How to Start a Slow Living Lifestyle

What would life be like if we weren’t so busy? If instead of cramming our day with back-to-back tasks, there was space. Space for stillness. A pause between errands. Time to sit and enjoy our lunch away from screens and notice the flavours of the food we are eating.

Perhaps we would feel calmer and less overwhelmed. We might even have more clarity and be more productive. We may realise what we need to let go of in our life so that we can make room for what matters.

Many of us are yearning for a simpler life. We all desire to feel that sense of ease. But it’s hard to feel that these days. More than ever, many of us are overworked, stressed, tired and struggling emotionally and mentally. While life can be busy and trying at times, we do have the choice to make it easier in ways. We can choose a slower pace of living.

The Slow Living movement

Slow Living is a movement that emphasises slower approaches to everyday life. It originally started in Italy in the 1980s with the Slow Food Movement, prompted by Carlo Petrini as he saw the negative effects of industrialised fast food systems on food, health, social justice and culture. When announced that a McDonald’s would open near the Spanish Steps in Rome, residents, politicians and officials opposed the idea. The Slow Food Movement began, aiming to promote quality local foods, traditional food production, and celebrating the pleasure of food.

The Slow Food Movement expanded into other areas of life, and Slow Living has become a part of this overarching movement of slowing down and enjoying a more wholesome simplified life.

Slow Living isn’t about physically moving through life at a snail pace. It’s more of a mindset.

Slow Living is being thoughtful and intentional

It’s allowing time for activities and moments that bring us joy and reducing those that add unnecessary stress. We all have things in life we must do - paperwork, cooking for a family, maintaining a home and working in a job to pay for a roof over our heads. But quite often we try to pack in as much as we possibly can, or take on more than we perhaps need to. We might overcomplicate something that could be kept simple. Slow Living is being thoughtful about our daily decisions, and prioritising those that help us feel light, rather than weigh us down.

Slow Living is favouring quality over quantity

Not just in the food we consume, but in the digital information we absorb, our everyday experiences, and the relationships we have with others. It’s going against the grain of “keeping up with the Joneses” - of always wanting to accumulate more, but instead, it’s learning to live simply, but well.

We can seek out a couple of news sites we trust and block out the noise of others. We can create a beautiful dinner experience talking with our loved ones, rather than sit mindlessly in front of the TV. We can prioritise quality time with friends we love and who inspire us and reduce the time we spend with those who are negative and weigh us down.

It’s also about being thoughtful when it comes to the items we buy. Rather than buying massed produced items that are made cheaply and with little care, it’s supporting artisans and sustainable brands who use traditional methods and are passionate about their craft.

It’s supporting Slow Fashion brands and artisans who make quality pieces by-hand. Slow Food businesses and restaurants using quality, fresh and local produce. It’s adopting Slow Parenting, a way of raising children that aims to avoid filling up their schedules and overwhelming them with too many activities. But instead, providing them with a small selection of quality activities, and allowing them to explore the world at their own pace. It’s embracing Slow Work, which emphasises using your time in a more meaningful and productive way, taking controlled breaks and giving quality time and energy to focus on one task at a time.

Slow Living involves mindfulness

It’s connecting with our surrounding, within ourselves, and with others more intimately. Rather that go about our day on autopilot. When we create space and let go of multitasking all the time, we begin to notice life around us. We begin to experience and feel life more deeply. We connect. How happy we feel in life has a lot to do with feeling connected.

Many of us reach a point in our life when we grow tired (literally) of being busy. We want to get off the treadmill. We realise that the constant chase of pursuing without thought, accumulating more, and filling up our days no longer serves us well.

Slow Living is a way of life that can be adopted by us all. When we begin to simplify and slow our lives, we create space. We reduce the feeling of always running, or like we are in a flight-or-fight state. We begin to feel lighter and content. We see how beautiful sitting still and observing our surrounding can be. Practising Slow Living will help us feel less stressed, happier, and will improve our physical and mental health.