Creating More Magick in Your Life: Why is it important to slow down?
What happens when we slow down? Why is it so important to slow down?
The list of answers to those questions is likely a very long one and super dependent on each individual answering it. According to google, just some of the reasons are:
help you identify areas that need more attention, make better decisions, reduce stress and anxiety, give you a greater gratitude for what you have, and even boost creativity. Source: https://bibliolifestyle.com/slowing-down/
Overall, slowing down will help you make better decisions, connect deeper with people, have more meaningful experiences, all while improving your mental well-being by avoiding burnout. You may go slower, but you will go further. Source: https://nesslabs.com/the-benefits-of-slowing-down
Forest Therapy at it’s core is all about S L O W I N G D O W N. So, one would think that a Certified Forest Therapy Guide (such as myself) would be an expert at slowing down. Ha!
The reality is that I struggle to slow down. I am a social person and I suffer from FOMO and I stay busy to avoid uncomfortable truths. There, I said it.
So, being aware of this, I started to do something that on the surface seems super silly… I began to schedule days on my google calendar as “DAY OFF.” On these days, I make no plans. Ideally, my car doesn’t leave the driveway. And I just let life go wherever it wants to. I may have some activities in mind, but no official “to-do” list or even “get to-do" list.
After only 2 weeks of this and 3 “Days off,” I am noticing some pretty big changes. One of the biggest is how much more magick there is in my life.
Now, “magick” may be hard to define. For me, it’s moments of awe and these are usually surrounding the natural world and/or moments connecting with other humans in a way that seems to make time stand still for a bit.
I’ll share a few of these magick moments with you below and I’d like to know about your magick moments too! You can leave a comment below or share on my Instagram or facebook post about this blog.
Photo 1: My friends created an impromptu poolside photo shoot with bubbles (dream come true!)
Photo 2: On a forest walk with friends, we kept finding wings and bodies of lunar moths everywhere. I brought this set home for a future craft project.
Photo 3: We have been raising tree frog tadpoles in a kiddie pool turned pond in our backyard, and I caught one of our froglets on their way to frogdom under the full moon
Photo 4: After over 6 months with our entertaining mystery snails in our fish tank, they laid eggs! The morning after the froglet interaction, the eggs began to hatch! Babies!
In conclusion, I have found that to create more of these moments of magick in my life, where time seemingly stands still and I gasp in awe… I must be intentional about slowing down and I must make it a practice.
I will continue marking days off on my calendar (because when you’re self-employed, the calendar doesn’t do that for you) and I will continue my forest therapy & yoga practices, along with my morning pages/sit spot practice. And, maybe before it’s all over, I will be as slow and exciting as my mystery snail friends.
If you would like to join me for a forest bathing/forest therapy experience, please reach out today! I am adding dates to the calendar as summer wanes, and I am happy to schedule a walk around what works for you.
