Slowing down

Yuval Harari believes that our suffering is rooted in our disconnection from our bodies and from our very important need to be closer to our nature. We stop doing what is truly natural for us—listening to our feelings, noticing the signals from our bodies, and analyzing what is happening around us with our own eyes and ears, rather than through the prepared viewpoints presented to us on a television screen.

I don’t know about you, but I stop feeling life when my attention is constantly directed outward. When I focus solely on how to tell my story rather than how to feel it myself. On how to take a photo instead of seeing moments with my own eyes and feeling them with my soul. My external focus makes life tasteless—how to make it to a meeting, how to pay all the bills, how to shuttle the kids between activities and schools, how to prepare food on time, how to watch interviews with political analysts, how to like all my friends’ posts even though I hardly have time to read them.

And how I love to slow down! Because then there is space for internal focus. There emerges a space where I pay attention to myself and my sensations. Everything I do then passes through the filter of my conscious evaluation. And, of course, the search for pleasant sensations begins, while anything that brings unpleasant feelings is viewed with greater scrutiny: “Do I really need this?” Additionally, there is room for strategic planning, and everything starts to come together more timely and successfully. It seems to me that during these periods, I become much more charismatic, and most importantly—content with myself and my life.

Try to slow down. Try to perform your actions mindfully, feeling them as if you are touching them, observing them from different angles.