Slowing UP

A spiritual practice of creating

structure for more JOY and more
freedom

The richer our inner life, the simpler our outer life.

Structure
Parameters
Boundaries
Edges
Perimeters

CREATE
Freedom
Power
FOCUS
Love
JOY

Why slow?
Acting rather than Reacting.
Creating the vision of our life from a place of
observation, reflection and flow,
rather than pressure, compulsion and obligation.

Health Benefits.
Stress response is a major contributor to all health
challenges and illness.

POWER
is generated from thoughtful, considered, and
intentional actions.

Does the FAST life lead to the good life!?!

Paradoxically, we need to be going slow enough to even consider
the question!

Where Time Goes

There is NEVER TIME TO:

BUT ALWAYS TIME TO:

Put things away

Search for them later

Do things right

Correct them later

Drive safely

Get into accidents

Be patient

Apologize for rudeness

Ask a question

Suffer from assumptions

Follow your car manual

Get lengthy repairs

Heed body signals

Have illnesses

Listen

Ask for a repeat

Make extra keys

Be locked out

Read the instructions

Ruin a new appliance

Prioritize your work

Stay after quitting time

Monitor your fuel gauge

Run out of gas

Rest or relax

Burn out or break down

Ask directions

Get lost

Make a checklist

Run home for an item

Cool our temper

Have a heart attack

Meditate or pray

Worry

Have a dental check up

Have a tooth extracted

Follow a budget

Get into debt

Mend a rip

Buy a new garment

Share feelings

See a therapist

Balance your checkbook

Call about bounced checks

Choose friends wisely

End painful relationships

Select healthy food

Endure malnutrition

Wait for guidance

Suffer from self-will

3 thing that could stop slowing UP

1. Speed is a distraction.

2. Shame factor is it okay to slow down?

Because TRUE BELONGING only happens when we
present our AUTHENTIC, IMPERFECT SELVES to the world,
our sense of belonging can never be greater than
our level of SELF-ACCEPTANCE.
Bren

Brown

3. Scarcity thinking. Not enough time is lack thinking.

HOOKED ON FAST: From Speed by Stephanie Brown PhD

20 QUESTIONS:
BEHAVIOR:
1. Do you want to slow down but cannot? Have you lost control?
2. Do you keep adding activities without taking any away?
3. Do you work longer and longer hours but dont ever finish?
4. Do you treat other problems? Sleep, depression, anxiety?
5. Do you act first and think later?
6. Do you check your email and reach for your phone first thing and last?

FEELINGS:
7. Do you feel internal pressure to live fast and act fast which becomes a craving to connect more
rapidly?
8. Do you feel empty if you are not in constant action?
9. Do you feel nervous without your tech gear in hand or pocket?
10. Do you feel the beep of your phone as the comfort that gives you a shot of adrenaline?
11. do you feel you belong when you are rushing, stressed and in action?

Beliefs:
12. Do you believe you have no limits and you are entitled to live without limits?
13. Do you believe you should think, feel and react instantly?
14. Do you believe you will fall behind if you slow down?
15. Do you believe success equals fast and faster and slowing down is failing?
16. Do you believe you should only feel good, only feel high? Other feelings are a sign of failure?
17. Do you believe stress is the price of success and chaos is normal?
18. Do you believe that the new intimacy is through technology and less time for offline relationships
is the price for success?
19. Do you believe that instant action is a virtue and you can overcome anything with enough will
power?
20. Do you believe all change must be big to count?

1. Write down any observations that came up for you

from the 20 questions

Reprioritizing Values
Recovery Values:

Addiction Values:
DOING:

PROCESS

OUTCOME

EXPERIENCE

MANIPULATE

ENJOY

ENDURE

BE

DO

PARTICIPATE

PERFORM

SAVOR

GULP

QUALITY. DEPTH

QUANTITY, LENGTH

FLOW, SMARTER

EFFORT, HARDER

RELAXED

INTENSE

EFFECTIVE

EFFICIENT

FLEXIBLE

RIGID

IMPORTANT

URGENT

SURRENDER, SURPRISE
SIMPLE

CONTROL
COMPLEX

VALUES

GOALS

IN AWE

SHUT-DOWN
RELATING:

UNIQUENESS

COMPARSION

PRINCIPLES

PERSONALITIES

COOPERATE

COMPETE

BOTH/AND, WIN-WIN

EITHER, OR

RELATIONSHIPS

THINGS

INTERDEPENDENT

INDEPENDENT

LIVE AND LET LIVE

RESCUER

CONSENSUS

MAJORITY

RESPECT

ADMIRE
TIME:

TIME

MONEY

UNDERSCHEDULE

OVERSCHEDULE

NOW

PAST, FUTURE

2. What do I really want? Values, experiences, things, status, accomplishments, goals

Hard Decisions.

1. Simplify.

What can you let go of?

Check out Life Edited. Graham Hillless stuff, more happiness Ted Talk

2. Get Particular
We often just want a new time management system
so we can fit it all in but maybe we need let go of
doing it all

Does this RAISE my vibration or LOWER my vibration?

Please note: the same thing can do both depending on the day.

3. Prioritize.
These changes dont always come organically at first.
Experiment.

3. List things that are better with quantity and quality

quality

1. the standard of something as

measured against other things of a similar kind; the

degree of excellence of something.
2. a distinctive attribute or characteristic possessed
by someone or something.

quantity

1. the amount or number of a ma-

terial or immaterial thing not usually estimated by

spatial measurement.

4. List every time that moving really fast has brought

you a lot of JOY

5. List every time that moving really SLOW has brought

you a lot of JOY.

6. What are your biggest

Passions?

Resources:
Carl Honor in praise of slowness TED talk
Graham Hillless stuff, more happiness Ted Talk
Workaholics Anonymous Book of Recovery
Barry SchwartzThe Paradox of Choice TED talk
Stephanie Brown PhDSpeed: Facing Our Addiciton to Fast and Faster
and Overcoming