The courage to slow down and reclaim sovereignty over our life
Living an unhurried life to prevent burnout and reclaim our life
Living on the edge of exhaustion and burnout
The pace at which we live our lives seems to be constantly accelerating, and it’s easy to get swept up in the forward moving current that we are all swimming in.
It’s as though we are pulled by an irresistible urge to be doing more, moving ever faster, pushing ourselves further.
This forward motion is often driven by a desire to feel fulfilled, happy, and at peace.
But the irony is: the faster we go, the less we are actually LIVING.
Our constant rushing and busyness rob us of presence and deprive us from the ability to savour the precious moments dotted along our journey.
We become exhausted from ‘doing all the things’, ticking all the boxes, overgiving and overachieving - all from an already empty cup.
We rarely stop to ask ourselves: what trophy am I really pursuing?
Our inner flame is dwindling, our body is longing for deep rest and rejuvenation and we come to realise that we’ve misplaced our ‘joie de vivre’.
This is often the point where we start longing to reconnect with the part of us who feels radiant, happy, fully alive. We want to bring more aliveness back into life.
We may misinterpret this as a need to accelerate the pace to feel more alive. Instead, the invitation is to slow down.
The invitation to slow down and live an unhurried life
Slowing down is a courageous act.
In our world, it means going against the current, and crafting a vision for our life that doesn’t require us to be permanently exhausted. It’s choosing to deliberately savour life with all our senses, rather than rush through it in a blur.
It involves creating a new blueprint for the way we are choosing to live. A path that honours OUR deeper yearnings. Forging a new journey, rather than following the well trodden path. Recalibrating our version of success.
Most of us will likely experience some resistance to the idea of slowing down because it means:
Doing something that our (likely overwhelmed) nervous system is unfamiliar with, which may feel unsafe
Letting go of the shield of our habitual busyness and making space to just BE
Noticing how we really are, rather than avoiding to feel the discomfort rumbling within us
Fearing that we might become less productive, lazy or weak (which can seem dangerous in a world that values us most when we are productive and efficient)
So why do we choose to slow down?
We slow down because deep down, we KNOW that the alternative is unsustainable. It is leaving us feeling unfulfilled, burnt out and wondering if we are missing out on life.
When we choose to slow down and commit to unwinding the ways of being that are keeping us hurried, exhausted and burnt out, we begin to reclaim our life.
Living an unhurried life to prevent burnout and reclaim our life
Living an unhurried life is an act of radical reclamation on many levels, including reclaiming:
Our own rhythms: living at the pace of our body, rather than at the fast pace of our external world or the pace that our mind dictates.
This can be as simple as taking a few gentler breaths, slowing down our pace of walking, or taking a moment to pause, breathe, rest and give our body what it needs in some small way each day.
Our vision for our life: uncovering our deepest yearnings, not by thinking things through, listening to the incessant chatter of our mind or the myriad of voices and opinions outside of us - but by learning to listen to the wisdom that our body holds.
Our desires and longings are EMBODIED. It is the sensations in our body that let us know they exist: an opening in the chest, a feeling of spaciousness in the ribs, our breathing becoming more easeful, a lightness in our heart, a sense of being in flow … the signals will be different for each of us, but they are felt in the body.
Following these sensations is what leads us to a vision for our life that is our own.
It can only happen when we slow down and give ourselves space to FEEL.
Try it now: take a deep breath in, relax your shoulder, soften your gaze and imagine these questions dropping into your body like pebbles in a pond:
How would you love to feel in this next season of your life?
What emotions, sensations, or feelings would you like to experience more often?
What would feeling this way give you? How would this impact you, your life, relationships, parenting, work?
Notice what these questions elicit in your body. Can you sense the difference between an embodied desire (a deep longing that is felt) and a ‘should’?
Our body: spending less time in our mind (overthinking, planning, analysing, …) , and learning to come home to our body. Cultivating inner safety, grounding, and peace within, rather than relying on our ever changing world to make us feel the way we desire to feel.
The truth is, the aliveness we are seeking lives in our body: sensations, feelings, emotions are what make us feel alive.
Happiness, delight, peace, sensuality, excitement, awe … are FELT experiences. The body is the instrument through which we come into contact with them.
Our ‘joie de vivre’ : the vibrant, fully alive part of ourselves that we may have felt disconnected from in our frantic race towards happiness. As we learn to unhurry and to FEEL, we begin to notice the glimmers that are lighting up our life.
We re-learn to approach life with childlike curiosity, and to find beauty, magic and awe in ordinary moments. Whether it’s watching a sunset, savouring a home-cooked meal, or hearing children’s laughter, these moments become infused with joie de vivre.
Reclaiming our self-sovereignty and crafting the life we desire
Ultimately, living unhurried is an invitation to slow down, and in doing so, to reclaim our self-sovereignty.
Rather than rushing towards the finish line and pursuing a prize that we haven’t consciously chosen, we recalibrate our life, craft the life we desire to create, and truly EMBODY it through the choices that we are making moment to moment.
Slowing down opens a doorway to a life authentically and fully lived.
If you are feeling exhausted, lost or burnt out, the unhurried rest journey may be the perfect place to start. You will be held in a safe and unhurried container where you will be guided to pause, rest, and be. It’s an invitation to deeply replenish yourself physically, mentally and emotionally.
When we feel exhausted or burnt out, deep rest is a vital foundation to unwind the stress our body holds and to create a little bit of space and capacity to envision our next chapter, whatever it might look like for us.
Rest has been a transformational practice for me, and I know it can be for you too.
