Intentionally slowing down bodily movements reduces habitual, automatic thinking. This makes room for new and creative perceptions, surprises and higher level awareness.
The body awareness that slow movement engenders has the additional benefit of reducing stress and the likelihood of injury from poor posture and strains that sometimes result from mindless movements. (re: finger in the car door, etc.)
Slowing down doesn't necessarily slow you down. I clean carpet for a living. My natural working tempo is fast and efficient. The more quickly I finish my jobs the more personal time I have and it also increases my per hour rate, for whatever that's worth.
But I am continuously surprised by just how quick and efficient I am even when I am slowing myself down all through a job. There is no measurable increase in the time it takes me to finish. Sometimes I even think I finish more quickly. (On a related subject, traffic studies have proven that there's only a negligible reduction in travel time with frequent lane changes and that it actually slows down the entire flow of traffic as others brake in reaction to sudden lane changes. In this case hurry increases stress and risk for the hurried while adding to the commute of thousands of other people, all this harm just to save five or ten minutes.)
One thing I notice every time that I work slowly is an increase in satisfaction at the quality of my work and a sense of presence that carries over into the next activity.
Maybe the best consequence of slowing down is the dramatic reduction of impatience which is clearly exacerbated by hurry. When I'm moving too fast it's as if I'm pumping adrenaline into whatever gland produces exasperation and impatience. It's a self promoting downward spiral: hurry> impatience> moving even faster> mindlessness> anger> exhaustion.
Returning to the hope of "higher level awareness." It is only when I slow down and wake up that I have a chance to break free from automatic pilot. When I do break free, I notice a lot more. Things ranging from divine invitations to my powerlessness to change myself and others. I also remember that there is even more going on than what I perceive, even in my most expansive state of consciousness.
This "more" is the source of my hope and I miss it whenever I am sped up. The "more" is the presence and activity of God hidden in struggle, in an "enemy," in simple ordinary beauty.
I can't count how many pod-casts I have heard about how brain science reveals the narrowness of human focus. A useful skill focus. It's part of the reason we have been so productive. But our focus tends to get into deep and automatic ruts, so we see what we expect to see and fail to see whatever doesn't fit with our expectations. As a consequence, we miss most of what God is doing.
Behind the face of the broken, angry idiot cutting everyone off on the freeway is a story that would break your heart and a reflection of the divine beauty that would knock you on your knees if ever it was nourished. The "more" is the mind of Christ, compassion, wisdom, courage, hope, love, vision... the abundant life. I'm determined to quit rushing past the revelation, to slow down and wake up to the presence and action of God all around me.
The body awareness that slow movement engenders has the additional benefit of reducing stress and the likelihood of injury from poor posture and strains that sometimes result from mindless movements. (re: finger in the car door, etc.)
Slowing down doesn't necessarily slow you down. I clean carpet for a living. My natural working tempo is fast and efficient. The more quickly I finish my jobs the more personal time I have and it also increases my per hour rate, for whatever that's worth.
But I am continuously surprised by just how quick and efficient I am even when I am slowing myself down all through a job. There is no measurable increase in the time it takes me to finish. Sometimes I even think I finish more quickly. (On a related subject, traffic studies have proven that there's only a negligible reduction in travel time with frequent lane changes and that it actually slows down the entire flow of traffic as others brake in reaction to sudden lane changes. In this case hurry increases stress and risk for the hurried while adding to the commute of thousands of other people, all this harm just to save five or ten minutes.)
One thing I notice every time that I work slowly is an increase in satisfaction at the quality of my work and a sense of presence that carries over into the next activity.
Maybe the best consequence of slowing down is the dramatic reduction of impatience which is clearly exacerbated by hurry. When I'm moving too fast it's as if I'm pumping adrenaline into whatever gland produces exasperation and impatience. It's a self promoting downward spiral: hurry> impatience> moving even faster> mindlessness> anger> exhaustion.
Returning to the hope of "higher level awareness." It is only when I slow down and wake up that I have a chance to break free from automatic pilot. When I do break free, I notice a lot more. Things ranging from divine invitations to my powerlessness to change myself and others. I also remember that there is even more going on than what I perceive, even in my most expansive state of consciousness.
This "more" is the source of my hope and I miss it whenever I am sped up. The "more" is the presence and activity of God hidden in struggle, in an "enemy," in simple ordinary beauty.
I can't count how many pod-casts I have heard about how brain science reveals the narrowness of human focus. A useful skill focus. It's part of the reason we have been so productive. But our focus tends to get into deep and automatic ruts, so we see what we expect to see and fail to see whatever doesn't fit with our expectations. As a consequence, we miss most of what God is doing.
Behind the face of the broken, angry idiot cutting everyone off on the freeway is a story that would break your heart and a reflection of the divine beauty that would knock you on your knees if ever it was nourished. The "more" is the mind of Christ, compassion, wisdom, courage, hope, love, vision... the abundant life. I'm determined to quit rushing past the revelation, to slow down and wake up to the presence and action of God all around me.
