Life Hacks
Where Can You Go Slow? When You’re Tired of Rushing, Click Here.
A seemingly simple, surprisingly powerful place of practice
Working with clients and with self, I return again and again to a seemingly simple, surprisingly powerful place of practice: Slowing down.
Not just while working — though that’s part of it.
Also in life, generally.
Thing is, being busy is easy. Slowing down is much harder — and far more valuable.
Instead of doing more, how about choosing less with greater care?
Find places in your days (especially the busiest of days) where you can slow down, create space, stop rushing.
What’s this look like for me?
To start, I go slow at meals — truly savouring those times, whether morning coffee, lunch, or dinner.
Yoga is also part of each day, with morning and evening practices bookmarking work hours.
These are intentional, non-negotiable places of slowing down, checking in, creating space.
And…there’s more.
Slowing down has so much to offer throughout a day — not just at isolated, scheduled intervals. I want more of it.
The opposite is also true. Busyness is stressful, distracting, and disconnecting. I want less.
This doesn’t mean I want to DO less. (And for many of you, doing less might not be an option.)
But it does mean shifting my relationship with busyness and rush — mentally slowing down and inviting ease, even if what I “get done” holds steady.
Part of this work involves acknowledging the reality that our to-do lists will never, ever be finished.
Another part involves changing small details in habit, routine, and context.
The past two years, for instance, I’ve been spending morning coffee time writing (rather than jumping straight to email and work tasks).
Those thirty minutes or so don’t affect how much I get done…but they do set a different tone for the day ahead.
And when the day starts to get ahead of me, I bring my heart and mind back to that early-morning practice.
Now back to you.
What are you doing to make “slow time” today?
It can be really simple (often, the simpler the better). For instance…
- Reclaim morning or evening time (even just 10 minutes).
- Slow down to savour meals (and prepare them).
- Notice the feel of a hot shower (or the scent of blooming flowers).
- Ease your grip on that to-do list, which will never, ever be finished (and that’s okay).
Slowing down. Taking a pause. Waiting quietly while the mud settles.
Not easy, but so important. Care to join me?
Thank you for reading. I’m a doctor of Chinese Medicine and write about sobriety and soulful living. Find all my links here: