Have you been wondering about or interested in trying a slow lifestyle, but you're not sure you have time for it? As moms, sometimes the busyness of life seems to happen without any effort on our part, and resists our attempts to intervene. But getting started with slow living doesn't have to be a grand or complete change. It can happen gradually, with one chosen moment after another. That way, there's no overwhelm and it will almost make time for itself. Take a look at these three easy ways to slow life down, try them out in the next few days, and see where they take you. First, A Reminder of Your Vision First, call up your general motivating vision for a slower lifestyle. What is it that might get better or become easier if your lifestyle slowed down? What might you love about it? Based on that brief visioning moment, choose an area for getting started, in general, and think about what you might do in the next week or so: create a slower morning, make room for an easier afternoon or slower evening. Or maybe there's something you want to make time for in the next few days, and you can think about what you might move around so that you can do so. For now, just create the vision. And maybe visit it for a moment or two each day. You're planting a seed for changes you can make in an easier, more organic way. Once that's done, let's look at what you can do today, to get started... 3 Slow Lifestyle Moments to Create Today (1) Take one thing off your schedule... I have to do this one routinely, because I get so tempted to try to do it all. If it sounds like a good idea, I just add it to the list. So I have gotten into the habit of looking for the thing I won't do. It feels better to choose not to ahead of time than to decide, exhausted, that I simply cannot do even one more thing. I should mention that this often happens when I am prioritizing what I have planned. It dawns on me, often, in those moments that I have way too much planned, and then, I just start taking things off or moving them around. What could you do that with, today, in your schedule? (2) Choose one thing on your to-do list and give it your full, undivided attention, rather than multi-tasking... I realize I often forget to slow down once my cleaning/cooking/laundry spree is done. This rushed mentality might carry over into my parenting, the way I feed myself, or the way I interact with my husband. During these times, I often stop to take a deep breath and simply slow down my movements. I might try to speak more slowly, walk more slowly, eat more slowly, and breathe more slowly. (3) Our final one today is about stopping to breathe...
Try to take a five-minute breather sometime today, in between one activity and the next. Catch your breath, and in fact, spend a moment just focusing on breathing deeply and slowly. Let the past moment recede completely and begin to open to whatever is next on your schedule. But first, just be, during those unscheduled moments. As your day comes to an end, reflect on this question and journal prompt: how did it feel to give yourself a slow living day? See you next time! Love, Jeanine
2 Comments
8/12/2019 01:54:54 pm
S-l-o-w lifestyle? That's not for me. To each their own.
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