Slow is the new fast- A mindfulness trick!

Sometimes you need to back up to move forward, sometimes you need to slow down. - (From the movie "Happy feet")

Can you remember you started to write, or walk or cycle? We were slow, right? But quickly we caught up and fast enough, there was no need to be slow anymore. Nowadays we are so much used to the fast speeds we never think about doing something slow, only faster! We need faster and faster trains, and airplanes, which breaks the barrier of sound. We need seven habits of successful people to be faster in success, we need gigabytes of data to be downloaded in seconds. And we need an umbrella of starlight satellites to do just that. We need that package delivered Now! not tomorrow, Now, just when I think about buying that it should appear on my hand and will file a complaint to Amazon Prime Now.

Faster speeds- Tour de France

Slow is new fast examples

How ridicules to ride a bicycle slowly? You will off balance and fall. Have you ever tried to drive a car slowly? Mind you, it is more difficult than you think, going slow is more difficult than going fast. How about walking? What is the slowest can you run in the park? What is the slowest can you walk?

If you haven't tried that trick before I suggest you try today. Select something you often do. Something fast, something monotonous and try slowing down. Try slowing down and you will see things you have not noticed before.

The most fascinating thing about slowing down by choice is you start to notice things. If you are walking in the park you will start to see, nice shadows on the path laid there by the sun. Swaying leaves and twigs here and there. You will notice ferns, with dew on them, even the grass will look nice. You will start to notice small flowers in them, tiny ones and even you will stop to bend down to investigate tiny flying insects attracted to them.

Grass flowers

Do you think that will happen if you were running?

Mindful eating example

Try eating slowly. 0.5 x speed you do normally. You will smell, and crunch. Your salivary glands will be angry, they will flood the mouth. Tongue will ask you to hurry up and swallow, but do not let in. And you will feel it taste better, or awful. Either way, it is interesting. And I think this will even let you answers to your binge eating habit which made you overweight in the first place. You will find out where the taste is, that it is not in the mouthful in your hand or in the heap on your plate, but only in the mouthful on your tongue

Rabbit and tortoise race

I am sure there are many more examples. It is unfortunate that we forgot the Rabbit and the Tortoise race. Which otherwise would have been example of real success. But more wonderful would be if the rabbit could also take a journey like a tortoise to see the insights it provides. If you would not believe me, I can add some more credibility to the quote slow is new fast by adding following quote from Confucius.

"It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop"

I will stop there. Try reading the article slower this time. Find out more meanings you did not understand or skimmed through the first time.

Make a list of things you would try do slowly.

Make a comment on your new insights on ordinary things.

Thank you for reading - slow is the new fast, a mindfulness trick.

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