Health column: My unexpected journey from hustle to healing

I am still recovering from a full-time job that required me to wake up at 5 a.m. to commute almost 40 miles to work. My previous life was built around working from home with slow mornings and no commute, and the change threw my nervous system into overdrive. I felt that I had no time to do anything but work, eat, and sleep. Based on my view from I-49, it seemed a lot of others were doing the same.

As I began to understand more about whole health, I realized that this was not a balanced lifestyle for me. To be able to face the challenges that arise during the day, moments of calm need to be present in the morning. When you give yourself permission to slow down, it helps you shift from a state of fight or flight to rest, digest and heal. Research shows it’s also teaching your brain to focus on what matters the most.

In today’s hustle culture, a world that glorifies speed — faster information, quicker meals, less downtime — sometimes the best and most radical thing we can do is make the intention to slow down. With the known cumulative negative effects of stress on the body, learning to slow down can be a bold health move. By finding a way to slow down the morning or add pauses throughout the day, slow living is a mindful approach to life that helps us learn to resist the urge to rush through time just to get to the next thing.

I resisted this concept initially. I am of German descent and very Type A at times and have survived my life by staying in motion. The first time I observed my husband in meditation, I asked why in the world was he sitting down when there was so much to do! His meditation practice had helped him combat stress and overwhelm, creating emotional balance during the day.

Just googling the benefits of meditation yielded a significant amount of positive health outcomes – so many that I had him teach me how to start. Yet full-time work almost totally squeezed it out of my life.

By walking away from my high stress job in January, I was able to reclaim my well-being, my meditation practice and more. I began applying slowness to exercise, as crazy as that sounded to me. One of the best Tai Chi/Qi Gong instructors in Northwest Arkansas teaches at my gym, and I started attending his class. This traditional Chinese exercise class is backed by a significant amount of research. The movements are slow, graceful and somewhat meditative. But I couldn’t figure out if it was really doing anything for me.

It’s a good thing I had done my research, or I would’ve stopped attending. The slowness was exhausting! But the movements have been shown to significantly boost “brain-derived neurotrophic factor,” a key molecule that is like “Miracle-Gro” for your brain. It literally helps grow new neurons, repair old ones, and keep our brain functions sharp as we age.

Cultivating moments of slowness – a morning routine that allows stillness, devotional time, prayer and meditation as well as slower than usual movement classes – reminds me that life isn’t something to get through, it’s something to experience. Where can you carve out a few minutes to bring the magic of slowness to your life?

Lisa is a holistic nurse coach who grew up in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. She has spent the past 38 years in multiple facets of fitness and wellness helping others with personal transformation through movement, nutrition, and mindset training. She holds a BSN from Oral Roberts University and an MBA from Indiana University. You can reach Lisa at www.LisaBellHenson.com or [email protected].