How to Incorporate Slow Living into Your Life

How to incorporate slow living into your life

31 October 2022

In our society it is normalised to rush from one thing to another which can cause us to be stressed and to undertake activities in autopilot. The slow living movement challenges this notion of endless rushing, encouraging us to engage consciously with our priorities in order to do them well. This not only helps people to feel happier and healthier, but also increases productivity and helps working towards sustainability. The slow living mindset can be applied to many aspects of life, but this article will focus specifically on meditation, travel, and fashion.

The slow living movement stems from the slow food movement, which started in Italy in the 1980s after the opening of a fast-food restaurant in Rome. Many Italians wanted to support regional producers and local gastronomy, with the mindset that food is more enjoyable and healthier when it is produced and eaten at a reasonable pace.

A leading thinker in the slow living movement is Carl Honoré, who wrote the book ‘In Praise of Slowness’. Honoré became caught up in a fast-paced lifestyle to the point that he was excited about finding one minute bedtime stories to read to his child. This startled him and he realised that he wanted to be more conscious about activities that he valued, such as spending time with his son. It doesn’t mean that he does everything slowly, since he still enjoys his job as a journalist as well as fast sports, it just means that he is conscious about where his priorities lie.

Meditation:

Incorporating a meditation practice into your routine can be a great way to find calmness within a busy schedule. Examples of types of meditation include concentrating on breathing, focusing on a candle or music, or body scans where you focus on different areas of the body to become more relaxed. There are countless meditation apps available for download, which can introduce you to the world of meditation and mindfulness. You may also be able to find meditation groups in your local area, so you can practice with others. If you are not keen to meditate there are other ways to be mindful, such as spending time in nature, or doing a hobby that fulfils you.

Mindfulness can boost mental health by relieving stress which can help to treat depression or anxiety, as well as helping with physical health conditions such as lowering blood pressure, improving sleep and balancing hormones. This links to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being at all ages.

Slow Travel:

Another way to engage with slow living can be via travel. This can be through everyday journeys such as taking a mindful walk or cycle ride to the grocery shop instead of taking a car, or it could be for holiday travel.

When going on holiday, taking time to enjoy the journey by boat or train rather than a plane not only reduces emissions, but it also means that you can take in your surroundings better. Slow travel can mean staying in a destination for longer to experience it on a deeper level, rather than hopping quickly to new places. This could include going for walks around the area and taking language or cooking classes with locals to get a richer experience of the culture. Reduced travel emissions can help with SDG 13: Climate Action, as well as SDG 14: Life below Water and SDG 15: Life on Land.

Slow Fashion:

The slow living movement prioritises living consciously, which can be practiced through reflecting on your consumer choices. You could do this through purchasing less while ensuring that what you do buy is of a high quality that will last a long time, and has been produced in a way that respects both the workers and the environment. Some of ESGmark®’s community members offer high quality sustainable fashion, browse them here. Alternatively, slow fashion could include upcycling old clothes, buying pre-loved clothes from second hand and charity shops, or even using fashion rental platforms to avoid ownership.

Such choices constibute to a circular economy, where resources are circulated, and nature is regenerated instead of the linear pattern of buying products and then throwing them away creating endless waste. This is important for SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.

Whether you decide to start practicing meditation, embark on slow travel adventures, choose preloved clothes, or none of the above, hopefully you can take a moment in your day to become aware of your choices, priorities and the world around you. Carl Honoré’s book ‘In Praise of Slow’ is a great way to find out more about living slow. Ironically, if you fancy a quick preview of its essence, he gave a great Ted Talk on the topic that can be viewed here.

Creating change and sustainable development is a responsibility of all of us, at all levels: Global, local, and individual. Your daily choices can improve both your wellbeing, as well as our society’s and planet’s. Read about climate optimism here, or check out this interview with ESGmark® member Green Glamour, a fashion rental platform championing slow fashion.