What would happen if you eased off the throttle?
I think back to the days I owned a restaurant and worked 20 hours a day.
Pretty sure that if someone said to me…
“No matter how busy you are, you can still find stillness”
…I would have laughed in their face and kept running around like a chicken missing my head.
Fast forward (no pun intended) to when I first moved to Chicago. My goal was to never let anyone pass me. I walked fast and furious, telling myself it was some sort of strength to move so quickly and rigidly.
Go Go Go
Do Do Do
What I didn’t understand is what I was really doing was activating my nervous system, telling it to be on high alert. Like I was running from something …. all the time!
This modern life of ours has us on a harder and faster pendulum swing, leaving us more depleted, stressed, and disconnected than ever before.
Slowing down improves our health, sleep, and digestion, it allows us to fully enjoy our lives in the present while helping us gain a clearer vision of where we want to go in the future. Rather than diminishing our productivity, many studies are now confirming that slowing down actually enhances it.
We just wrapped up our first Unwinding Pain Retreat, where guests learned to down-regulate their nervous system by taking their foot off the gas pedal through the power of movement, mindset, exploration, energy work, somatics, tai chi, nature and even through nourishment.
Two powerful tools we shared to help our guest begin to feel the idea of slowing down:
Grounding
Grounding is a technique to connect with the earth. It can help regulate your nervous system, reduce overwhelm by increasing serotonin levels to promote a sense of calm, and help you connect with the present. Your body absorbs the electrical charges from the earth, helping to regulate our brain, heart beat and neurotransmitter activity.
Fun side note: grounding can also help your body recover from jet leg and acclimate to the climate you are in quicker.
This tool is quite simple:
- Step outside.
- Remove your shoes and stand barefoot on the earth (that could be grass, sand or rock).
- Stand in the sunlight, if it’s available.
- 30 seconds is better than none, but aim for 20 minutes.
The Straw Breath.
This is an easy technique for slowing down your breathing and reducing anxiety, increasing feelings of calm and relaxation.
It encourages a longer exhale, stimulating the vagus nerve which then relaxes the nervous system, helping the body move into a parasympathetic (rest and digest) state.
- Sit comfortably and tall or lie on the floor.
- Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose.
- Exhale slowly, gently and controlled through pursed lips, as if you were blowing out through a straw.
- Blow most of the air, about 80%, out through that imaginary straw. Close the lips and release the final bit out the nose.
- Pause.
- Repeat for a few rounds and then let the natural rhythm of your breath return.
Using a basic straw can help you practice this breath pattern. Many of my clients, including myself, also really enjoy wearing this Breath Tool Necklace.
Slowing down doesn’t happen overnight. We incorporate it in small doses at a time. Yes, there are times when I still walk very fast; but there are also times now when I allow my feet to feel the earth, heel, ball of the foot, toes and all.
Try both tools to help you slow down Let me know how these worked for you.
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