How to really slow down

A guide to slowing down, being present and reclaiming rest

Jan 15, 2025

hello, I’m Jodie. A Yoga teacher & creator. I write about my quest to live a slower pace of life with themes of rest, living slower and seasonal living. Subscribe to support my work & to read more. Or, get cosy and join our Slower Space community to access all content and the journaling club!

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When I started talking more about living a slower paced life, the main response, in a nutshell, was how?

How can we slow down when there’s so many ways and pulls to speed up? How do we really do it?

It’s a very valid question. For me it definitely wasn’t as simple as waking up one day and completely changing all of my habits. Neither was it something I was encouraged to do as a child that I just needed to reconnect with as an adult.

My late teens and early 20’s, my most formative years, were influenced by the rise of hustle culture, the girl boss aesthetic that told me I can have it all. I held onto that belief tightly, with my nervous system and sense of self slowly aligning with that message too.

All I’ve ever seen is women keeping busy, doing everything for everyone else and never putting themselves at the top of the list.

I knew I needed to change for a while, but taking real action happened around 2 years ago when I left my job, and the nerves of officially being self employed had settled. With that, and a good chunk of time under my belt where my life really hasn’t revolved around hustle and constant productivity, I thought I’d share some reflections, and what’s helped/ continues to support me to slow down (as a previous over worker - if you couldn’t tell…).

Staying with what feels uncomfortable

When you’re so used to being busy, slowing down physically is hard. It became a habit for me to always be in a rush, so moments where I did have free time and space often looked like scrolling, or doing anything to not be with my thoughts or in my body.

I was living, for the most part, in a state of fight or flight. I was sleeping well, but as soon as I opened my eyes it was go time until my head touched the pillow at the end of the day.

So much of learning to slow down was changing this behaviour, which felt deeply uncomfortable. I mean, it makes sense! To go from filling every single minute to getting used to silence and pockets of boredom was a challenge. It felt off to me, and all I wanted to do was distract myself.

It’s been like building the muscle. It’s not an overnight fix, and that resistance to boredom is very much still there at times. I had to keep reminding myself to get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. I used a lot of Tara Brach’s RAIN technique to coach and guide me through this, alongside Yoga practices to come back into my body and give me space to spot my patterns.

Basically, I think it’s important to start by acknowledging that it’s normal for it to feel tricky, and you may be met with some resistance when you start slowing down at first - but, it does start to soften!

Making my mornings count

There’s a strong correlation for me between how I spend my mornings and how the rest of my day looks. Even now, despite being 2 years in, if I don’t prioritise myself first thing, the chances of me feeling aligned that day are slimmer.

I don’t have a rigid routine, it changes with the seasons and my energy levels, but here’s a few things I typically try to do

Have lemon with hot water as my first drink of the day
Fill up my ridiculously large Stanley cup first thing with water so that’s with me throughout the day
If I haven’t done it the night before, write down my plan of action and spend some time thinking about what will make me feel good to do that day
Do something for myself, whether it’s a morning walk, Yoga practice or meditation
Some mornings I’ll do a quick journal check-in if I’ve had a bit of a rough nights sleep.
Properly getting ready for the day and wearing clothes that make me feel good/ fit what I’m doing that day aka, if I can and it makes sense, wear something nice!

Therapy - uncovering and working through the why behind it all…

I’ve spoken about therapy in detail before with my EMDR diaries. Let’s just say, I had a fair chunk of stuff to overcome. The route to feeling like you can’t slow down is different for everyone, but mine came from overworking as an avoidance tactic.

It felt too scary to slow down to see what was really there.

I had some trauma to overcome, I’d tried talking therapy over the years (which I love and I’m actually going back to soon to help with the postpartum period), but the processing EMDR was able to offer me really settled something deep in my core. I’m nearly a year out of that therapy now and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for myself.

I think it’s worth exploring deeper why slowing down feels difficult, and if you need to, getting professional support to help with that!

Incorporating more rest practices

Feeling deeply well rested is one of the most healing things I’ve ever experienced. I can get there in a couple of ways, but my favourite is Yoga Nidra (hence why I decided to do my training in 2023).

So much of how we feel starts in our bodies. Similar to the processing I did via EMDR, I started incorporating more somatic, body based practices to relieve tension and that discomfort that came from being still.

Napping is also something I’ve come to love and find always gives me a reset. Even if it just ends up being 20 minutes of lying there, the act of giving myself space for that is top-tier self care.

The times when I’m resisting these practices most are now my sign to lean into them.

Checking in with my values

There’s definitely this temptation to get swept up into the busyness still. To overcommit, then feel guilty for cancelling or feel like I have to do it all. I’m much better than I was, but if I’m not present or feeling aligned that day the tendency is there.

Before going freelance, I was exploring Brene Brown’s value system. She offers a free step by step guide that basically helps you discover what really matters to you (I highly recommend it as an exercise!). This for me has shape so much in my life, community and kindness are the two that stood out to me most.

It made me reflect on so much I was doing at the time, and how really they were habits that didn’t sit right with my values and ultimately who I wanted to become. Now, I’m able to think back to these and make decisions based on them. It often leads to me picking the kinder, more gentle route for myself and live in an intentional, burnout free way!

Helpful resources and articles

I don’t want to recommend too many books or articles as this process is definitely more about putting things into practice, but, here’s some resources I’ve shared previously or have supported me over the past couple of years to achieving a slower pace…

A slowish life - some notes on a year of experimenting with slow living.

Sophie Cliff - The Hustle Cure (I’m yet to read my copy of this, but I’m so excited to see a book written specifically for women on this!)

Emma Gannon - The Success Myth - a brilliant read that explores basically letting go of having it all, burnout and slowing down.

The Nap Ministry - Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey - one of my favourite books on rest that I’ll hold onto forever.

Practising rest through Yoga Nidra - a 10 minute Yoga Nidra practice perfect for beginners.

I know this post has been a little longer than usual - I hope it’s been useful and hopefully serves as a place you can come for resources and reassurance. Before I sign off, I’d love to know if there’s anything that helps you live a slower pace?