We often find ourselves running around with our busy lives and without knowing our day is ending. We feel exhausted and we lie down in the couch hoping to get some relaxation before falling sleep. This seems to be repeated time and time again with some variations on the weekend and holidays. That is depending on your circumstances because you may have to work on the weekend or look after a large family or clean the entire house because it is the only time you have at home.

The struggle of ‘slowing down’ gets to each of us in one way or another and the desire to achieve some kind of relaxation and quiet time, increases every day. Sometimes, we appear to have given up and resign ourselves that this is only going to happen when we retire. Well, I am convinced that we can all work on making some changes to allow some time to slow down right now.

Firstly, I would like to clarify that the idea of ‘slowing down’ does not mean stop working or having a holidays. I rather like to think that ‘slowing down’ can be something that everyone can incorporate to their routine just by making small changes. Here are some ideas to inspire you but I am sure you will be able to make a list on your own:

• Give it a go to use walking rather than a car at least one day a week for a small distance activity such as: picking up the kids from school; buying some groceries at the local supermarket; etc. If you are very far away from some of these places you can always park your car a few blocks away and walk to the place. 
  
  
• Make your own pizza dough without using the bread machine. You can google lots of recipes and pick one each week and add your own touch to it. This could be a fun activity and children could participate decorating the pizza with different toppings. 
  
  
• Get the family or friends together to play board games. You can get different family members to bring one board game each time and try all the different ones while having a great time together. Board games can go for hours and everyone will have time to talk and share while being entertain. Most board games can include up to 8 people.
  
  
• Go for a walk and take your camera/phone to take photos of the things you see. Most people won’t take photos of the park around the corner but if they were on holidays they probably would. The idea of doing this is to walk and observe, to stop and look and to enjoy what are you seeing and experiencing.
  
  
• Buy seeds from the local nursery and grow some plants for your garden. Watching plants grow is a very enjoyable experiencing and could be a great way to get the whole family involve. Children often like to take care of plans and name them. 
  
  
• Write a letter by hand. This may sound strange but most of us hardly do any handwriting at all. Writing a letter to somebody and sending it by post can be a bit of a surprise especially if we normally send an email for their birthdays or just a card with no letter. You may want to try to write letters to people who are close to you to let them know how much your love them and appreciate them. 
  
  

The most important of all is that when you are slowing down you are able to become aware of what are you doing and learn to enjoy it. So, we don’t need to take a holidays to slow down we can do it all year around in our homes, work and neighbourhood.
 
I would like to recommend a beautiful book that inspired me to write this blog: “The Little Book of Slow” by Sally Wise and Paul McIntyre.
The little book of slow

​Claudina Garcia
Psychologist- Director
Psychologists’ Corner

For many of us approaching the New Year encourages reflection and wiliness to undertake some changes. It is not always easy to work out what it is that we want or need to change, here are some tips that may facilitate some positive thinking.
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1. Think about what you enjoyed the most this year. What were your best experiences, moments and highlights of the year? Write a list and tick the ones you want to repeat in the next year.
2. Think about something you really wanted to do but you did not have time. Added it to you list.
3. Think about the one new thing that you want to try the next year. Added that to your list as well.
4. Write four positive feelings you want to experience at least every week in the New Year, write next to each feeling the things that may help you to feel that way. For example: I want to feel happy. I feel happy when I play with my dog. I will make sure I play with my dog at least once a week.
5. Write four names of people that make you feel cared for, happy and safe and make sure you will be in contact with them regularly.

You can add to this list your own ideas but this can be a start for the New Year. Remember change does not have to be huge it can be small things you do every day but will make a significant impact in your life in the long term. Change always start with the way you think about yourself and what you want to achieve.
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Happy New Year!

Claudina Garcia
Psychologist- Director
Psychologists’ Corner ​