SLOWING DOWN: A MINDFUL PRACTICE FOR LIVING AND GROWING

photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

Written by: Sharon Marie Lawlor

Aging. We all do it every single day of our lives. Each precious moment turns a hand on the clock of time. Those early days feel like eternity, but the older we become, the more the days seem to warp. We start to jumble time.

When we are first born, being alive a second day is literally twice as many days we’ve been alive. We’re constantly filled with new stimuli. We explore our surroundings and capabilities as we grow. It’s a whole new world to discover. Most kids are in the flow, feeling so connected to themselves and their outer world. Every day and every year are filled with firsts for them. All those different and new experiences help slow down time; the young are able to savor every delicious, momentous occasion.

Ever take a road trip to a new place and notice that the time it takes to get there feels enormous compared to the time its takes for you to return home? That’s because we’re absorbing our new surroundings. All this new stimuli is really good for our brain health and actually stretches our experience of time when we engage this way.

Think of it as a mindfulness meditation. We’re consciously choosing to be mindful of what’s going on and being present with it all. Perhaps you’ve heard the saying “Be here now,” and perhaps you use that as a mantra for yourself already.

When we’re absorbing perpetual amounts of information, our brain has more to process, helping the perceived time feel longer. The Inc. magazine article “Science Says Time Really Does Seem to Fly as We Get Older” by Jeff Haden explains there’s recent biochemical research “that shows the release of dopamine when we perceive novel stimuli to drop past the age of 20, which makes time appear to go by more quickly” during our adult lives.

Time moves more quickly when we see less new stuff within the same amount of time as before. It’s this lower density of stimuli that gives the illusion that time is passing faster. As we age chronologically, each year is a smaller percent of our life. For instance, a year for a two-year-old is 50% of their life, whereas a year for a 50-year-old is only 2%. See how time as we age can feel much faster?

What I’ve read about this is actually quite disturbing. It brought me to tears just thinking about what this really means.

Do we really want a life that passes us by, leaving us wondering where it went? We’re in danger of being left with empty dreams and unfilled desires because we were in a rut (or perhaps our “comfort zone”) of daily routines that leave us dulled, bored, or even uninspired.

I’m not saying routines aren’t useful. They are. But don’t map out your entire day, week, month, or year and leave no room for creative juice and inspiration to transpire. That brings about the new challenges, experiences, and perceptual stimuli that our brains need to live — which all help to reduce the aging process.

I think of it this way: those routines are the structures we set in place for the play to be able to happen. It’s a yin/yang. A balance. The yin/yang is actually a 3-D sphere and moves three-dimensionally. It’s a conjoined dance where the more structural, masculine yang provides the container or the boundaries in which the more flowing, feminine yin can dance and move. Both need each other in order to not get stuck.  

Our body, mind, and spirit needs movement. This is the propellant we need to have an inspired life. An increase in dopamine is critical to the central nervous system functions affecting  attention, focus, memory, movement, motivation, mood, and pleasure. It releases one of the feel-good chemicals in our brains and plays a vital role in how happy we feel.  

An antonym of stimuli is blockage, which is an obstacle, obstruction, or hindrance. When we don’t have movement, this creates stagnation or stuckness — the rut I mentioned above. We don’t want to intentionally block our own lives, do we?

How do we consciously create and live a life that brings us joy? One that is fulfilled with meaningful connections, relationships, and maybe even leaving a part of ourselves behind when we’re gone, like a legacy? This is about learning, growth, and expansion. Our time here on Earth in this life is brief. What will be the best use of our time while we’re here? Only we individually know the answer to that.

Where can we have new experiences, learning something new or going somewhere new, instead of letting life pass us by? The passage of time slows when we allow for these new and different experiences. Connections are made in both our inner world within our brain and in our outer world with each new experience.

Where are your drawn to? What are you drawn to? Where can you invite new adventure, play, exploration, creativity, and wonder into your life?

When we’re able to slow down, our world can slow down too. These moments of pause are the times when we can hear our own thoughts and listen for guidance from God or the Universe. Aren’t these pauses refreshing and rejuvenating?

I know for me the feeling of rushing brings about more stress, and then I’m not able to practice mindfulness as easily. That fast pace is not what I want to create more of at all.

When you eat a well-prepared meal, you want to enjoy each bite. Well, let each moment of your life be another bite to savor, filling your time with only the most meaningful moments you intentionally choose. Time is too valuable to waste a moment of it.  

Let’s not divert our attention to people, circumstances, jobs, beliefs, emotions, foods, or spaces we surround ourselves in that we don’t care to endure more of. Pause, breathe, and linger on a small second on the clock of time.