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By Rachel Fleischman, MSW, LCSW 
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today, today is a gift. That's why we call it the Present. ~Babatunde Olatunji
Studies have shown that Americans are more miserable now than ever.
With the challenges that we face economically, it can feel as though we
are just hanging on by a thread. This is not so. We all underestimate
our need to slow down. If we are not careful, we live as if our
schedules are our lives. At the end of the day, we haven’t necessarily
been present to our own experience. Mary Pipher, psychologist says: "I
have never seen people as rushed and distracted as we are now. We have
become a nation of multitaskers."
I am incredibly fortunate to work with my counseling clients. Seeing
such a rich and intimate side of people has helped me identify what
elements are essential to slowing down and being here now. I feel
incredibly privileged to have such a profound connection with people.
However, the occasions when we genuinely need to rush are really a lot
less frequent than we convince ourselves. The simple truth is that
rushing has become a habit for many of us. And it has a negative effect
on our mental, spiritual and physical health.
I have dished up a list of some things you can do today to easily slow
down, enjoy one activity at a time, and live with more joy. Get ready
to Be Here, Now.
- Slow Your Attention: Slowing down helps give
our full-attention to what we are doing. Like full-attention Zen,
slowing down can put us in the zone, or what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
calls flow ("Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience”). Try walking
more slowly. Pause before responding to questions. Speak more slowly.
- Practice Meditating: The first years of the
twenty-first century have brought about new and surprising findings
about how Buddhist contemplative training can affect the brain. The
findings include unprecedented levels of brain activation in certain
regions of the brain during meditation, evidence that meditation
affects brain areas associated with positive emotions, as well as
strong evidence the brain can be changed through prolonged and
disciplined mental training. (J. Davidson, et al., Alterations in Brain
and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation, Psychosomatic
medicine 65.4 (2003): 564-70.)
- Initiate a Slowing-Down Contest: Find a
friend and email each other some joyful things that you do each day.
Your entry can include the simplest of joys (baking, watching a sunset,
reading to a child)
- Read The Artist’s Way
(or any good book) (Julia Cameron; 1992, 2002): Many folks have found
this ground-breaking book very helpful in goal setting and connecting
with their creative genius. I believe that we all are geniuses. We just
need the time and space to let our amazing selves shine.
- Keep a Gratitude Journal: This is my absolute
favorite new pastime. I love it especially when I am sulking in a
moment of gloom and doom. I go to my gratitude journal and put in all
the things that happened that I am grateful for, like having a seat on
the bus, or getting a card in the mail, or enjoying a lovely meal.
(nothing is too small). Start your gratitude journal today, and you
will notice that you will attract more good things into your world.
- Check out these smell-the-roses sites, and take it slow…
www.slowdownnow.org
www.43things.com
www.mindfuleating.org
www.slowfood.com
- End the Day Slowly: Having an evening ritual
is a balm to the nervous system. Before you go to sleep make sure that
there is nothing stressful going on. Dimming the lights several hours
before bedtime relaxes the mind, and intensifies the output of
tryptophan, the sleep-inducing hormone. It’s very hard to enjoy a
good-night’s sleep after watching the news. Find a slowness ritual that
works for you; reading a book, talking to your partner or a friend,
drawing, journaling.
- Play in Nature: This is a lovely way to help
you slow down. To enjoy nature you have to be patient. Go to the beach,
look at the sea and listen to the waves. Visit the county side, look at
the greenery and listen to the birds chirping on the trees. Admire the
blooming flowers in your garden and study the snail crawling on the
ground. These are some of the delightful things that you can do to take
it easy. And here in SF, there is nature all around us.
- Plant Something: Nourishing, feeding,
harvesting a plant can lower blood pressure, strengthen the heart and
increase the production of serotonin, the happy chemical. And flowers
are beautiful.
- Have Faith: Studies have shown that
spirituality affects health. In a study of 1,700 older adults, those
attending church were half as likely to have elevated levels of IL-6
(hormones associated with increased incidence of disease)
Men, for the sake of getting a living, forget to live. ~Margaret Fuller
About the Author...
Rachel Fleischman, MSW, LCSW is a highly-skilled psychotherapist and dynamic workshop leader, based in San Francisco. Throughout her career, Rachel has pioneered the combination of traditional psychotherapy with movement, body awareness and spirituality.
Embodying 20 years of expertise, Rachel's body of work synthesizes a vast repertoire of movement and healing arts. Bringing her unique specialty of Body-Mind Psychotherapy, she unlocks issues held inside the body: like fear, anger, depression and creative blocks. She unlocks these issues through her proprietary work merging talk therapy with expressive arts (sometimes with breath & movement techniques) so that these issues don't become diseases in our bodies.
Rachel's fascination with spirituality, soul, mood disorders, and movement, has led her to develop a movement system called Dance Your Bliss™, a playful, powerful and highly original movement form which she leads across the globe. Last Update: 11/3/2009
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