Small Ways to Slow Down

If you feel like your life has been hectic and overwhelming lately, here are a few ways to consider slowing down. When we refer to "slowing down," we mean allowing for your body and brain to regulate in order to move forward with intentionality. It means allowing ourselves to recharge and to make sure that our capacity matches our responsibility.

Here are some small ways to slow down:

• Read out loud, as if you were reading to someone

• Run your hands up and down your arms or legs, then slow down the motion gradually

• Practice the "What" skill from Dialectical Behavior Therapy

• With whatever hobby you enjoy, slow down your physical movements (e.g. if you knit, slow down the motion)

• Do some box breathing

• Engage with all of your senses with the 5-4-3-2-1 skill

• Distance yourself from whatever is stimulating right now for ten minutes (e.g. put your phone in another room)

• Eat a snack or drink water slowly and without additional stimulation

Accommodate yourself as necessary. Slowing down looks different for everybody. Maybe one person prefers to slow down in silence, another person benefits from some auditory stimulation while slowing down, and another person feels like they need to speed up. Check in with yourself, and remain intentional as you move forward in providing some sort of window of change in your automatic habits.