What is Slow Living? & Tips for Your Everyday
Slow living means being guided by your inner being when going about your day, making decisions and creating plans. It’s purposeful, intentional and it’s a return to living from within.
The Western, modern life template demands that we are always doing things, doing them quickly and “asap”. It’s a linear way of living, expecting you to be the same person in winter as you are at the height of summer. It asks that you make decisions quickly and creates a sense of always needing to be somewhere else, of always needing to get somewhere in the fastest way possible.
FOMO, over-stimulation of the mind, stress and shallow breathing are just some of the effects this has on us.
Going against this and choosing to live more slowly will, inevitably, make us feel like we’re wasting time, being too passive, not “going for it” and, simply, being “weak”. A whole lifetime has made our self-esteem dependent on external success, productivity and doing; so, slow living can trigger discomfort.
But it’s actually the most natural way to be! Just as nature intended, since we are part of nature.
When we live more purposefully and with intention, when we’re guided by our true inner self, we will get everything we need done. We’ll just be choosing to give our energy and time to the things that matter. Leisure and pleasure, therefore, start to be included in what we allow ourselves to spend guilt-free time on. Slow living doesn’t create a hierarchy of how we spend our days. As long as you’re being guided from within, your time is spent worthwhile.
Here, it’s important to release expectations of what we want to do. Just as nature goes through phases, so do we. In winter, therefore, we might feel more inward and less drawn to socialising. In summer, we may be more excited to leave the house, to make lots of plans and to be with people. Slow living allows us to release the linearity and consistency we expect of ourselves, and to be lead by our natural, ever-changing flow.
Using the seasons as a guide can be a good place to start if the advice to simply “tune into your inner self” feels unhelpful. Observe the season and weather of each day, and allow the effects of this to form the basis of your decisions. Journalling can help here. You can also eat more seasonally as you start to tap into the natural world around you. The Western diet seems to exist outside of the seasons, which has negative effects on the planet and our fellow creatures, so it’s a win-win for everyone, not just us. You can start small, as feels realistic to you.
Your body is another tool for living slowly. We often do everything from the mind and are in constant spirals of thoughts. Releasing your awareness from the mind and into the body brings presence, ease and fullness to your being. Checking in with what your body, not your mind, wants can change the pace of your life. For example, your mind may want to work until late in the evening because “I just have to get this done”, but your neck and back might be screaming for rest through pain, tightness or tension. Honouring your body’s needs helps you to release the mental pressures and relax into the moment. Tapping into its wisdom can help you to heal in new ways.
The concept of ‘being’ versus ‘doing’ has become popular in recent times. Generally, our modern, linear way of life demands that we’re always ‘doing’ something. In contrast, slow living gives you permission and encourages you to be more in your ‘being’. What this means in practice is that you spend more time on enjoying life - whatever that looks like to you - and less on always ‘doing’ things. Maybe you like painting, writing, hiking, cooking, or making videos. Your favourite activities as a child can help for inspiration. The more you practice this and work through any voices of guilt or shame that may come up, the more sweet, pure and relaxing ‘being’ will start to feel.
In essence, slow living is a fancy term for just living! We’ve sadly become deeply disconnected from our inner being, inner truth and inner desires. Most of us spend our days busily completing one thing after another, so that we can then complete more and more after that, all for external accolades and approval. As we work through our resistance to moving away from this mode of living, and start to honour our deepest thirst for peace and ease, we sync with our true nature and that of Mother Nature. We step into a new way of living. The hardships won’t go away, but we will meet them with more clarity, purpose, presence and wisdom.
Some more practical tips for slow living:
Practise mindful and intuitive eating
Switch high intensity exercise for mindful movement (e.g. yoga or pilates)
Go on walks without headphones or your phone, and enjoy the sounds of nature
Say “no” to plans you don’t want to make
Create boundaries between work and personal life
Learn about seasonal living
Practise connecting with yourself through journalling, meditation and anything else that helps you
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Watch my video on slow living:
