In this rush, rush, rush world that we find ourselves in, I find it difficult to slow down. I feel pressured to speed up when someone behind me is driving too fast. I feel hurried when I’m at the store and the person behind me is tap-tap-tapping his foot. And usually, if I give in to the pressure to “speed up”, that’s when I make a mistake.
“It is humbling to slow down.”
These were the words spoken by my yoga instructor during class today. “When you slow down, you notice things that you would have missed completely if you were rushing.” In asking us to slow down, she set the intention for our class and urged us to take specific notice of our breath, small movements in our body, and the feelings we normally would gloss over because we are rushing through our practice.
“It is humbling to slow down.”
I used to believe that if I didn’t rush, I would miss something. If I slowed down, I would be wasting time. It appears, though, that the opposite is true. When we slow down, we notice our feelings and can process them before reacting. When we slow down, we catch a glimpse of the humming bird hovering over the beautiful flower. When we slow down, we give our inner voice the ability to speak to us and guide us towards more deliberate and intentional actions.
“It is humbling to slow down.”
When I practiced law, I sometimes got a rush from doing things last minute. I would feel an unusual sense of focus that helped me just plow through the work and get it done. Usually, it was done well . . .enough. But when I’d look back on that work I would notice small mistakes, always harmless, but mistakes nonetheless. And usually, that sense of focus was preceded by a lot of anxiety and followed by a lot of second-guessing. These days I find that when I do slow down, I actually have more time. I love it when things work out that way.
“It is humbling to slow down.”
I can tell you from experience that slowing down in today’s world can be very challenging. Deadlines, last minute projects, changing your child again after she spills milk on herself . . . and you . . . it seems as though we are racing just to keep up. But if we can allow ourselves to slow down, just a little bit, we’ll start to see things more clearly. And what a beautiful sight awaits.
