying ‘No’. It could mean resting when you need to, taking time out or where possible changing your schedule to accommodate you better. Just imagine if you could press pause, just to give yourself breathing space and allocate this as non-negotiable time. Holding space for yourself like this, helps to boost your self esteem and confidence, and promotes more self care.
- Connect with nature– Getting out into the sunshine and grounding, help with improving your energy levels. Being barefoot and in contact with the ground enables you to draw upon the subtle, natural electrical charge that the earth contains enabling you to recharge and renew your energy, a bit like recharging a battery. Nobel prize winner (1965) Richard Feynman noted grounding stabilises the electric potential between the body and the Earth, supporting restoration and rejuvenation. You can make use of sunshine to synchronise your natural circadian rhythm (your light/dark cycle), as sunlight is able to tell the master clock in your brain what time of day or night it is, and influences the synchronisation of your body processes with your environment- To reset this clock see the sunrise in the morning and the sunset at night and don’t use artificial light at night- simple, but not necessarily easy.
- Meditate– being still allows you to reconnect with your inner self and allows you to step onto the natural hum of life. It helps you to stop creating chaos in your life, slow the F down and appreciate life more, tuning out all of the noise and feeling peace. Spiritual connection isn’t about taking action, it is about vibrational alignment and bringing your subtle energies into harmony with your environment, like being part of a healing melody. The less you do the more you can accomplish. Everything is a vibration and so if you are able to slow down physically, you can slow your resonance and move into resonance and balance with your surroundings- this actually allows your personal resonance to raise and you feel more in tune. It is almost as though you are unmanifesting to stop creating resonance and just be. Creating a peaceful calm strength within yourself.
Through slowing down, prioritising activity that enables you to relax, and taking time to step away, allows you to recharge and creates a positive shift in your mental and physical wellness. Embracing slow living can make a massive positive impact.
Sometimes implementing the super simple things is all that is needed- slowing down is self-care.
What will you do today to take care of you?
You can find out more about Tracy and Slow Living at Serendipity Wellness. Don’t forget to check out our other articles in our Wellness & Self-Care section, to help you find that balance and better mental health.
Tracy Richardson
Tracy Richardson is a Therapist (MSc), Wellness Consultant, and Founder of Serendipity Wellness® based in Warwickshire, UK, and also author of The Little Book of Wellness: An A-Z Guide to Nourish Your Body, Mind + Soul.
She is passionate about working with female founders and entrepreneurs, who find themselves knackered, stressed, overwhelmed and close to burnout, to support them with easy to action solutions that simultaneously enhance health, performance & business life. ‘Wellness makes you a Well-being’.
You can find Tracy on her website
