The Science of Slowing Down
We live in a culture that values speed and productivity. We’re constantly bombarded with messages telling us that we need to do more, be more, and have more. Most of the time we celebrate the hustle mindset and we equate busyness with success. It’s no surprise, therefore, that we try to cram as much as possible into our days. We work long hours, we check our phones constantly, and we fill our free time with activities. No wonder that many an executive get a feeling of being burnt out around forty years of age.
Modern life trains us to compress moments, stacking one on top of another until the day feels like a precarious tower. We check our phones while stirring the soup. We plan tomorrow’s meeting during today’s conversation. Neurologically, this constant future focus floods the brain with anticipatory stress signals—spikes of cortisol and adrenaline that keep us hyper-vigilant but drain our emotional bandwidth. When we operate this way for too long: (i) the prefrontal cortex (responsible for focus, empathy, and decision-making goes offline (ii) the amygdala (our fear/alarm centre) becomes overactive; and memory and creativity decline, because the brain is always primed for “what next” rather than “what now.”
Christine Durst and Michael Haaren (Chris & Mike) founded Rat Race Rebellion to advocate the virtual-work/work-from-home movement since 1999 to ease the tension to some extent. They designed the first virtual-career programs for the US State Department and the Armed Forces. Their virtual job-finding workshops have been given at community colleges and churches, for organizations for people with disabilities, for military spouses and veterans, and many more, which in a way made life less stressful.
What is the cure for the “burnt out” feeling? Obviously, it is slowing down. Slowing down is not doing less, but accessing more. Presence in the moment restores the brain, body, and relationships. Presence, by contrast, activates the parasympathetic nervous system, lowering heart rate and blood pressure, increasing oxygen flow, and restoring access to higher brain functions. But in a world where hustling is the norm, slowing down is much easier said than done. It takes time and effort, like breaking any habit, but it’s worth it. Slowing down significantly reduces stress, anxiety, and overwhelm levels; creates more ease in life; and provides more time for the things that bring joy.
While the concept of living at a slower pace isn’t new, it has become a hot social media topic in recent years as more people tire of trying to keep up with a fast-paced existence. There are many components to practicing slow living, but it boils down to this: “Slow living is embracing a mindful, intentional way of living that emphasizes slowing down and being more present in your everyday life,” explains life and empowerment coach Laina Caltagirone. What Caltagirone is describing is a major departure from a culture that glorifies living a fast-paced, rushed and hustled lifestyle.
The term “slow living” was coined in the 1980s by Italian activist Carlo Petrini, who founded the “slow food” movement in protest of fast-food culture. “He believed that people should take the time to enjoy food and return to Italian culture and values, including a focus on family, community, and quality of life,” Caltagirone tells Daily OM. The movement later spread, she adds, and the idea of embracing slowness extended beyond food to include principles of mindfulness, simplicity, and sustainability. Caltagirone emphasizes that slow living doesn’t mean living passively or being lazy. “Slowing down and being more present in everything you do actually makes you more effective,” she says. This is why when you try to multitask to get more done, your performance and productivity may suffer — and why many experts advise a “monotasking” approach of doing one thing at a time, with intention. The more one slowed down, the more one became intentional with time and energy, which helped achieving goals sooner and more efficiently.
Presence calms stress and sharpens focus. Multitasking kills connection and trust. Slowing down makes time feel richer. Small daily pauses enrich your brain, body and relationships. This is so because presence activates the parasympathetic nervous system, lowering heart rate and blood pressure, increasing oxygen flow, and restoring access to higher brain functions. Presence is the principal gateway into all the others. It’s not about forcing stillness or emptying one’s mind like a meditation app might suggest. It’s about making yourself fully available with every cell of your body.
When you drop your pre-sense of what’s coming, you stop living as a particle bound to the clock and start resonating as a wave—open, attuned, receptive.
You may have noticed how time seems to slow in moments of awe or danger, or even in anxiety. Neuroscientists call this “time dilation.” It occurs when the brain shifts into present-moment awareness, processing more detail per second. Slowing down deliberately can create a similar shift. Micro-pauses before speaking give your brain time to choose words with care. Pausing during a walk allows your senses to register colour, texture, and sound, which boosts mood-regulating neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. Even 60 seconds of stillness can reset your autonomic nervous system, reducing stress signals by 20-30 percent.
This inquiry has roots in Atma Vichara (“self-inquiry”) from the Advaita Vedanta tradition, most notably articulated by Sri Ramana Maharshi. Contemporary adaptations also appear in Arjuna Ardagh’s work on awakening and relational presence. The version offered here—the Mirror of Presence—is an adaptation for relational coaching, designed to deepen trust and dissolve performance masks. Even a few minutes of this “presence mirroring” can open space for authenticity, safety, and shared awareness.
Presence doesn’t require a meditation cushion. Here are three “time dilation” techniques one can try on day-to-day basis: (i) Single-task with ceremony—Choose one daily action (making tea, washing hands, opening your laptop) and perform it with your full attention, as if it were sacred. (ii) Pause at thresholds—Before walking into a meeting, a patient’s room, or your own front door, take one deep breath and release all mental rehearsals. (iii) Listen with your skin—In conversation, imagine listening not just with your ears but through your whole body. Notice shifts in posture, tone, and energy.
The more one practices slowing down, the more one notices: (i) People open up more quickly. (ii) People recall more of what was said—and what wasn’t. (iii) People feel less exhausted at the end of the day, even if their schedule is full. (iv) Creativity and intuition emerge without forcing. And perhaps most importantly, one begins to feel one’s own life again—not as a blur of obligations, but as a sequence of moments worth inhabiting.
Slowing down in life involves adopting a mindful, intentional approach to reduce stress and enjoy the present moment by decreasing commitments, disconnecting from technology, and prioritizing self-care, relaxation, and meaningful connections. Key practices include mindful breathing, engaging with nature, setting boundaries, practicing gratitude, and simplifying routines to cultivate a calmer, more fulfilling existence. Sometimes the greatest gift you can give—to yourself, to others, to the world—is simply to slow down enough to truly arrive.
Bhushan Lal Razdan, formerly of the Indian Revenue Service, retired as Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), Chandigarh.
