How I make slow living a daily practice!

Slow living is a practice for me and it is not necessarily what I am doing as much as how I am doing it and how much of it I am doing at any given time. For example: I used to cook before I began to explore becoming present and conscious as I am cooking. So the act remains the same and now the way I show up for it is shifting on a daily basis.

Now, I always take some deep breaths before I enter the kitchen and check in to see what is happening in the body, the emotions and the mind chatter. When I feel upset or angry, I sit a few extra minutes till that feeling processes itself before I begin doing anything. And in the rare case that the feelings are big and will not subside, I postpone cooking. Sometimes I will even order in food or go eat at a friend's house rather than cook with those emotions swirling inside. I have to admit that in the beginning when I checked in and noticed anger (for example), I immediately got attached and added my story (why I am angry, whose fault is it, etc) and then the emotions spiraled into guilt and then regret and so on. Now, I am able to check in and notice without going down the rabbit hole and I am finding that whatever is happening (sensation, emotion or thought) quickly dissolves.

Once I am inside the kitchen, I first locate and gather the ingredients. I make sure there is no clutter and that I have all the tools. I stop to notice the colors, aromas and touch of fresh produce and the spices for sure. When I cut, separate, steam or roast, I am right there...feeling each movement of the spoon or ladle or a whistle of the cooker. I love to observe the changes from hard to soft or the reverse, the changes in color and the changes in aromas.

Again, in the past, I would be impatient and move to the next step of the recipe before the pre-cooking or steaming is done. Or I would turn up the flame to speed up the process! Now I have a system...I am happy to let the simmer or the low heat roast do its magic as I clean a shelf or sometimes have time for a little dance or a sip of tea. This time that I am now able to offer each step makes the food I make taste different...this might sound a bit weird, I feel the food has a coming-together-completely taste. For example, when I made dal, there would be a film of liquid on the top and the dal at the bottom. Now, the dal is a beautiful blended mixture of lentils, vegetables, spices with a thick yet fluid consistency.

More importantly, the food digests so differently. As I sit and eat afterwards with my partner, each bit brings contentment. Eating is also a new slow living practice for me - that is the subject of a future post because it is still a work in progress.

One last share: In the beginning, I spoke of slow living being how I do something and how much of it at a time! So another shift is not speaking on the phone or even "future planning" in my mind when I cook. I will play music or even a discourse sometimes because it allows me to stay present. Only cooking when cooking is also an aspect of slow living for me.