A Move into Slow Living

Lately, I’ve been experiencing a yearning for slow living. A step away from the roughness that the constant pursuit of efficiency and efficacy brings, tethering us to the weighted responsibility of functioning in a world designed on burnout. Reliant on what we can contribute rather than the mere value of our personhood. Slow living is a counter-cultural movement to lean into a more balanced way of life, taking a long-term view of it, through a focus on connection, low stress and savouring time instead of rushing through.

Some days, I just want to drive away. Far from all this noise, this clutter, this commotion of things that don’t really feel that important. All the complaints and paperwork and expectations to be more. And then feeling like you’re not enough when you don’t impress everyone. Or when your life doesn’t align with what we’re told it should in order to have the most to show for. Whether it be money, jobs, relationships, or luxurious possessions. The things that culturally define our worth.

I want to go somewhere where I don’t need to be anything. Run through fields of grass so long they brush the underside of your knees. Smell sun-baked earth and sweet honey. Exist in a natural world that asks nothing but to live and grow beside me, in alliance. In this dream, I’m having tea and scones on the porch with a cosy read and soft wind promising that my worth is irrelevant of my means. I’m marking my day by what I’ve felt, touch, seen, smelt, instead of what I’ve done. I eat slowly and sweetly, taking small bites. The days are long enough for me to watch the clouds in the sky and catch how pinks and oranges soak together for the setting of the sun.

Often we view this life as entirely separate to our current way of living, making it seem unattainable. But it doesn’t have to be one or the other, we can find ways to weave slow living into where we are now. Meeting it halfway. It comes down to finding the present and rooting ourselves in what’s now and what’s real, as opposed to the anxiety spiralling around us in the busy chaos.

For instance, one practise that has helped me bring this slow living to my very fast-paced life is aromatherapy. It’s a practise that utilises essential oils for therapeutic benefit, often in the form of diffusers, bathing salts, or sprays. I’ve been using pulse point essential oils that you apply to areas like the neck, chest, inner elbow, wrists, temples and behind the ears. Then I’ll do some deep breathing, focusing my breath through my stomach. This mindfulness can be extended to meditation, stretching, long walks, anything that pulls you out of the constructed, capitalist buzz and tunes you into gentleness. Taking moments where you can to slow right down.

I used to be slightly embarrassed about this perspective, thinking it to be naïve and even denialistic. Like I was being weak by pushing against it all instead of just soldiering on and playing the game. But more and more I’m realising that one of the strongest things I can do is stay soft and slow despite everything demanded of me. Redefining my pace in life to be focused on savouring the minutes and finding rest in every little window. Practising gratitude for each increment in time and seeing the potential to find leisure in all those in-between moments.

At the heart of it, I think you make the most of your life when you take it slow.