How to slow down the speed of your life?

As a slow life practitioner, I can tell you that there is no secret to slow living. If I were writing a beginners guide to slow living, I will say that there are 3 main points to live a slow life. First, I know my purpose, then I’m mindful of all my choices, and I strive to live a fulfilling, yet minimalistic lifestyle. That’s all. In more traditional terms, I’m living a zen lifestyle.

I have adopted this life philosophy way before the “slow life” term went viral. A life changing event made me realize that I was living a fast-paced, high-stress, and consumer-driven life. After reflecting on the famous Dalai-lama quote that says “They lose their health to earn money, but they pay money to regain their health” I made some changes in my life to prioritize self-care, connections, and meaningful work. Bear in mind that I am still productive and successful but happier and healthier. Do not confuse mindful living with laziness.

I’d like to share 10 practical tips to introduce you to zen living. Take it as a beginners guide to slow living. I truly hope these steps can help you succeed on your slow life journey.

1. Become a minimalist: keep only things that you truly need. Understand the big difference between needs and wants. No one needs 50 pairs of shoes…
2. Declutter your home and your life: eliminate all the mess around your home by organizing the things you truly need, and donating the rest. Declutter your calendar from useless meetings and calls when possible.
3. Be mindful of your choices: use your free time purposefully on activities that lift you up such as exercising, volunteering, learning, exploring, and socializing with friends and family. Avoid isolation.
4. Enjoy the little things in life: be present and value everyday experiences that make up life, a beautiful day, a hug, a good cup of coffee.
5. Minimize multi-tasking: Focus your positive energy on everything you do, and give undivided attention to everyone you interact with personally and professionally.
6. Do less but better: slow living embraces quality over quantity. Set clear goals personally and professionally; Focus on crossing the finish line. No one can be everywhere or do everything, try to delegate if possible, empower your team, rely on your partner.
7. Exercise on a daily basis: your body is your temple give it the TLC it needs to live a healthy lifestyle, get fit💪Physical activity helps to increase oxygen and blood flow and helps you to release endorphins “the ‘feel-good hormone”.
8. Meditate: find the time to clear your mind, disconnect from technology or use technology for mindfulness, focus on your breathing and decompress with the music some apps have to offer as to calm down and relax.
9. Practice gratitude: appreciate and be thankful for what you have, who you are, your family and friends, all the people around you. Never take anything or anyone for granted.
10. Honor Sustainable Consumption: a zen lifestyle is in touch with nature and promotes consuming organic, non-synthetic products when possible, and fashion is not the exception to this rule. I personally prefer to wear natural fabrics over synthetic for so many health reasons, sustainability and ofcourse comfort.

👉 Tip:

Natural fabric list for Warm Weather

The following fabrics are highly breathable, absorbent, and also provide a cooling effect on the body, allowing air circulation.

• Cotton: I have some cotton tops
• Linen: I mostly wear linen pants and dresses
• Silk: I usually wear silk tops and pajamas
• Bamboo: I have a cute bamboo top
• Tercel lyocell: my favorite jumpsuit is made from lyocell.

Natural fabric list for Cold Weather

The following fabrics are natural and insulating. They are perfect for cold weather as they keep the body warm. They are also comfortable, lightweight, breathable and durable.

• Wool: I usually stick to wool pants and sweaters in cold weather. I find wool very practical in terms of packing (I live in a very hot place)
• Cashmere: who doesn’t love cashmere everything
• Alpaca: I have a very cute alpaca poncho from Cuzco.