How I Live Slowly Everyday

[Music] in order to appreciate the small wonders of your life you first have to notice them [Music] [Music] but today life feels as if it's moving faster than ever and it's difficult to notice the beauty in the ordinary when you're rushed stressed or worried about the future i know what it's like to live fast i know because in the past i've lived the opposite of a slow life but this is what i've learned from three years of living slow and here are the ways that i live slow every day [Music] when i feel overwhelmed i go outside and place my palms on the soil my back against a tree trunk the earth and water ground me [Music] i am afraid of a lot in life but the earth empowers me and gives me strength connecting with nature replenishes and [Music] heals [Music] and there are simple things that i do that have really changed my pace of life the most recent thing being getting off social media permanently deleting my personal facebook account two years ago and then leaving instagram last fall has radically altered not only my day-to-day life and how i spend my time but it's also really improved my mental health and my mental well-being and it's given me the quiet gift of being bored without boredom creativity has no space to drop in when you're always looking outside of yourself there's no room to be original not being plugged in i can't compare and i've gained valuable time in my life i also make time to just live i set aside time to simply breathe each morning feel my inhales i dedicate moments to watch the bees pollinate the flowers i carve minutes to watch the way the wind moves through the trees the steady rhythm of the waves to sit on a stoop and watch the people pass there are small ways that we can all do this when you go to the beach don't bring a book with you and if you do bring a book bring a cozy fiction read a story a novel something that actively encourages your mind to create and imagine less self-help more storytelling i challenge you to not look at your phone on your morning train to listen to the silence for a few moments instead of an information-packed podcast while driving to work i encourage you to just go and let the wind take you where you need to be no plan sit and bask in the sunlight observe the natural world around you the bird on the branch the wind in the trees the clouds moving past i also became happier in my slow living journey when i stopped caring when i became unbothered by what everyone else is doing essentialism and boundary setting is a critical aspect of living slowly because life today is not naturally slow anymore it's fast look at the current social media trends that are happening right now notice how limited our attention spans are becoming in order to live a slower paced life that's different from the mainstream you have to stop caring what everyone else thinks of your lifestyle slow living is about not caring about keeping up with the joneses it's just you living your life enjoying the ride at your own pace another thing i do i'm discerning it's so easy to get pulled out of a calm peaceful state of being you know often we meditate or do our self-care rituals in the morning and feel really present and connected only to carry on our day getting out of that [Music] one of the ways we can bring this feeling of peace whether it's on our morning commute or scrolling on social media is by taking deep breaths throughout your day by placing one hand on your heart and one on your stomach and asking yourself questions like why am i doing this right now what is this giving me is this serving me in the highest way is this essential and life-giving to me and always ask yourself if consuming media is giving you energy or taking away from it [Music] living slowly and simply for me is really about non-attachment and living slowly doesn't mean that you can't have ambition or motivation or passion but it's that you don't have an attachment to the outcome it's not placing your emotional well-being in the result or outcome of something else the lack or loss of an outcome doesn't affect your emotional well-being at all because you're already fully satiated you already have a full heart of gratitude and appreciation for where you are and enjoying the journey that the outcome doesn't really matter either way and when you do get a fun outcome or a result it's just an extra cherry on top of an already full heart but we also have to talk about work and getting stuff done this is reality bills need to be paid and i often find it interesting how a lot of people automatically associate slow living with laziness because living slowly in productivity can co-exist some people don't believe in balance but i believe there is and i live slow every day by approaching life as a balancing act i think society pressures us to be overly ambitious to chase for more when we're happy with what we have right now and collectively this all leads us to a world filled with anxiety stress and depression on one hand we have ambition goal setting and desire which when left unchecked can lead to the extremes of stress burnout possibly a lot more money and success but also anxiety and this anxiety comes in part from over thinking about the future [Music] and then we have slow living a life consciously lived with more simplicity which could also result in comfort a feeling of ease peace and contentedness but if left unchecked and if we take slow living to the extreme we may turn lethargic lazy perhaps with no need or desire to improve our lives at all [Music] but there's a balance and there's no need to live in extremes i make sure that i don't fall into a lazy rut by habit tracking the small little things like getting exercise checking my bank statements eating my greens making the bed each morning unloading the dishwasher investing in my retirement meditating reading for pleasure i also always take a small action step each day i don't put pressure on myself to knock out a long to-do list each day but i also let my energy my natural rhythm lead the way if i feel productive i get a lot more work done in a day than most people get done in a week i have intense powers of concentration and i've built that by focusing on one task at a time and not allowing myself to be distracted by anything outside of the task not being on social media also helps [Music] when you feel good and inspired and when you're in complete and total focus work can be done more efficiently and also don't turn your want to's into half to's the less pressure you put on yourself the more creative efficient and productive you'll be there's no grind anymore just peace and enjoyment in the process of doing [Music] i also don't take life or people very seriously at all i find humor and sarcasm in everything and that i find lightens my energy a lot [Music] you can approach life as an experiment try new morning routines play with new lifestyle habits mix things around when you feel restless or bored try approaching life as let me give this a shot and see if it works instead of i have to do this forever because it was fun at one point in my life instead let your heart lead the way try and let your gut make the decisions life becomes really easy simple and straightforward when we lead with our heart this is such a simple idea but it's often scoffed at [Music] and i remember that life will bend toward me when i remember that there is plenty of time enough time to rest replenish and slow down and more importantly i remember that there is always enough time to have fun [Music] you

Channel: Helena Woods

Views: 67,333

Keywords: slow living, slow living lifestyle, simple joys, helena woods, slow lifestyle movement, slow living movement, what is slow living, slow living tips, how to live slowly, how do i live slowly, slow living definition, how to simplify life, living a simple life, simple living, benefits of slow living, how to live a simple life, how i live slowly everyday, how to live fully by living slowly, slow living for beginners, balancing a slow life, how to balance a slow life

Id: 9kP51SBOvTQ

Length: 12min 33sec (753 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 20 2021