Slow Down to the Speed of Life

I recently had some minor surgery, and it forced me to slow down to a snail’s pace and stay home. At first, it was all a physical thing. Any kind of surgery completely knocks you down for a few days as your body rushes all the energy and blood to heal the trauma of a knife.

Once I began to feel better and was up and around, it became very difficult to just be still at home for another three days, unable to busy myself with home projects and work stuff.

It was a forced retreat of stillness where, suddenly, I had more space again to be mindful, present, and find that peace inside that feels so yummy.

I slowed down to the speed of life

Bear, my golden retriever, has been loving the fact that I’ve been taking long walks in nature every day.

I see more when I slow it down on the inside. I am awake to all sorts of things when my mind isn’t busy with an agenda and an over stacked to do list.

I notice the season changing from winter. The daffodils are up. The trees are budding with the promise of spring, and their cherry blossoms adorning the branches are the jewels of that new growth. I hear the birds sing. There’s a variety of birds that are reveling in the first signs of awakening. Crows calling. Redtail hawks flying the skies.

And, I breathe more deeply. I take more pause

I can be so addicted to the rush, realizing that my habit is to move faster, get more done, and speed through every day.

There’s plenty of time to play on the fast track, but it’s equally gratifying to live at a slower pace–a pace that offers opportunity to appreciate nature, to remember the meaning in having deeper conversations, and to afford myself the luxury of a softer experience for my senses.

Slowing down to the speed of life means deeply engaging in all aspects of my life

Not doing so much allows for BE-ing more and feeling more gratitude and peace.

It’s been about two weeks now, and as I return to the busyness of my new normal, I will bring this deeper experience of being and presence back into my day as I live more awake–as I move along more mindfully.

When we get sick, have a headache, or go through surgery, we are forced to retreat and rest, but we don’t have to wait to get sick to practice rest or to retreat.

Slowing down to the speed of life is not necessarily about slowing down what you get done in a day.

It’s about offering yourself the inner stillness that comes from tuning in and engaging more deeply in your experience at hand–whatever it is you are DO-ing and feeling.

It’s in your breath and in your mind where you will find it easier to elongate moments, days, and weeks, in what otherwise feels like a spinning top that eventually stops and falls over from exhaustion.

When you can, take some time to just rest and BE in your life without an agenda.

Allow your inspiration to flow and just slow down

Take a day, now and then, to just be and breathe and slow down to the speed of life.

Slowing down from the inside will help you live your most vibrant life.

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