Slow Dance
An invitation to slow down… with a poem. A reminder of the power of engaging in every day life moments. Are you noticing the beauty around you, being curious about the butterflies, and birds as they fly about. Can you be present, and enjoy each moment (or even one moment) today?
Can you slow down?
My mindfulness, and psychotherapy work with clients, constantly reinforces the benefits of slowing down, pausing for a moment to notice what is here (the pleasant, the unpleasant and the neutral experiences). In this way you can balance the scales - by re-living the good (not just getting hooked by the human negativity bias, and inner self critic).
But how?
Firstly, you recognise and acknowledge a moment of goodness or beauty. Nest, you can either savour it in the moment, or take yourself back there in your mind’s eye, and savouring it.
Psychologist Rick Hanson encourages us to savour these experiences for 20 seconds, and to repeat this practice 3 times each day, as a way to rewire your brain to notice the good, and support good nervous system function.
How do I remember to slow down?
The below poem is one reminder to slow down.
If you’re finding yourself stuck in a busy loop, unable to slow down, and need some support, please reach out for a counselling or coaching session, or to learn some mindfulness skills to build this capacity. I am currently offering 1:1 counselling and mindfulness meditation sessions; online via Zoom, or in person in Dingley Village, Melbourne.
SLOW DANCE, by David L Weather-ford
Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.
Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask: How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.
Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say, ‘Hi’?
You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music wont’ last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower.
Hear the music,
Before the song is over.
Along with personal counselling and coaching sessions, Nicky offers individual mindfulness meditation and iRest sessions, and Corporate wellbeing programs and workshops.