What does it mean to “slow down”?
Do you ever feel like you are running on a never ending hamster wheel? How does one get off the wheel and not feel wrapped up in constant obligations? We tend to value productivity at such a high level, whether it’s at our jobs or with our families, that it is to our detriment. We end up putting more pressure on ourselves and continually feel a sense of urgency. And moving faster doesn’t necessarily mean that we are more productive.
Slowing down will definitely benefit your health and sense of happiness, as well as increasing your productivity. This may be the answer, but what does that mean? It doesn’t necessarily mean that we need to slow down our tasks or our day, although it can include going about our day at a slower pace. When we talk about slowing down, it often means that we are putting too many unnecessary things into our schedule, without even realizing it.
When we fill the day with so much detail and busy-ness, we can feel that our minds are full and perhaps even cloudy. We also often feel overwhelmed and that there isn’t ever enough time. The result is often that we are less effective at the tasks before us which typically ends up causing large amounts of stress.
The goal of slowing down is probably to think and mostly feel that we have the time to do the things we want to do. Ideally, we would like to be able to easily accomplish our daily tasks, and not feel rushed or stressed. We would also like to have the time to be present and enjoy the small and big things in life. Slowing down ultimately means to live your life with more intention and joy, and with less stress. It takes some work to learn to diminish the body’s stress response, but doing so will enable us to live more in the moment.
So how do we achieve the feeling of slowing down, which will slow our minds and our stress response? Try these strategies to help us take pause and perhaps reframe a perspective or two:
Take time in your day to intentionally take pause. This can happen when getting into or out of the car, between calls, or during other transitions. You can set an alarm on your phone to chime for every hour to take 1-2 minutes to relax and energize your mind and rebalance your nervous system.
Stop what you’re doing to focus on your breath. Changing the rhythm of your breath can signal relaxation, slow your heart rate, and stimulate the vagus nerve, which is responsible for resting, digesting, and healing (1).
Focus on your five senses. Feeling the ground under your feet, taking your surroundings in with your eyes, and noticing how the air smells calms the nervous system and boosts the mood (2).
Move to a quieter place. Removing distractions and external noises can help the mind to quiet down and remove the “internal noise”.
Assess how you are using your phone. Is it contributing to stress or alleviating it? Pay attention to the inputs coming from your phone in the way of news sources, social media and text messages.
Step outside and take a walk. Just ten minutes of walking has an effect on the mood (3). Also, spending time in nature lowers stress hormones, reduces anxiety and depression, and brings you into the moment (2).
The practice of grounding, walking on the earth, or putting your hands in soil all have the same effect. Recent research has shown that a type of bacteria in soil has the ability to increase serotonin levels in the brain, reducing the incidence of depression (5).
Listening to a favorite relaxing type of music has the ability to lower cortisol and heart rate, release endorphins, and reduce stress-related symptoms (6).
Short circuit the fast moving mind by doing some quick exercises, taking a cold shower, or journaling. We have seen from recent studies that cold water immersion increases dopamine and activates the parasympathetic nervous system (7, 8).
1.https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2017/03/study-discovers-how-slow-breathing-induces-tranquility.html
2.https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/head-games/201502/how-use-all-5-senses-beat-stress
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6064756/
4.https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/head-games/201502/how-use-all-5-senses-beat-stress
5.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306452207001510?via%3Dihub
6.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17437199.2020.1846580
7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10751106/
8. https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/circj/70/6/70_6_773/_article