In our fast-paced society, it often feels like we're constantly rushing—school runs, work deadlines, and the competitive spirit can leave us feeling anxious and overwhelmed. Two years ago, I discovered the slow living movement, and it transformed my perspective on life. We haven’t really spoken much on the page about how we can embrace our paths and simple day to day habits that can help us become more aligned and open to what ever path we are on….
Incorporating concepts like Hygge, Lykke, Lagom, and Fika has not only helped me personally, to slow down but also opened the door to a deeper spiritual journey. I believe that spirituality and slow living go hand in hand. As we take the time to pause, reflect, and connect with ourselves and others, we cultivate a space for growth, understanding, and peace as well as helping with things like manifestation and communicating with your guides.
Take time to breathe (deeply) Simple? Yes – but all too easy to forget. Deep breathing is an excellent (and free!) way to invite more slowness into your everyday life. Consciously slowing down your breath will help you to feel more connected to your senses and grounded in the present moment.
Embrace simplicity One of the main philosophies of the Slow Living movement is the idea of voluntary simplicity, where you can choose to remove the excess from your life to enjoy things more. This could take the form of decluttering your home Marie Kondo-style, where you get rid of the items that no longer ‘spark joy’. Your home is your den, your comfort, so getting rid of mess will let you create a warmer, more welcoming place to enjoy each day.
Slow down to cook Cooking is a great way to experience slow living. In fact, there’s even a Slow Food Movement that promotes traditional cooking. Try slowing down to cook and appreciate eating food – engaging with the sensory experience of textures, tastes, and smells. Not only will this help you enjoy your food more, but it’s also an excellent way to practice mindfulness.
Spend more time on relationships that matter Slow Living is essentially a reallocation of time. It’s about deciding what values are deeply, truly important to you, and seeing if you can reshuffle your life to create more space for these values. Spending time with loved ones is an important value to many, yet it’s often difficult to prioritise. When it comes to relationships, little things can go a long way.
Set aside time for yourself While it’s not always easy to step back from our commitments, it’s still important to have alone time peppered throughout your life. Alone time is healthy for your mind. Alone time also lets you refresh, and gives you time to work on your own meditations, projects and goals.
Move your body regularly Moving your body – especially in nature – helps to shift your attention from the buzz of daily responsibilities and onto the current moment. By moving regularly – whether that’s doing an exercise session at home or taking a morning stroll in nature– you can allow your brain more time to rest.
Take digital detoxes A recurring theme throughout all Slow Living principles is spending less time tethered to digital devices – be that your phone, television or computer. Taking regular digital detoxes often forces you to slow down – to nap or meditate instead of scrolling the internet or watch the clouds or read a book instead of checking your emails.
Lykke ‘Lykke’ (pronounced like lu-Kah) is the word for joy and happiness. In a world full of negativity and disaster, how do we know where to begin to find joy and happiness? How can we measure the things that make us happy? In my opinion, the smallest and simplest of things can bring joy into our lives and when we sort out the little things, it often has a ripple effect towards the bigger things.
Hygge The joy in life’s simple pleasures and wellbeing is what centres around the concept of ‘hygge' (pronounced 'hoo-ga'). This Danish word roughly translates to the word ‘cosiness’, but is built around so much more than that. Hygge is a mindset, a way of life, a general collection of Danish values that focuses on balance to keep you centred, grounded, calm, happy and relaxed.
Lagom Lagom, pronounced ‘lah-gom,’ is a unique Swedish term that roughly translates to “just the right amount” or “not too much, not too little.” It’s the art of finding a perfect balance in all aspects of life – work, study, socialising, and even relaxation.
Fika pronounced fee-ka is a Swedish coffee break ritual. Swedes sit twice a day, about 10 a.m. in the morning and 3 p.m. in the afternoon. Fika is a Swedish word that roughly translates to “coffee and cake,” but it doesn't quite capture the essence of the concept. - The concept is to basically take small time outs to breathe, rest and align your thoughts before you proceed.’
So there we have it, a few simple ways to slow down and to help connect with your spiritual self. Do you have any techniques or ways to help yourself be calmer and more positive on a day to day basis? What would you recommend for someone starting out in medtation?
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