Stop for a moment. Observe and not just look. Listen and not just hear. Inhale deeply and perceive the aromas, deciphering everything that surrounds us: our busy lives need these rhythms.
The slow living It is a movement that knew how to capture the delight behind the slowness, turning it into a way of living that has found many enthusiasts around the worldformerly plagued by the idea that contemporary life seems only to go in fast track, without pauses or mediations. Faced with this vertigo, the slow living He proposes the opposite in order to reconnect with our cognitive abilities, our sensitivity and even our traditions.
At a slow pace…
it all started in 1986 with movement slow food in Italy, formerly called Arcigola, which grew slowly until it currently has more than 100,000 members in 132 countries. Other elements were added to this initiative that have made slowness a revalued characteristic in many fields of life, which was echoed by thousands of people and which undoubtedly has much to contribute. in the collective construction of a different world (and much slower).
The slow living proposes consumption without impact, preferably organic, local and unprocessed. It is a revolution of slowness, an «epic battle», as defined by its founder, Charles Petrini. This professional gourmet he saw enter with suspicion the vortex of boom economy in Italy after the Second World War. He knows that economic changes would cause the acceleration of life in baroque Italymany of whose locations remained virtually identical to how they had been centuries ago.
When Petrini learned of the opening, in 1986, of the first McDonald’s‘s in Italy, he became convinced that action had to be taken to defend Italian traditions. Even more, defend the sustainable and local it had to be more than a hobbyespecially after the death by poisoning of 19 people who drank adulterated cheap wine.
Over time, this movement was expanding its horizons until becoming slow living: a comprehensive proposal to completely change the rhythms with which we inhabit the world (which, unfortunately, are more similar to those of a factory or those of Wall Street than those of nature or our ancestors).
For Petrini, future generations that inherit this movement must fight to return to small scale, handmade, local distributionand a host of things that sound like a perfect emergency plan in the face of the social, economic, and environmental crises we are facing, which are leading us to global collapse at astonishing speed.
here we leave you little ones hakcs for you to put into practice slow living Step by Step…
Make every routine a ritual
A coffee, preparing meals, cleaning the house, making the bed, walking the dog: everything can be more than a routine habit and become a relaxation and mental cleansing ritual (which is precisely what Zen philosophy recommends).
stop to eat
Sit at a table or wherever you can eat with ease and comfort. Put away any distractors and enjoy your food: taste it, look at it, chew it slowly. And try to eat together and have pleasant after-dinner meals.
slow down the pace
Wherever you go, don’t do it running or in a hurry. Try that your schedules allow you to go at a relaxed pace and that they do not force you to take some transport to the places that you could go on foot. If your work or school is far away, try to travel when there is no traffic and take advantage of free time to do other activities in a relaxed way, such as meditate or read.
Avoid watching TV or browsing social media
Netflix and YouTube are tempting, and seem like moments of relaxation. But they take away many hours from your day, which you could use to be able to do your business more relaxed or, simply, to contemplate the sky or the view from the window.
grow your food
The philosophy of slow living is to consume local and organic: what more local and organic than something you grow? you can try growing your foodfor example, which will also require that make some compost. This will make you appreciate what you eat more and promote your eating habits. slow living.
* Images: Haarkon
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