Ways to Slow Down
Do you often find life is moving way too fast for you to handle? If your answer is yes, then, you are not alone. Do you know through practicing meditation daily and changing the way you view life could help you slow down in a fast-paced world? Read further to learn how you could slow down your life and also become an evolved Human Being.
“When you slow down your internal mind, you began building positive relationships with your loved ones as you no longer live your life in fear, stress, anxiety, and other negative emotions that would otherwise drive you to building a positive life.”
Do you often find life is moving way too fast for you to handle? If your answer is yes, then, you are not alone. We often find ourselves rushing for time – rushing your morning breakfast to rushing to your workplace, chasing deadlines and rushing home to have dinner with your family.
When was the last time you actually slowed down, take a breather and relax?
Personally, I believe that most of us are always in a hurry because of a few reasons. The first reason is how we are unconsciously programmed to live in the environment that has been long conditioned by society.
In our daily living, a lot of us are always in a “hurry” mode for a few reasons. The biggest factor of us being in a “hurry” is due to the fact that we are living unconsciously to the programming that the environment and the society that has deeply conditioned us. At the same time, with the likes of instant messaging, instant food etc. they have unconsciously affected the way we live – conditioning us to expect things to be done in an instance.
Meanwhile, there are also other factors that have driven us into this “hurry mode” of living which include anxiety, fear of the unknown, fear of missing out, fear of not having enough, self-doubt, expectations and other negative emotions and attributes that could drive us to always be in a hurry in our way of life.
Additionally, the internal programming within our DNA (or our minds) also plays a part in contributing to us always being in a hurry or impatient. For example, if you have grown up with parents who are impatient, it is highly likely you will be impatient as well towards yourself and others.
And prior to meditation, my life was always in a rush and one dimensional – to working hard and to chasing after success, wealth and material gains. That said, I viewed time as very precious as I would work even on the weekends as I do not want to waste time to gain wealth.
I would only focus on the stock market, trading, buying and selling, building business and often being impatient towards anything that would draw my time away from my computer. This would include having meals and spending time with my family and friends.
And as a result, I would often argue with my family members due to my impatient personality and I’d be driven with guilt as I was unable to spend enough time with my children.
At the same time, my impatience had also a negative impact on my career – be it in the stock market trades or managing my staff and vendors. I realized that I would often upset others and react negatively due to my impatience. Not only that, but I also realized that I was gaining weight, and feeling unhealthy due to the constant pressure and stress that I put to myself.
That said, I was unable to find balance between working hard as a breadwinner for the family and having my personal life with my family. But all of that changed when I started practicing daily meditation years ago as it has subsequently shaped and improved my life.
As I started meditating, I realized the importance of slowing down despite living in a fast-paced world where we are conditioned to perform or act fast on a daily basis due to time is precious.
Through meditation, I felt younger and healthier each day, having more energy to perform and to complete tasks, improve my well-being, and lead a happy and fulfilling life. My investments at work have also improved as I become conscious in my day-to-day emotions, thoughts and state of mind.
More often than not, while you are mindful, peace and calm; creative thoughts, innate intelligence and wisdom emerge that will drive you to lead a life of higher potentials, be it an investment idea to create wealth, writing or creating a piece of art.
When you slow down your internal mind, you began building positive relationships with your loved ones as you no longer live your life in fear, stress, anxiety, and other negative emotions that would otherwise drive you to building a positive life.
And while everything is relative, a slowing down approach to life with meditation would mean cultivating an inner balance where we recondition ourselves from the inside and manage our reactions to outer experiences. It also means we will need to be conscious in choosing how we should live our lives and how we should react over things and situations that arise.
How then should we slow down our fast-paced lives? It is by first seeking to understand that we cannot change what is on the outside.
There is a saying, “If you can’t go out, then go in.” The answer lies in our inward journey, so seek first to change our internal programming and you will be surprised that even in a fast-paced life that we are living, we will be able to slow down and reap the benefits of living a zen, calm, peace, love and light whenever we are at.
The practical way of practicing the art of slowing down is through meditation. Again, meditation is all about developing mindfulness and concentration through deep relaxation and emptying your mind. Yes, the key to slow down or to answer the solutions you need in a fast-paced life lies in mastering your mind.
Meanwhile, here are some other ways that can you slow down and also be an evolved human being.
1. Put your phone on timeout:
Your phone is not your boss, you don’t have to pick it up whenever it rings or buzzes because if you do, you are putting your phone above you.
At the same time, do resist the urge to use your phone to fiddle with when you’re feeling bored – it may be while you’re waiting in line, in your car waiting for the red light to change or even riding on the train. Try to sit with the sensation of impatience and boredom rather than giving into it.
This would help you to build resistance to instant gratification. Remember, your phone is a tool, not you. You’re using it, not it using you. So, when your phone is away, you will be more interpersonally connected with people around you.
2. Take longer just because
This may sound counter measure to efficiency, productivity and just about everything society believes in but taking more time to do something just for the sake of enjoying it will create moments for us to appreciate things we might miss.
Take your time whenever you can to “smell the roses”, it will do you good. Take a different route when you’re on the way home from work, it might take a little while longer, but do enjoy the journey as you may find something new that would interest you.
3. Find ways to be bored
Contrary to most people, boredom has actually been shown to spark creativity. It encourages us to find solutions to our discomfort and to think differently about otherwise mundane things. It also creates novelty out of complacency.
When we are not occupied with complex tasks or stimulating media, we are pushed to use our imagination to come up with ways to spend our time – more often than not, we will think of human connection.
4. Try compassion meditation
Metta meditation is a practice to cultivate loving-kindness where it involves reciting positive phrases towards yourself and all beings. This meditation is useful to help reduce negative emotions towards yourself and other people and has even shown to decrease symptoms of PTSD.
Meditation also engages the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the “rest and digest” response, the opposite of “fight or flight”.
Source: www.heathline.com
Michael Teh, 11th January 2020.
Michael Teh is a meditation coach devoted to a personal mission of awakening more people to higher consciousness. He teaches self-realization through meditation, qigong, yoga and philosophy. Michael Teh Signature Workshop: The Essence of Life Series explores meditation as a powerful tool to realize our true potential. Michael has designed multiple workshops in this series to support his participants’ self-realization journey. Workshop Series 1 is currently running every few months on-ground in Kuala Lumpur, titled “Knowledge of The Self and Fundamentals of Meditation. Be sure to follow Michael’s social media channels and website for more updates: FB: https://www.facebook.com/
