10 *Practical* Ways To Start Slow Living

Filled with ideas, tips & tricks to begin (or continue!) your journey...

Hi there! I’m Hunter. I’m a mother of a two-year-old daughter, married to my British husband, and we live in Northwest Florida along the beautiful white, sandy beaches. I share about sacred & slow living as well as my own personal journey in being a mother and a creative. Make sure to subscribe to have my posts delivered directly to your inbox. Thank you for being here.

When I discovered slow living back in 2018, it felt like I was being handed a permission slip for living the life of my dreams.

Growing up, my family’s motto was “we don’t do lazy” and while I honor and respect the incredible amount of hard work my parents do day in and day out, and the wonderful things they’ve created, I felt this sense of shame for ever wanting to rest. For desiring to breathe.

Then, I went through years of depression & anxiety topped with a big ole mental breakdown and realized that maybe I wasn’t supposed to live the same kind of life my parents lived. Maybe my journey was about uncovering what felt right for me. Slow living came along, and I dove headfirst into this lifestyle that made sense to me. But, I also made it my own. The funny thing is that now that I “live slowly,” I actually do more in my days than ever before. But there’s this alignment that I didn’t have in the past. I believe that when we slow down we make space for our souls to speak, and when we hear them, we find the most embodied way forward to being our truest selves.

There are so many versions of slow living, but the one that is best for you is your own definition to discover. I also understand that when you want to try something new, it can feel a bit overwhelming at first.

So today I’m sharing 10 completely practical ways you can start living slower today. Not just the concepts around slow living or the ideas behind it, but tangible tips for implementing a slower way of life into your home right now, in whatever stage you’re in. Whether you’ve been trying out slow living for a while or are still on the hamster wheel of life feeling burnt out and ready to try something new, I hope this can be a beautiful jumping-off point for you to live a life that feels good.

1. Make a list of what’s important to you.

   If you want to start living slower, then it’s important that you establish why you desire to live a different way from how you’re currently living. The best way to do that is to spend some time thinking of what is actually important to you that you want to start embracing more of. It might be more time with friends, more space to create, or less time on social media, or prioritizing your family more, eating more nourishing foods. Whatever it is, write them down and work towards implementing them into your daily life.
   

2. Eat your meals & drink your morning drink outside.

   Studies show that getting outside each morning can actually help your sleep quality, as well as boost your immune system, support your positive moods, lower your cortisol levels and heart rates, and connect us back to the mother of all mothers, Mother Earth. I find that when I get outside in the morning first thing, I can think clearly and plan my day from an aligned state versus a frazzled energy.
   

3. Refrain from immediately agreeing to plans and instead, sit on them for a bit.

   There’s this concept I talk about in my course called downshifting, which is all about beginning to release the grip you have on filling up your calendar and actually making space to live more slowly. It’s hard to live slowly when you have a full week ahead, so start taking more time to make sure you feel good about what you’re agreeing to before you blindly agree to it. Ask yourself, does this support the life I’m trying to create? And then, make your decision based on that answer. Over time, you’ll notice that you’ve ended up creating space within your week that you wouldn’t have otherwise and slowing down will become second nature.
   

4. Find rhythms you can implement daily.

   
   It is so easy for us to drift into autopilot mode on life, gliding through each day without actually thinking about what we want to do or experience. Establishing rhythms is a great way to start living more intentionally and therefore slowing down more. Some ideas could be taking time to meditate each morning before the kids wake up, writing in your journal during lunch, making a cup of tea and sitting on the porch after breakfast, having a themed movie night every Friday, going for a big hike as a family each weekend, making pancakes on Sundays, etc. They can be as simple or as extravagant as you’d like, but they allow you to flow through each day with intention behind it, and embrace those moments of connection.
   

5. Swap out time spent scrolling with time spent reading.
   
   Calling myself out here but I find that when I swap my time spent scrolling on Instagram with reading instead, I am so much more connected to my creativity, my anxiety is lessened, and I feel this big deep exhale from the comparison game I so often find myself in online. Obviously, you could swap your time out with anything (maybe knitting, or baking bread, or working on your own creative hobby?). But give it a try, and see how it feels!
   

6. Join like-minded communities in-person & online.
   
   This has been huge for me in aligning myself with slow living. I believe it’s really important for us to have community with others who share a similar sentiment, so finding friendships both online and in-person has been really important for me on this journey. If you’re intimidated about making new friends, I recommend just searching on Facebook for a local group that is similarly aligned with you. It could be a nature school for your kids, or I’m in a natural living group for my area. I am also in different groups for specific courses I’ve taken, and I’m even in a group chat for fellow mother creatives here on Substack. My mom used to always say, it takes being a friend to have a friend and I think that is so true. If you can’t find one, then make your own! Cultivate a community of like-minded thinkers and see how they inspire you to stay on your path.
   

7. Listen to your body (for maybe the first time).
   
   As human beings, we aren’t meant to work within a specific energy field 100% of the time. We ebb and we flow, we get tired and we get energized, and so often in our current society we are told to ignore that flow for productivity, for work, and ignore our own intuition until we can’t even hear it speak. Living slowly & intentionally means truly listening to our bodies and honoring what they are saying. If you are a woman, this can usually be aligned with our menstrual cycle throughout the month. One thing I do is take notes on where my energy is each day, and then try to align my life around that energy level. When I’m feeling tired, I’ll re-schedule or cancel so I can take time for me. Then, when I’m energized, I will lean into that and focus on my output more with both work & social events. I’ve learned by tracking my energy levels that I can typically predict where I will be throughout the month and plan accordingly. Listening to my body this way feels like holding reverence for it in the most beautiful way.
   

8. Focus on a single task.
   
   Multi-tasking is something I was a pro at in the past, but since having my daughter I’ve really tried to focus in on a single task and then be present for her when I am not doing something else. If she comes and taps me on the shoulder while I’m working, I won’t keep typing, I will instead turn and look her in the eyes, and connect in that way. Then, when we are done, I will return to my work. Our nervous systems get fried so easily when we’re multi-tasking. Just think about the amount of tabs you might have open on your computer and if that gives you anxiety (I know it does for me!). Now, imagine those tabs are in your brain. What if you just kept one tab open at a time, and really leaned into that? How would it make you feel? I loved reading this article on multi-tasking if you’d like to learn more.
   

9. Add a self-care routine to your day such as breathing techniques, yoga, bowspring, stretching, taking a bath, lighting a candle, etc.

   I know this probably feels like such a “duh” option, but I think when we’re moving through life at a faster pace it can be really hard to implement any form of self-care. The act of self-care itself can really be a beautiful beginning to check in with yourself and see how you want to move forward. It’s those times when I’m doing something for myself that I have space to think clearly and figure out where I want to go next. So don’t discount adding these simple habits to your life, because they just may as well change your life if you let them. I’m also very against the idea that self-care can only happen when you’re completely alone or away from your family. It’s really important that we model self-care for those around us, especially our kids, so they know how to access that for themselves too. The first few times your kids most likely will be crawling all over you or interrupting you every second, but over time they will learn to join you.
   

10. Find magic in the mundane.

    OF COURSE this wouldn’t be a list of ways to slow down without mentioning my favorite one, finding magic in the mundane. This is the foundation of my personal process of slow living. It’s recognizing those little moments in our every day that feel boring, or insignificant, or unimportant and making them feel special. It’s when I’m rushing somewhere with my two-year-old and then take a minute to smell the flowers with her, or when I’m trying to get ready for the day and then remember to add a touch of blush to my cheeks just because it makes me feel good, or when I’m in the grocery store overwhelmed by my list and then remember how grateful I am to get to cook nourishing food for my family. It’s recognizing that it’s the small moments that make up our life, and leaning into that to truly understand the magic of the human experience. When we start to notice those mundane moments and take the time to make them magical, we realize that the life we’ve been striving for can be lived right in that single moment.

I hope you found some of these ideas helpful for implementing slow living into your own life, and I’d love to hear if you have any other suggestions! Most importantly, it’s about developing your own intuition for trusting yourself to make decisions that are fully aligned with who you want to be. If you’d like a deeper dive into implementing slow living every day, then I’d love for you to join my course Sacred & Slow.