For those who are feeling overwhelmed, anxious or burnt out….

Slow Down To Speed Up

In these tumultuous times, we are exposed to an unprecedented barrage of mental stimulus, which can send our mind spiralling and can thrust us into an unwelcome state of anxiety, fear and overwhelm.

Absorbing and processing endless information keeps us locked in a head-centric masculine state of consciousness, which prioritises intellect over intuition and doing over being. By polarising toward the masculine left-brain, we become estranged from the feminine aspect of our being.

Attempting to predict, rationalize and demand answers for everything invariably leaves us feeling even more confused and uncertain, especially when we force the process, instead of allowing it to unfold in its right time.

If instead we drop out of the confines of our mind and into the wisdom of the body, we reconnect back to an intuitive sense of perceiving (and knowing), which supersedes the limitations of mere intellect alone. Our collective disconnection from this embodied state has undoubtedly contributed to the chaos of today’s world.

The endless demands of our fast-paced modern life, especially the need to achieve financial security, means we have become reliant upon constant ‘doing’, even when this comes at the expense of our physical and mental wellbeing.

We are taught that ‘success’ is contingent upon a sharpened intellect and ‘hard graft’. This is reinforced through a rigid educational establishment, which favours logic and discipline, over surrender and intuition. This is no surprise as mainstream education is designed to breed obedient and robotic workers, who are cogs in the wheel of a system, which requires endless ‘productivity’ to say afloat.

The pursuit of ‘success’ usually involves the prioritisation of tangible external results, at the expense of internal harmony, which is jeopardised when we don’t allow ourselves to slow down, rest and simply be (the feminine aspect of being).

We are often so busy trying to achieve, accumulate and acquire, that we forget how to just exist in the beauty of the present moment, exactly as it is; untarnished by ambition and expectation.

It is during this time of rest where we can receive some of the greatest and purest of insights, which exist beyond the reaches of the logical mind. This does not imply that we become passive, but rather we allow our actions to be guided intuitively (and reinforced through logic) – rather than dictated solely by the demands of the egoic mind.

A true state of flow is achieved through masculine (action/discipline) and feminine (being/surrender) balance. By balancing ‘doing’ with ‘being’, our life becomes imbued with greater joy, clarity, health and meaning.

We should not feel guilty for taking our foot off the peddle temporarily and giving ourselves time to relax. ‘Doing nothing’ is better than forcing something. We are often too hard on ourselves and place unnecessary demands upon our fragile shoulders.

When we are feeling weighed down, this is a sign that it is time to slow down, be gentle with ourselves and allow the currents of life to carry us, rather than constantly trying to make an imprint on the world. This requires trust, patience and self-love.

This is a time to honour the true feminine aspect of our being, which involves softening and surrender completely to the present moment, without anticipation of the future or regret of the past. Relinquishing control in this way gives the relentless mind chatter a much needed break and allows us to heal through reconnecting to disowned aspects of our being.

It is often the case that ‘less is more’, no matter how counter-intuitive this may seem. By slowing down, we may just find ourselves that we speeding up.