JOURNAL

We forget that the only condition attached to us slowing down and resting, is our existence. Just as bees exist, they deserve to rest, they are a part of the whole. The whole crumbles without them. The same is true for us. We are not the leaders sitting outside of the ecosystem. We are not separate to nature. Or above nature.

As a certified trauma-sensitive meditation teacher with a daily practice of more than a decade, I can speak endlessly on the benefits of meditation but also how difficult it can be to get started. I’m very much in favour of letting your meditation practice be messy, and honestly, starting somewhere even if it’s for a minute or so, might be a beautiful and realistic place to begin. 

I guess you could say that slow living is the glass and The Philosophy of Doing Less, Being Present, and Feeling More is the non-alcoholic wine poured into it. Well, insert any beverage of your choice here. It’s how I approach life and also what all of my work is focused on. So, I thought I’d expand on the manifesto here and share with you how I define slow living. It’s such a personal definition, as slow living is by no means new. It’s a term that we often see floating around lifestyle magazines or the topic of festival talks.

What does the word meditation bring to mind, for you? Did your eyes start to roll? Did you think that it’s something you really ‘should’ be doing? Did you think that you don’t have the time or just can’t do it? Did you fall asleep when you last looked for tips on how to meditate? I hear you. In our usual pursuit for perfection, meditation has become a victim. When actually, there is no such thing as meditating perfectly. We are just showing up as we are and seeing what happens.