The Art of Slowing Down

"Hurry up! Let's go, let's go, let's go," I said to my toddler as he inspected the long grass, seemingly unaware to my urging to move his little body faster. I could feel my frustration and anxiety mounting inside me. We were going to be late. Again. And my sweet little man was completely oblivious to everything but that stupid grass. Finally, I picked him up and carried him alongside his sister as we rushed to get my oldest off the bus. I had left early. It's literally a 2 minute walk to the bus. I don't understand how we were running late. Yet here we were. Late and rushing. Again.

In the last few years, I've tried really hard to not rush and to instead slow down. I haven't always succeeded, but I have tried. When you're rushing and hurrying everyone up, sometimes you miss amazing moments. Like when my toddler inspects the long grass and lays down like he's a lion stalking his prey. Or when the baby sees her brothers beside her and laughs. I've been doing pretty good at not rushing. I usually leave with plenty of time to allow for this slow exploration. Being a stay at home mom affords me that luxury most of the time. But I still get caught up in rushing and hurrying...I do have four kids after all.

As I get older, I have begun to see the importance and benefits of slowing down. It has become a method of self care for me, and it doesn't always look like taking our time getting places. Sometimes, slowing down looks like saying no to an outing with friends. Sometimes, it looks like letting the laundry sit in the baskets unfolded for an evening as I watch an episode of Doctor Who or Supernatural. Sometimes, it looks like turning a show on for the kids and resting on the couch in the middle of the day. Sometimes it looks like leaving the errands for another day and just staying home. Slowing down is more than not rushing from place to place.

When we slow down, we are able to listen to our bodies. Every day our bodies whisper to us how they are doing. If we are too busy, we can't hear those whispers. Eventually, our bodies feel ignored and start yelling at us if they aren't getting what they need. After 5 pregnancies and 4 births, I have learned to listen. With a history of prolapse, I know that if I don't listen, I could hurt my ody. So to avoid that, I need to slow down.
I need to listen to those whispers before they become shouts. It's frustrating when my body is telling me to slow down but I have lots of stuff I want to do. But it is more important to listen to my body than it is to not. Sometimes life cannot wait. Sometimes we have obligations that can't be done another day. Sometimes the kids don't cooperate with our plans to slow down. Sometimes our body is yelling for us to slow down but we just can't yet. In these moments, we need to speak gently to our body and honour its requests for slowing down as soon as we can.

We only have one body. We need to protect and honour it as best we can.