The popularity of the “slow” philosophy is rapidly growing in the world - a movement for a return to the principles of slowness and thoughtfulness in various areas of human life: from sex to gardening. At what speed does today's Belarus live and how does the movement S low Life finds his followers in our country - the Journal finds out.
Modern man began to relate to time differently. We have accelerated, and this is due to a number of reasons: capitalism with its formula “time is money”, the growth of the number of cities, commercialization and obvious consumption, the rapid development of technology. The flow of information that we are forced to pass through ourselves every day is steadily growing.
British psychologist Guy Claxton notes that haste has become a habit for people in the 21st century: “An internal psychology of haste has developed, minimum time, maximum efficiency, and every day this need is becoming stronger.”
The cult of speed is becoming increasingly cruel. A person’s attention becomes fragmented, superficial and unstable, we slide from detail to detail, not devoting enough time to anything, we often do several things at the same time - from a neurological point of view, this has a depressing effect on all processes taking place in the brain.
Remember your last trip to public transport– how often can you see a person enjoying the changing cityscape outside the window? Everyone is on their phones: playing games, scrolling through the news, or exchanging messages and comments.
In addition, sewing, like knitting, is often cited as examples slow hobbies– meditative activities that promote the development of concentration and stability of attention.
“KaliLaska” has gained a lot of fans over the two years of work: the team managed to collect 35 tons of things, hold 8 events in boarding homes and support 16 charities. Moreover, you can bring to KaliLaska not only unnecessary wardrobe items, but also books, dishes, interior items and accessories - at the same time purchasing something from the store’s existing collection.
The “Open Closet” flea markets are also popular among Minsk residents – fairs and sales of items from the personal wardrobes of city residents.
Another slow activity in Belarusian realities is bird watching. This is one of the activities public organization"Akhova's little bird Fatherlander." Organized group outings take place weekly only in Grodno in the valley of the Svisloch River. But Minsk, according to community coordinators, is in the near future. In the capital, bird tours in green areas are held every season; twice a year - on-site, accompanied by an ornithologist.
With the assistance of “Akhovy Ptushak Fatherland”, three Belarusian championships in photobirding have already been held - photographing birds in their natural environment a habitat.
“Bird watching is a fun and exciting activity. You can immerse yourself in it anytime, anywhere and absolutely free of charge (except for fees for special tours). Plus, it's a good family hobby. Birds have interesting behavior, they sing beautifully and each of them is unique. People learn to identify birds in different ways, some faster, some slower. This takes some time, and, first of all, depends on desire and motivation. You don’t need to look for birds for a long time: just go to the nearest park. And then you will need binoculars, a little attention and patience,” says Karina Solovey, a specialist in campaigns and promotions of the Little Birds of Fatherland.
Minsk artist Andrei Yaroshevich can be considered a real guru of “slow living” in Belarus. He is the author of an entire comic treatise – a praise of slowness.
For two years on its
Everything in life is not accidental. And even almost always on time. Here I am in difficult times I had a meeting with such a philosophy/life position as Slow-life.
The fact is that at that time I felt extremely tired, empty, and often irritated. She did a lot, worked constantly, took on several projects. At the same time, I wanted to do as much as possible.
Of course, I wasn’t always able to keep up with everything and do my job perfectly. And if it worked, then I just wanted to disappear into the sofa and do absolutely nothing. There was no joy from the exhausting hectic activity, the body began to give alarm signals, thoughts of being “trapped” and an unpleasant life came more and more often.
And then I decided to tell myself “Stop. Let's think about how you live? And are you even alive? That’s when gradual insight began... Does it make sense to constantly run somewhere, do a million things, and not be included in your own life with your thoughts and feelings? More likely no than yes.
For some reason, at the moment of such reflections, I remembered an article about the new movement of Slow-life, which I read about a year ago in Cosmopolitan Ukraine. It was about people who deliberately slow down the pace of their lives, treat it more consciously and throw out the unnecessary from it, leaving the most important and pleasant things.
I decided to delve deeper into this topic and re-read a lot of articles. As it turned out, this movement of lovers of living slowly in sunny Italy arose. Local residents protested against the opening of fast food and, in contrast, glorified thoughtful food and pleasure from it. It was from this Slow-food manifesto that a relatively massive passion for slowing began.
What do slowlifers focus on?
- Slow food. The most important thing is to eat thoughtfully, what is called “taste”, enjoy the food, feel the taste. It’s cool if you also cook this food yourself! By the way, if you eat despite the TV, savoring and paying attention to the dish, you will eat much less than usual. And this will have a positive effect on your digestion and figure.
- Slow travel. If possible, it is worth living in a new place for as long as possible in order to immerse yourself more deeply in the atmosphere and culture of something you have never experienced before.
- Carefully monitor your sensations and feelings. Our body, for example, often gives signals about overexertion, unpleasant emotions, etc. in the form of muscle discomfort, constant fatigue, nausea or other unpleasant things. It is important to understand them.
- Finding “Here and Now”. Yes, this phrase is already a little hackneyed and trumpeted by psychologists on every corner. But, nevertheless, it is more relevant than ever. While we are thinking about the past or future, rushing somewhere, making a lot of unnecessary movements, life passes by. And we don’t really participate in it.
- Limiting the use of social networks and television. Well, it’s true that mostly wasted time is useless. Yes, watch a movie, find out about important (!) events, communicate, and find necessary and useful (!) information. All. The rest is not worth your attention and time.
- No more than one big event per day. This is in order to, again, feel the buzz and be completely involved in what you are doing. Cinema + theater + walk + disco + planetarium + cafe + concert = we have been everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Choose 1 awesome-cool-weekend event and enjoy it!
- Buy less. There aren't that many really necessary things. The rest is junk, taking up your energy and the space around you.
- The thrill is in the little things. Again, notice what happens to you. And enjoy even the simplest things.
Separately, I would like to note that the Slow-life philosophy is not “lying on the couch for days and letting the whole world wait”, not masking one’s laziness and infantile reluctance to make decisions. This is the desire to feel the taste of life, enjoy it and treat it CONSCIOUSLY.
I advise you to try Slow-life for yourself. What if you like it? Don't be critical at first.
How to do it?
- Slow down. Just slow down a little. Find one that is comfortable for you. You don't have to move at a snail's pace. Whether for others it is “a little fast” or, on the contrary, “slow”, it doesn’t matter. The main thing is that you feel comfortable.
- Making decisions ask yourself“Do I really WANT this?”
- Try a little at a time implement the principles of Slow-life into your life. Test how they respond to you.
I will write about how Slow-life fits into my life in the next post. See you! Have a nice mindful day!
While searching for the meaning of Slow-life and writing this post, this article helped me a lot: http://elenakuzmina.blogspot.com/2013/10/slow-is-beautiful.html
Thank you for the inspiration!
Slow living is a chance to look at your life from a new perspective, gain a taste for life and gain strength for further achievements.
Rushing through life, like in a car race, we try to achieve success, realize our plans, or at least look no worse than others. The build itself modern society forces us to have a cool car, apartment, fashionable clothes and position. To achieve this, we try to work more, we go to bed and get up with thoughts about work. Vanity gradually penetrates our brain, and we stop enjoying all the variety of life...
But the worst thing is that, despite all efforts, it is not possible to achieve what you want.
A man runs through life without sparing his legs:
Home work. Home work.
While serving time...
Weekends are a respite.
Vacation is like a rest stop.
Old age, retirement, shortness of breath...
Where did you run?...
How Slow Life style can help.
Thanks to slow living, you can get the following results:
- get rid of chronic;
- get more pleasure from life;
- improve your health, especially the nervous and cardiovascular systems;
- rethink your life by changing your priorities;
- become a more balanced and cheerful person;
- achieve great heights.
Slow Life style philosophy.
The main core of Slow Living is the principle “Live not for the sake of something, but simply live.” Every morning we get up in order to achieve something that day, to complete a certain amount of work. Of course, you can’t escape work and responsibilities. But there is a difference in how to treat them. No activity should come first in our lives. Life itself should take first place.
Every day should be a day when we see something interesting, rejoice, watch the manifestations of life: the development of our children, animals playing, flowers blooming. Life should bring joy, not depress.
Often people say that they will do this and that, and then “we’ll live!” But then it may not happen or new problems will appear. We need to live now, not later.
Rules of Slow Living.
People who live by the rules of Slow Living may seem sluggish and slow. However, in fact, in their slowness, they can accomplish much more than a fussing person. At the same time, they will enjoy any activity and will be full of energy even at the end of the day.
Slow Life Rules:
- To get everything done, don't rush.
- Don't look at your watch often. On weekends, it’s better not to use them at all, but to focus on the rhythms of your own body. We waste time when we are afraid of losing it.
- Thanks to inner peace, you can achieve better concentration and increased efficiency.
- Work should be loved and interesting in order to inspire and lead to achievements, and not exhaust all your strength.
- It is necessary to focus on the process, not the result. To do this, you need to learn to enjoy the process.
- There is no need to grab onto everything and take on responsibilities beyond your strength. The result you get will not be enjoyable.
- Asking for help is a sign of trust in the world.
- You need to enjoy life, and in this you need to focus only on own desires. But, of course, desires should not infringe on the rights of other people.
Principles of Slow Living.
Starting to live according to new principles is not so easy. Especially for those who are used to constantly running somewhere. To an even greater extent this 
concerns workaholics who cannot imagine their life without work. They constantly need the process, so they don’t stop for a minute. That is why chronic diseases are obligatory companions.
To start living a Slow Life, it is suggested to follow these principles:
- Pay attention to nature, watch sunrises and sunsets.
- In the evening, sometimes look at the stars and try to hear them.
- While eating, do not be distracted by reading or TV. It is better to try to enjoy the process of eating.
- Make time for walks, during which you just need to relax and enjoy nature.
- If you are overcome by excitement and anxiety, then you need to stop and take deep, slow breaths.
- Allow yourself to play with friends, children, fool around and fantasize.
- Take time to communicate with your children. Children are a different world that helps us stop and return to the essence of life.
- You need to speak slowly and deliberately.
- You shouldn’t grab onto big things – it’s better to break them down into small ones.
- It is necessary to devote time to art. Cinema, theater, concert halls, books, music charge us with energy and change our values.
- Love the silence. Modern generation I’m used to being filled with thoughts from outside every minute. Even in transport or on the street, people wear headphones, which prevents them from being alone with their thoughts. Sometimes it is useful to just be in silence and solitude, without TV, telephone or Internet.
- Spend time on your hobbies or just the things you love. This replenishes our energy reserves and gives us the desire to live.
- Appreciate your loved ones. It must be remembered that the greatest value is people. They are not always near us, so we can enjoy communicating with them here and now.
- Sometimes be spontaneous. Choose a day where you don’t have to make plans and just follow your heart.
I'm slowing down, I won't explode anymore. You have a thirst for change, I don’t strive too much. Not because he’s old and exhausted... - sings the legendary Leonard Cohen in a song called Slow. Every second Russian is experiencing a lack of time. Most Days are taken away by work and sleep, and we spend the remaining precious hours standing in traffic jams, TV and the Internet. Where is life itself?
Stop, the slowlifers told themselves, those who are not in a hurry are in time. A sandwich swallowed on the run is not food, a vacation “galloping across Europe” is not a vacation. You need to live at optimal speed, without unnecessary haste, enjoying the hours and minutes, and not just counting them.
Slow Life, or " slow life" is a new social phenomenon that is gaining popularity around the world. In 1986, no one could have imagined that a demonstration against the appearance of a McDonald's restaurant in the center of Rome would develop into the Slow Food movement (from English slow food. - Ed.) , which today already has offices around the world, as well as its own publishing house, the Biodiversity Protection Fund Agriculture and even its own university - the University of Gastronomic Sciences. The goals seem to be the best: propaganda healthy eating and environmentally friendly products, support for local producers, especially farmers.
Russian followers of Slow Food advise giving up fast food, buying only domestic products and cooking simple dishes Houses. “After the introduction of sanctions,” they joke, “all Russians became adherents of Slow Food, because they buy products from domestic producers.” Although it is unlikely that the majority of Russians will figure out which part of the tongue perceives acid and which sweetness, and, based on this, prepare themselves harmonious simple food.
But all those who plant potatoes and cucumbers in their summer cottages can safely call themselves followers of Slow Food.
The idea of Slow was taken up by Geir Bertelsen, who created the World Institute of Slowness, and Carl Honoré, who wrote seminal works on slowing down the pace of life.
“We turn our lives into an endless rush instead of really living it,” writes Honore. “Sometimes, for us to understand this, a “wake-up call” is needed. For many, such a “call” is illness, exhaustion of physical and mental strength, when our body says: “I can’t do this anymore.”
Carl Honoré urges novice slowlifers to warn colleagues and acquaintances that now you will spend more time on work tasks, answer calls less often, or turn off your phone altogether.
Passion, excitement and the desire to do everything quickly and immediately ruined most of my good undertakings, explains slowlifer by conviction, creator of the website www.slow-life.ru Igor Savelyev. - Over time, the understanding came that harmony with oneself and the world around us lies aside from the stereotypes of success and well-being imposed on us by society.
According to him, he achieved great success when he included a dose of not giving a fuck and focused on the process rather than the result.
“I’m fed up with everything,” says Elena, a former employee of a large bank. - Work 12 hours a day, constant stress, chronic fatigue... Why do you need this money if you don’t even have time to spend it?
After living in Bali for 4 months, Elena returned to Moscow and is now looking for a job as a fitness instructor with a salary three times less than hers. The issue of money doesn’t bother her, she has an apartment and a car, but she no longer wants to spin like a squirrel in a wheel for the sake of new fashionable clothes or the latest iPhone.
Not everyone can really stand the strain of working in a crazy city rhythm. In the US, for example, some companies are deliberately slowing down the pace of work, giving employees fewer tasks, and reorienting them to remote work.
It turned out that reducing the load significantly affects the quality of work. People do their work more diligently and carefully and make fewer mistakes. This is also facilitated by special “green meadows” in the office, where a person can rest and relax, and therefore plunge into work with renewed vigor.
Concentrating on one thing, setting priorities, living slowly, enjoying every moment sounds beautiful, but isn’t ordinary human laziness hidden behind all this? I did the minimum and left, and everything else - “sorry, I don’t get paid extra for this.”
IN modern world slowlife and downshifting are actually available to few, says journalist and director Anna Abramova. - People are forced to work, earn money, raise children. But nothing prevents you from using individual elements. Many of my friends, for example, get up earlier than necessary in the morning in order to have time to quietly drink coffee and have breakfast. Or another example - yoga. More and more successful, serious people turn off their phones and do yoga for two hours. There was a need to slow down my rhythm.
Anna advises adopting the experience of the British, who under no circumstances will refuse five-o-clock tea (five o’clock tea. - Ed.). After you sit for half an hour with a cup of tea and think, you begin to look at many problems differently.
My friends unsubscribe from social networks,” continues Anna. - Everyone already knows the main news, but they no longer want to fill their lives with information that is not really needed. They prefer to spend this time on something more useful, for example, playing sports, walking, or just sitting in a cafe with friends and talking.
Slowlifers themselves say that their philosophy is not an escape from reality, but a reformatting of their lives. And a person’s desire to be the best and always reach the finish line first, in their opinion, will never bring true pleasure and real success, because there will always be someone more successful.
Having changed a person's lifestyle, the Slow philosophy spread to other areas. There are already trends like the slow city, slow aging, slow art, slow parenting, slow fashion, slow travel, slow TV and even slow gardening. All these trends are united by one idea - you need to do everything at your own comfortable rhythm, enjoying the process.
In fact, many ideas from the philosophy of slow living are quite applicable in everyday reality. For example, turn off all phones and gadgets once a month for a day, and spend the free time with your children or just read a book that you usually don’t have time for. Or try going to a museum to look at just five paintings, but really look at every detail.
You can also make it a rule to get enough sleep at least once a week and write real paper letters, not electronic ones. Or you can cook a delicious dinner, gather your family around the table and have a real conversation, looking into each other’s eyes. Maybe then there won’t be any need to come up with any fashion trends with foreign names, but it will be possible to just live.
One day, again hurrying somewhere very important matters– stop! Yes Yes! Stop right in the middle of the street (unless you're driving a car, of course!) and look around.
What do you see? Don't rush to answer? Listen to yourself first. After all, Exupery said: “... only the heart is vigilant. You can’t see the main thing with your eyes!”
You might probably feel weird at first. Everyone is running, pushing, rushing to catch up... And you stand there and stand. You may even feel the impulse to continue moving. But then, inside, some barely audible interest will stop you and ask you to stay.
Perhaps in this moment you will even be able to see real world. The joy of a girl who is finally being taken to school by her dad. The eyes of a boy who opens a long-awaited SMS while running. The sadness of an old woman who finds it so hard to walk by herself...
Now think about how many people from this noisy, tireless anthill will do the same? Who would allow themselves to do the same? Let's just jump out of the living conveyor belt for a couple of minutes, which only dies out in the short early morning of Sunday?
Wait a little longer. Take a closer look. Perhaps a few meters away from you, on another street, at the other end of the city, or not at all locality there is someone just like you. And now he, in the same way, stands and looks with his heart. And he sees not successive streams of people, but the real world. Full of feelings and emotions. It is only important to find and take a closer look at someone who looks at the world the same way as you...
Realities modern life They oblige you to keep your finger on the pulse and not stop for a minute. Run, achieve, strive for more, better! And everything in order not to fall behind, not to make a mistake, to prove to myself or someone that I can, to get what I want, to increase it, to gain recognition and much more...
But, as often happens, stopping this person and asking him the question: “Are you happy?”, and even if the answer is positive, it is unlikely that the eyes will confirm this same answer. Rather, the overall impression will be that the person is very tired and thinks about only one thing - peace.
At the same time, a new trend is gaining momentum in the world - new approach and philosophy of life - Slow life(Slow life).
Previously, they abandoned everything for this, radically changing their way of life, only the bravest went to wander into forgotten villages, places of power and enlightenment, in order to experience life without wasting its moments in haste and bustle.
Today, followers of Slow life claim: in order to feel the taste of life, to enjoy every moment of it, it is not necessary to leave your old life, change it radically, or go somewhere. Enough to know new philosophy slow life and begin to put its postulates into practice in everyday life.
The history of the emergence of this trend is interesting. The movement is said to have originated from a peaceful demonstration in Italy against the opening of a McDonalds restaurant next to an architectural and historical landmark in Rome. The reason for the demonstration was the fear that the emergence of restaurants fast food could greatly undermine the traditions of Italian culture, which is characterized by leisurely family conversations at the dinner table, a lunch siesta.
This happened back in 1986, after which the Slow Food movement arose (as opposed to Fast Food) and over time even the World Institute of Slowness arose, whose founder Geir Bertelsen was at the origins of the philosophy of slow living, together with journalists Carlo Petrine and Carl Honore.
What is the essence of the Slow life philosophy? Let's consider the basic views and principles
Balance!
The founders of the movement define the main postulate of philosophy as "equilibrium" One of them, Carl Honoré, is the author of the book “No Fuss. How to stop rushing and start life,” believes that the main objective human life is not to do everything by doing as much as possible, but to find your own pace (“tempo giusto”), which will help you easily do everything you want without fuss, finding balance and harmony between all spheres of a person’s life and at the same time focusing on quality rather than quantity.
To do this, it is extremely important to learn to set priorities, highlight what is important and not be afraid of losing in life what, in reality, has imaginary value.
Filter the information!
The phrase has always been popular: “Who owns the information, owns the world!” But today there is so much information that it is simply impossible to process it all! It is important to be able to highlight the important, weed out the unimportant and not strive to comprehend everything. This applies not only to information received from reading books or electronic information resources, but also to meetings and events.
For example, after a dressed-up working week you remember that you wanted to go to a training or seminar, but now you really want to relax, spend time with your family, meet friends. Ask yourself how much important information What will you lose for your life if you don’t go to the training and stay at home? And will you lose at all?
Attention to detail
One more important feature Slow life is a special attention to detail. Concentrating on the moment “here and now” allows you to feel life more fulfilling, consisting of a mass of unique, unlike anything else moments.
For example, when you eat, pay attention to the taste of each dish on your table, how your body reacts to each piece that you put into your mouth. While walking with your loved one, listen to how your heart beats and what is happening with your breathing. Or, when you are working on an important project, do not ignore how your state changes, what feelings you experience as you work.
Needs and self-care
It is impossible to enjoy life and feel organically in it without understanding the significance of your inner state, paying attention to your needs and taking timely care of yourself.
Remember, in each of us there is Small child, who has many wants. It is important to hear them and implement them on time!
Contemplate and create!
Slow life invites you to consciously observe what is happening, to creativity and self-expression!
Observing the external, we can also note internal responses to this and discover for ourselves what inspires us, what pleases us, brings pleasure, fills us with resources. And then we are no longer hostages of external circumstances, but researchers, those who know how to create their lives independently, lead and fill it with everything necessary.
If your life is something like a continuous run in a circle, full of bustle, think about whether this is what you really wanted?
Think about what could be different. Think about how you see your life without haste?
You can take on board a few more recommendations from Carl Honoré (author of the so-called “Bible of Slow Motion”, the book “In Praise of Slowness”):
- When you get down to business, don’t rush to start it, take a break, think about the details and only then start;
- Take care of your peace of mind;
- Eat traditional cuisine, it’s good if the products are grown by you;
- Maintain moderation in everything: in thoughts, reading books, conversations;
- Do your work slowly and thoughtfully, it should bring joy, be inspiration, and not something that takes all your strength;
- Give preference to personal communication rather than using gadgets;
- Don't be afraid to ask for help if you can't cope.
Find your rhythm, strive for balance, and you will notice how your life and you yourself are transforming!
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