The Benefits of Living More Slowly

About 15 years ago, I was working part-time at a college about six miles away from my home. I initially drove to work, but found the journey stressful and frustrating, with jams and long queues at traffic lights. I decided to start cycling instead. Because I could move freely through the traffic, the journey only took a few minutes longer than by car. It was great to be exercising in the open air, rather than sitting stationary inside a car.

But the best thing about cycling was that it enabled me to take in much more of the reality of the journey. I saw so many interesting old houses and beautiful old trees and flower beds that I had never noticed while driving. I saw turnings into quiet avenues that I had simply bypassed. Best of all, I could spend time looking at the sky, at the clouds and the still blues spaces between them and the morning sunlight shining through. Every morning, I arrived at work feeling energized and fulfilled. I was amazed at how much of the journey I had missed while driving, and how much more reality I sensed simply by travelling more slowly.

This a good metaphor for life itself. By living slowly, we experience much more reality, since we become present. We also find life much less stressful, and more fulfilling. As recounted in my book The Adventure, I interviewed a woman named Gill Hicks, who was seriously injured in a terrorist attack and lost her legs below the knee. She almost died as a result of her injuries, and on recovery, she felt like she was a different person, living a new life. She saw her disability as a gift, because she felt she gained so much through being forced to live more slowly. As she stated, “Being slow – physically moving at a slower pace – has been an extraordinary experience. I have seen so much more, just by being able to stop, look and absorb.”

Whereas rushing equates with stress and separation, slowness naturally generates mindfulness and connection. When we rush, we are always rushing away from the present, toward the future. But when we live slowly, we are content to remain in the present.

Slowing Down Time

In my new book Time Expansion Experiences¹ I suggest that, by living slowly and mindfully, it is possible for us to slow down our experience of time. The more present we are, the more perceptions we absorb, and the more experiences we have, which has a time-stretching effect. This is beautifully summarized by one of the pioneers of the modern mindfulness movement, Jon Kabat-Zinn:

If you were really present with your moments as they were unfolding, no matter was what happening, you would discover that each moment is unique and novel and therefore momentous. Your experience of time would slow down. You might even find yourself stepping out of the subjective experience of time passing altogether, as you open to the timeless quality of the present moment . . . The slower the passage of time [becomes] from the point of view of your experience of it, the “longer” your life becomes, as you are here for more of your moments.^₂

As well as living mindfully, the practice of meditation may also have a time-slowing effect. This is supported by research. In 2013, a group of Romanian students practiced a half-hour of mindfulness meditation every day for a week. At the end of the week, they watched two short documentary films, each lasting five minutes. They estimated the length of the films as significantly longer than a control group (who hadn’t practised meditation). On a long-term basis, in 2014, a group of German researchers interviewed 42 people who had been meditating regularly for many years. Compared to a similar sample of non-meditators, they felt less pressurized by time, and reported a slower passage of time, including over the last week and month. As one of the researchers, Marc Wittmann, summarized, the findings showed that experienced meditators, “feel more time expansion…[L]ife as a whole passes more slowly and pass periods of time expand for people who live mindfully.”³

Of course, slowness isn’t so compatible with modern life, with all its pressures and demands. But we all have a degree of control over how we respond to situations, particularly in our leisure time. We can choose not to rush. We can choose to slow down when we walk, cook or do our chores, and so on.

So today, make a conscious effort to slow down. Take a few moments to release your attention from activity and take in the reality or where you are and what you’re doing. You might find that your day becomes longer as a result.

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