In this post, we’re going to cover 8 ways you can incorporate slow living into your daily routine.
Using these essential slow living principles, you’ll be able to embrace each day with peace and serenity.
If you’re ready to transform your daily routine and experience a balanced life, this post is for you!
Let’s get started..
What does slow living look like?
When we think about slow living, what might come to mind is living off-the-grid; spending each day doing just simple chores and not having a care in the world.
But slow living isn’t about leading an uneventful life. Rather, it is about going at your own pace and living with intention.
In a society where overworking is seen as productivity or even as a status symbol, slow living provides a much needed contrast; an intentional and mindful approach to life.
Finding Balance With Slow Living Principles
While there isn’t any right or wrong way to pursue a slower lifestyle, the following principles make up the core elements that are the essence of this lifestyle.
These concepts can help you achieve a balanced life without falling into the trap of modern fads or trends. Look to them as a guiding light that will help you downshift towards a better way of living.
Simplicity
Simplifying your day is one of the core slow-living principles. It is about creating a daily routine that is more natural and easygoing; a routine that you can adjust at any time. It is not rigid or regimented, it is agile and flexible.
In daily life, we all have responsibilities. But more often than not, we fill our schedule with needless tasks.
Why burden yourself with obligations that don’t serve you?
Remove the distractions and untangle yourself from unnecessary commitments and duties. Use simplicity to streamline your routine to make life more purposeful.
Mindfulness
At the heart of slow living is the concept of mindfulness. The practice of constant awareness and being present in every moment encourages us to slow down and appreciate the beauty and richness of our lives.
Being more mindful heightens our connection to ourselves, our surroundings, and our thoughts. It even cultivates a greater sense of gratitude from unexpected moments we might miss if we were not paying attention.
As you become more and more mindful, you can appreciate the simple pleasures all around you.
Nature
Nature can become a major influence when you are learning to do things at an unhurried pace.
Nature shows us that we can indeed slow down, do things at our own pace, yet still be able to accomplish everything necessary for a balanced life.
Nature doesn’t hurry. It does things at its own pace, and yet everything happens at the right time.
Nature gives us the perfect example to learn from. When we follow its lead, we can return to a natural state of being; becoming aware of each passing moment and its significance.
Balance
This principle emphasizes the importance of seeking a balanced lifestyle.
It helps us find stability in all aspects of life, constructing harmony between work and leisure, material possessions and life experiences, and even solitude & socialization.
By accepting the need to balance our lives, we create more room for what is valuable to us that can add more intention and fulfillment to our daily routine.
Freedom
An overbooked schedule can leave you feeling too much pressure, and leave you with the inability to relax when you do have extra time.
Sometimes, there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything we really want to. And this can put the pressure on to pack more into our day. But remember, busyness isn’t the same thing as productivity.
Don’t overbook your time, but instead build a schedule that leaves you with enough freedom to slow down. Prioritize activities that bring balance and serenity first, then add everything else in the remaining time that’s available.
Intention
Intentional living requires you to slow down, take time to reflect, and live on purpose. It is about intentionally choosing your actions rather than being on autopilot and/or rushing through the day without reflection.
By deliberately putting effort into your choices, you align your life goals & core values, and then you will feel a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment each day.
Minimalism
When you move towards a lifestyle that focuses only on the essentials, you free up the mental space needed to focus on the important things.
Taking time to declutter your home and life means you have fewer choices to make, and you gain a greater clarity of what is significant to you.
While it may not look like it at a first glance, minimalism actually creates more space in your life, and helps bring order to the chaos.
8 Mindful Ways To Embrace Slow Living In Your Daily Routine
Now that we’ve covered several principles that make up the slow living lifestyle, we can move on to the steps you can take to incorporate them into your daily routine.
1. Streamline Your Schedule
Living in a society obsessed with productivity and the fast-paced lifestyle, it is vital that we make a priority of reclaiming some of our precious time.
As we progress into the future, it is easy for our daily routine to become packed from morning to evening. Unnecessary commitments and responsibilities can bog us down and keep us from focusing on what matters.
We need to let go of the distractions, reduce our commitments, and gain some of our time back. This gives us the time and space to hurry less, worry less, and make time for the activities that bring us joy and contentment.
2. Embrace The Mundane
Our daily routines are often filled with mundane and monotonous chores.
But most of our lives happen in between each of these tasks, so rather than escaping and rushing through these simple moments, let’s slow down and expand our lives.
Re-frame your approach to these tasks. Take your time doing the dishes or folding your laundry. Be present, treat these mundane chores like a ritual and it will make your day more worthwhile.
3. Mindfully Consume
The world around us has a strong influence on our lives. We follow the trends, adapt to new fashion crazes, and get caught up in the current events. But is all of this really necessary?
Of course not. We don’t need to pursue these passing fancies to keep our lives fulfilled. The culture around us merely serves as a distraction, and obscures our true purpose.
This isn’t meant to discourage anyone from pursuing things they desire, but rather, it inspires us to differentiate between things that are temporary trends and things that are significant; it urges us to be mindful.
4. Find Balance
In a culture that often emphasizes personal achievement and self-development, it’s easy to fall into the trap of working for work’s sake.
Keep in mind, a healthy work-life balance is vital for our growth, but neither work nor leisure should become the sole focus of our lives.
By slowing down our pace, we strike a balance between the external demands and our inner motivation. This lifestyle allows us to understand our natural pace, not the pace that society has set.
5. Create Space
We all manage to save a few moments of free time in our busy lives. Whether it is in between tasks or a longer stretch on the weekend. Far too often, though, many of us tend to waste this precious resource, often getting caught up by distraction or swayed by digital gadgets.
Our free moments are more than just a break from everyday life. They are an opportunity to slow down, rejuvenate, and spend our time in a more meaningful way, with intention.
Sit in a quiet area and take everything in, watch the morning sun warming up your house, or observe your children playing. Do things that bring joy and peace from doing them; do something that feels right for you.
6. Learn To Let Go
Have you ever found yourself losing interest in things you once enjoyed? Things you look forward to and once used to bring you joy no longer excite you.
There often comes a time when something in our lives stops holding its importance to us. Sometimes, our vision and priorities change, and more often than not, our existing interests don't line up with our current lifestyle.
Letting go of any activities or social connections that don’t serve you anymore can be liberating. When you give up on these things, you gain back precious time and energy, which you can invest into more meaningful relationships & activities.
7. Nourish Yourself
Hobbies and leisure add both depth and meaning to your life. They give you an opportunity to disconnect yourself from the external noise and offer a refuge from the constant busyness of life.
Take time to slow down and create the space where you can focus on self-care, personal growth, and recreation. Pursue intentional hobbies and nourishing activities that build up your reserves so you can approach life with a positive outlook and creative energy.
You may enjoy artistic pursuits or socializing, or perhaps you find joy in volunteering or helping others. Even if it’s just taking a bit of time to enjoy a good book or pamper yourself, take that time.
8. Be Present
For some, sparing a few minutes of their day to incorporate slow living may not even seem possible. Their day is jam-packed from morning to evening, leaving no time for self-care or leisure.
But when you focus on the present moment, that moment expands. By slowing down, you actually gain time. When you are mindfully present in your day, you don’t try to speed through to the end.
Each daily, repetitive task, presents you with an opportunity to slow down and appreciate the day, no matter how busy it might seem.
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Final Thoughts
Embracing slow living in your daily routine can bring about profound shifts in your life. Once you stop rushing and start to embrace your own natural pace, you will feel the true depth of your day.
So, take a few moments out of the day to pause, breathe, and embrace the blessings of intentionally slowing down.
What about you?
What helps you slow down and be more present each day?
Let us know in the comment section below.