I could be described as a busy body. No matter how many times I tell myself that I am going to slow down, I find more and more things to take on until my schedule becomes a colourful mess of dates, events, and deadlines to remember. This is just who I am, but I know I’m not the only one. However, despite the fact that some of us are used to living our lives this way, it is important to know when it is time to slow down.
When I suggest slowing down, I don’t mean retire and live your days falling in and out of sleep on your couch. No, by slowing down I mean to take the time to really see the world around you for the first time.
While rushing around and trying to complete your many tasks, it can be easy to focus on what you need to do and miss out on what is all around you. It can be so easy to miss the little things in life that are actually truly incredible. Instead of jumping up in the morning to start rushing to get ready for your day, lay there and listen to the morning sounds and breathe slowly.
When I am travelling from one place to the next, I seem to forget to take my time and look around me. Slow down and check the world out through your fresh eyes. You will be amazed at how many little details you will see: the architecture of a building, the shape of a tree, the smell of the morning after a night of rain–these are all such beautiful things that you miss out on when you are too busy to slow down and appreciate the world around you.
When we are busy, we can easily forget to breathe properly. I notice this when I start to feel faint and my heart is palpitating because I am so stressed out about everything that I need to be doing. When my heart does this, it is sending me a sign to slow down. I can get so caught up in my many tasks that I realize I’m not even breathing! Aside from taking the time to notice little details in the world, it is also important just to breathe.
If I have an important meeting, an exam, if I have to perform, or if I have to do something important, I let myself be still for a while and take a few moments to breathe slowly and clear my mind. It is so important to clear your mind before doing important tasks, and I promise you will perform them so much better this way. Always being in a frenzy doesn’t give you the ability to properly relax, breathe, and clear your mind, so try to do this once in a while.
Meditation has a lot of great health benefits, and this is one way that you can help yourself slow down. Not only does meditation teach you great breathing techniques to help clear your mind, but it can reduce stress, improve concentration, your self-awareness, and happiness, and provide you with the ability to accept things. Self-awareness and acceptance are a major part about learning to slow down.
When you take the time out of your busy schedule to see the world, breathe, and clear your mind, you will become so aware of who you are as a person. You will learn things about yourself that you never considered: sounds that you like or don’t like, smells, sights, and so much more. You will learn to become completely self-aware of where you are in your life, and accept that where you are is only for the present time, and that the future doesn’t always matter for the time being. The present is what is right now, so focus on the now rather than the past or the future. Take the moment once in a while during your busy day to do these things, and you may be amazed with how much you learn and how relieved you feel.
Photo by Alina Kovalchuk on Unsplash
