Slowing down is a superpower

Are you back to work this week? 

You longed for long summer nights. You feel cheated somewhat that the sunshine didn’t appear as much as you’d hoped. Summer simply slipped through your fingers. And somehow now, it’s September already again.

Despite loving the idea of the back to school vibes, new pencil cases and the opportunity for a fresh start, it just doesn’t quite feel the same this year. You’re tired. There’s a sense of dread lingering in the air. Nothing about September feels as attractive as it, well, ‘should’. 

Sound familiar? 

If all this is making you want to crawl back under the bed covers and hide until the new year, stop. There’s an easier way of approaching the ‘back-to-school’ feeling that September brings that’ll help you to keep moving forward too. 

Keep reading to find out more…

Slowing down is a superpower, not a weakness.

I’m sure we’ve all heard of ‘hustle culture’ and the glorification of busy. The temptation to fill every waking minute of your diary and down several litres of coffee to fuel it. 

The problem is, as soon as we do this to ourselves, our central nervous system goes into a state of alert - and being in a chronic state of alert can lead to burnout. 

Think a full work diary, mixed with high intensity workouts, a few glasses of wine in the evening and a decent number of oat-milk flat whites.  My friend, you’ve got yourself a recipe for broken sleep, stifled creativity, burnout and simply just going through the motions. 

Sigh…

So, what can you do instead?

Well, the good news is that this IS in your control. It all starts with you. 

If your work diary is jam-packed, your body NEEDS you to slow down. Here’s why:

See sunshine first thing.

On the podcast Huberman Lab, Dr Huberman says, “what we do in the waking state determines when we fall asleep, how quickly we fall asleep, whether or not we stay asleep, and how we feel when we wake up the next day.” 

You see, there are 2 chemical reactions that happen as a result of sun exposure - the increasing and decreasing levels of cortisol and melatonin.

“There’s a healthy rising tide of cortisol that happens early in the day… it makes you feel alert, it makes you feel able to move and want to move throughout your day for work for exercise, school, social relations, etc. But it also sets off a timer in your nervous system that dictates when a different hormone, called melatonin, which makes you sleepy, will be secreted,” Dr Huberman explains. 

“Bringing that cortisol pulse earlier in your wakeful period has positive benefits, ranging from [lowering] blood pressure to [improving] mental health. In fact, it’s fair to say that light – particularly sunlight – is 1,000 to 10,000 times more effective than say, getting up in darkness and just exercising.”

But why is this so important? Dr Huberman goes on to explain why…

“A late shifted cortisol pulse is a consequence and/or a cause of a lot of anxiety disorders and depression,” says Dr Huberman. 

So those with poorer mental health may be having cortisol spikes later in the day, rather than the morning.    

In short, getting out for a short walk in the morning, or even drinking your morning coffee by a window can be beneficial to support the rise in cortisol first thing, leading to lower stress levels and promoting positive mental health. 

Make time for the slow stuff. 

Swap your high-intensity workout for a low-intensity one instead - think yoga, jogging, pilates or even weights (as long as it doesn’t raise your heart rate too high).

When your world is busy, your body needs you to slow down to calm the central nervous system. 

When your world is less busy, your body will respond better to higher intensity workouts.

The same goes for meditation. How can you fit in 30 seconds of deep breathing into your day?

Explore your cycle

For those of us in the room with periods, where we’re at with our menstrual cycle will impact how we respond to the outside world.

Generally speaking (bearing in mind everyone has different cycle lengths) :

Credit: Rising Woman

When we’re in the pre-moon and moontime phase (some refer to it as the autumn / winter phases or the luteal phase), our bodies will naturally edge towards going inwards and hibernating as it prepares to bleed. 

When we’re in our pre-ovulation and ovulation phase (spring / summer or the follicular phase), we’re more responsive to creativity, putting ourselves out there and being more sociable. 

There are some really good apps like Flo which help you to get to know your cycle in more detail and support you in understanding different symptoms. Personally, I find it really empowering to understand why I’m feeling a certain why and not just because I’m ‘tired again!’.

Slow down to tap back into you.

Ultimately, whether it be by getting outside first thing, changing up your exercise routine when things are tough, or delving deeper into understanding your cycle, all of these ideas are here to support you tapping back into you. 

They’re there to support your emotional wellbeing and to process any feelings of overwhelm or anxiety that may be coming your way.

The more we can tap into slowing down, the more present we’re able to be, the more creative our minds are and the better we sleep… all of which are conducive to promoting positive mental health and being in a good state of mind to thrive in your own way.

Want to find out more about how you can support yourself in further detail, with a personalised action plan report? 

By answering 5 easy questions, you'll have a better idea of which movie character you’re most like, the life scripts you've been telling yourself and how you can begin to make changes by overcoming obstacles that are holding you back, supporting you to thrive in your version of success.

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