11:11 Waves Blog 12: Slow

Every Monday, I share 1 question for you to contemplate, 1 idea from me, 1 quote from others, and 1 inspiration for us.

Today’s topic is: Slow

Over the last few days, I did a movie marathon and watched all 11 movies of Malaysian-Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang. Tsai is a practitioner of the so-called “Slow Cinema” and his movies are known for being quiet, minimalistic, contemplative, short on dialogues, long on takes and extremely slow. Watching these movies back-to-back highlighted the massive contrast between “slow living” and the bustle of modern life.

One Question for you

In a world that values busy and fast pace…

Discuss the question here.

One Idea from me

Faster is not always better. By slowing down you can become more intentional and strategic, make more quality and sustainable decisions, build deeper relationships, have more meaningful experiences and go further. Here are three practices I invite you to experiment with that will help you to learn how to slow down:

1. Savour your tea or coffee

Taking the time to mindfully pay attention and enjoy small moments throughout the day is a wonderful way to learn how to slow down. An easy and accessible exercise is to practice noticing, enjoying and savouring your tea of coffee as you drink it. Instead of multitasking, checking your social media feed or doing something else, try to experience your favourite drink as if it is the first time that you are drinking it. Pay attention to the smell, the colour, the feeling of the cup against your hands, the flavour, how it makes you feel emotionally and use the experience to pull you into the present moment and slow down. What are you able to discover that you have access now to that you were previously unaware of?

2. Contemplate an inspirational quote

Each day this week, pick a motivational quote (click here for some inspiration), read it out loud, sit and contemplate the seed idea of this quote for three minutes. Observe your thoughts as they arise and notice what you are experiencing (e.g. body sensations, feelings, energy etc.). At the end of each practice, take two minutes and reflect on: What did you experience through the contemplation that you normally would not have noticed? How did today’s contemplation affect your priorities and decisions?

3. Say yes more intentionally

Another way to slow down is to start adding more space into your schedule. A great way to do this is to practice saying “no” more often and saying “yes” more intentionally. Every time you say “yes” to something, you are saying “no” to something else, so make sure your “yeses” align with the things you value and prioritize what is most important to you.

One Quote from others

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” Lao Tzu

One Inspiration for us

Inspired by the movies of Tsai Ming-liang, this week I am sharing a short clip that compares a scene from a “slow cinema” film and a scene from a Hollywood picture. While it may be unfair to compare a dialogue scene with an action scene, in slow cinema the whole “action” is the movie itself. My invitation is for you to watch the clip and notice how the two scenes make you feel. When paying attention to the scene on the left-side of the screen, what did you discover about yourself that was not accessible to you while you were watching the scene on the right-side of the screen?