Guest Post by: Wendy Cuba-Danca
After you have decided on what is important to you for the holiday season, you need to remind yourself to be present and take time for what is important at the moment. Marc David, the author of “Slowing Down” calls it, slowing up. He says, “When moving through life too fast we inevitably eat fast. It allows us little pleasure from food. It shortens our breathing and prompts us to abandon our deepest self and our true purpose for being here.”
This holds true for how we live our life. If we are doing everything too fast and allowing ourselves little pleasure from what we really like to do, we aren’t truly enjoying our life. So please take time for yourself and fill your time with the people you love and the things you love to do by enjoying every minute of it!
Here are some tips on getting slow by Marco Vissher and Jay Walljasper from Ode Magazine:
Get Slow
- Leave your watch on the bedside table.
- Check email only twice a day.
- Take the scenic route.
- Light candles before you start to cook dinner.
- Make up rituals.
- Say a silent word of thanks and make eye contact with everyone at the table before you start eating.
- Let the phone ring several times before answering.
- Make a handmade present for a friend.
- Set aside one night a week all for yourself.
- Spend as much time outdoors in natural settings as you possibly can.
- Pay attention to cycles of the moon and the shifting seasons.
- Sit for a moment with your eyes closed when you start your computer.
- Take a few moments before you climb out of bed in the morning to remember your dreams and think about what you want from the day.
- Factor in an additional 25% every time you estimate how long something will take.
- Always jump at the chance to play with a child.
- Never pack your schedule so that there’s no room for a short walk.
- Take a left where you generally take a right.
