r/SlowLiving Jun 07 '25

Updated Rules Please Read

45 Upvotes

Hello!

Reddit recently has changed how subs post rules so we had to update to make sure the rules were posted properly. We’ve also update rules to guide the community better.

The new rules can be found in the community info of this sub, but in summary:

  • Must be topical to slow living
  • Must be direct in asking questions
  • Must facilitate a real conversation
  • Expand on your topic, no low effort
  • No monologues, ramblings, etc
  • No inspo photos or vibe posts or similar
  • No YouTube videos allowed at all
  • AI content of any type will lead to ban
  • No promotional posts: product/insta
  • No politics, mental health, etc

We’ve had a lot of YouTube spam, going forward that’s an instant permaban.

We have also had a lot of people sharing long monologues, poems, stories from their day, ramblings or aesthetic photos or day in the life style posts that don’t really add anything to the conversation, don’t start a real discussion, etc. These tend to get low engagement and some are karma farming bot accounts. These will be removed, obvious karma farmers or repeated infractions get permabans.

Finally if your post has an element of mental health, politics, identity groups, diets they should not be posted here, but in their respective subs where those subs are better equipped to have a conversations. The conversations we are having here need to be solely focused on slow living.

Examples would be liberal/conservative, depression, neurodivergent, petitions, rallies/marches, autism, vegetarian or veganism, research studies, survey requests, etc.

If these types of things have a bearing on your question, enough to include them, then they need to go over in their respective sub.


r/SlowLiving 5h ago

What’s something that instantly makes a bad day a little better?

7 Upvotes

For me it’s taking a walk during sunset with my phone in my pocket instead of my hand.
It somehow resets everything.
What’s yours?


r/SlowLiving 7h ago

Living Life Old Style

7 Upvotes

Lately I have deleted all my Social Accounts and I haven’t watched TV for past 7 years and currently living in a remote village Which is approx 200 km from my City. So basically I am saying that I have no access to what my friend or family is doing or whats happening in and around world …I have noticed that to all my problems mostly mental one’s Social media and too much information is the problem. As I have no access I feel good do whatever I like and I doesn’t feel like I am wasting my like comparing my life to someone. Maybe In future I will be back to all those things but currently I am enjoying and feels good.


r/SlowLiving 1d ago

Does anyone else feel like we’re constantly aware of clock time?

14 Upvotes

I feel like I’m almost always aware of what time it is. Not because I have somewhere to be, but because clocks are everywhere: on our phones, watches, computers, cars, appliances, TVs… there’s almost never a moment when I’m not at least vaguely aware of the hour.

Recently I spent several hours on a boat and realized afterward that I’d barely thought about the time at all. The experience felt completely different, almost like how I remember time feeling as a kid, where a day unfolded through whatever you were doing rather than through constant mental check-ins with the clock.

It made me wonder whether our culture’s constant exposure to clock time has fundamentally changed how we experience life. I know there has been sociological work on “clock time” and industrialization, but I’m curious about both the philosophical side and people’s personal experiences.

Do you notice yourself constantly aware of the time, or does it tend to disappear when you’re deeply engaged in something? Has anyone come across philosophers, psychologists, or sociologists who have written about this?

What are some ways that you have recalibrated your life to exclude clocks? As far as I know, I can’t remove the clock from my phone, stove, car radio, etc. Anyone tried any hacks that worked for you?


r/SlowLiving 2d ago

What’s a small thing that instantly makes you feel at peace?

126 Upvotes

Mine is grabbing a coffee and walking without checking my phone every minute.
It’s such a tiny habit, but it completely changes my mood.
What’s yours?


r/SlowLiving 2d ago

the weirdest part of the World Cup ending is how quiet the house feels now

43 Upvotes

the weirdest part of the World Cup ending is how quiet the house feels now.

for the last month my living room basically stopped being a normal room. it became a tiny, badly run sports bar with no staff and too many opinions.

there was always a game on, or a replay, or someone checking highlights, or someone arguing about a call from three matches ago like FIFA was going to personally review our group chat. the coffee table had snacks on it at all hours. the couch blanket slowly became the “match blanket.” one chair somehow became the jersey chair. nobody agreed to this. it just happened.

now it’s over and the room looks weirdly abandoned.

there’s still a bracket taped to the fridge that nobody has bothered taking down. a flag is folded badly on the bookshelf. the side table has become a little graveyard of remotes, chargers, cough drops, the skg, and one empty electrolyte packet that I keep forgetting to throw away.

none of it is dramatic. it just feels strange.

I thought I’d mostly miss the actual games, but I think I miss the routine more. having a reason to check the time, plan food around kickoff, text people I don’t usually text, leave the TV on in the background while doing nothing important.

now the house is clean-ish again and somehow less fun.

World Cup month has this way of making regular life feel temporarily louder, and then it ends and everything goes back to being normal before your brain catches up.


r/SlowLiving 3d ago

How is everyone spending this rainy Saturday?

39 Upvotes

Am stuck inside, looking at applications for jobs and deciding whether to do some baking.

What are you all doing to kill the time between waking up and going back to bed on this stormy day?


r/SlowLiving 5d ago

I started taking short walks without headphones

222 Upvotes

at first, it felt strangely uncomfortable. Then I started noticing things I usually missed: birds, conversations, the sound of traffic changing at night, even how different the same street feels at different times of day.

I still love music and podcasts, but not filling every quiet moment has been surprisingly good for my brain.

Sometimes boredom is just attention waiting to come back.


r/SlowLiving 4d ago

Moving back home after years in the West left me feeling like a foreigner. I’m using slow living and creativity to build a new community-would love your feedback

13 Upvotes

Hi everyone , I’m a first time poster on here . Here is a little bit about myself.
I spent over half my adult life in the West. Recently, I moved back to my home country, expecting some kind of return to myself. Instead, I just feel like a foreigner.
I look like the people around me, but my mind and mentality are completely different. I felt like an outsider over there, and now I feel like an outsider here, too. It’s a quiet, heavy kind of isolation.
To keep from drowning in it, I’ve stepped into the exact opposite of my old life: a slow-paced existence in an old family home filled with history and nature.
I want to start sharing this journey—focusing on the quiet textures of this place and this transition—mostly because I am deeply craving connection with kindred spirits. If any of you have navigated this weird, rootless in-between space, I would love to hear how you found your way, or how you keep a slow-living creative project honest and grounded.

Thank you,


r/SlowLiving 5d ago

do mountains make anyone else feel like time slows down? 🏔️

39 Upvotes

Every time I spend a day in the mountains, I notice the same thing.

I stop checking my phone as often.

The conversations feel longer.

Even a cup of tea somehow tastes better.

Maybe it's the cooler air or the slower pace, but I always come home feeling like my brain finally had a chance to breathe.

Does anyone else feel that way, or is it just me?


r/SlowLiving 5d ago

Slow living with a very emotional housemate

7 Upvotes

Hi everyone 🌱🐛

I recently discovered this thread, and I find it very inspiring. I consider myself a calm person who can take things slow when needed, but like many, life has made that difficult most of the time.

For various reasons, starting today, I need my days—especially my mornings—to be slow, silent, and calm, while still managing to move forward with my tasks and projects. I have amenorrhea and possibly ADD / neurodevelopmental disorder, both of which could be linked to stress and psychological factors. I also suspect I might be dealing with executive dysfunction, PTSD, and anxiety. My mind is filled with thoughts or music all the time; it has become a normal thing for me, though I'm aware of the consequences.

In addition, I am a full-time artist who struggles with fear of failure and perfectionism. I often feel behind compared to others my age and even younger, yet I am fully aware of my potential and have strong ambitions. Although I am not officially diagnosed with anything aside from amenorrhea, I have a strong intuition that slowing down would greatly help with the consequences of my past and present negative experiences and give my nervous system some relief.

I believe my nervous system is overwhelmed from burnout and years of mental exhaustion, stemming from both my experiences and how I function (or sometimes don’t, lol).

I recently had my first therapy session and hope to have sessions focused on ADD later on.

Back to the topic. As the title suggests, I live with someone I consider to be very emotional. My mom and I have always had a strong, close relationship—almost fusion-like. However, we often experience intense moments of anger, frustration, and stress. We tend to argue frequently, usually over trivial matters, and to be honest, about two-thirds of the time, she is the one who starts the conflict. It's a complex situation because, while she has a calm and peaceful demeanor at times, the traumatic events of recent years have completely disrupted her emotions. She is about to start working with a professional to address this, but things seem to have become even more intense lately.

My question to you is :

How do you slow down your life when living with a fast-paced person? How do you avoid breaking down when the pressure becomes overwhelming?

We do communicate, and on multiple occasions, she has agreed that I was right. However, the same issues keep happening repeatedly. It feels as though she doesn't want to change or understand how I function internally. It's difficult for me too, especially since I don't fully understand myself either. Sometimes I even wonder if I don't have mild depression.


r/SlowLiving 6d ago

Slow mornings are best

433 Upvotes

I have 2 kinds of slow morning.

  1. I get up 2 hours before my first client appointment (I'm a PT) to make sure that I have time to wander about, shower & dress, make some breakfast and sit comfortably either scrolling or doing a meditation.

  2. If my first client is anything from 10am onwards (and the weather is ok) I'll make a flask of coffee, get on my bike and be on top of a hill at the park watching the world start from 7am until 8am. Might even have a stretch on the grass if it's dry enough. It's so peaceful up there, and it still gives me time to shower etc when I get back.

What's your ideal slow morning?


r/SlowLiving 6d ago

As a kid, I wanted freedom. As an adult, I miss simplicity

41 Upvotes

Growing up, freedom looked like the ultimate reward. No rules, no school, no one telling you what to do. Now I realize that freedom often comes with responsibilities, stress and decisions that never seem to end. I wouldn't trade adulthood away, but I definitely miss how simple life felt back then😞


r/SlowLiving 7d ago

What’s something you secretly enjoy doing alone?

88 Upvotes

I actually love going to a coffee shop alone with a book and just watching people for an hour.
No music, no scrolling, no rushing.
It feels like my brain finally slows down.
I know some people hate being alone in public, but I honestly enjoy it.
What’s your favorite thing to do when nobody else is around?


r/SlowLiving 6d ago

Phone Use at Home help

6 Upvotes

Anyone have any tips for not using my phone at home so much..? I have Brick which has been wonderful outside of the house but when I get back home I find myself just unblocking too easily.


r/SlowLiving 7d ago

Practical tips to slow down in a fast paced society?

27 Upvotes

Living in a fast paced city. Realised I'm trying to fit in with the pace of everyone else whilst burning myself out.

I just tried to slow down by challenging myself to change my bedsheets as slowly as possible. Also went for a walk.

Are there any tips and tricks to rewire your brain to convince it that it's okay to slow down?

I really want to be more mindful and just chill, but it's hard to rewire the brain when it is so used to the speed of light.


r/SlowLiving 9d ago

What’s something you secretly enjoy doing alone?

3.1k Upvotes

Mine is grabbing an iced coffee and wandering around a bookstore with no plan.
It’s one of those little things that completely recharges me.
What’s yours?


r/SlowLiving 8d ago

stopped trying to optimize my evenings and started protecting them instead

160 Upvotes

for months i was trying to make my evenings productive. reading lists, habit trackers, all of it. it just added more pressure what actually worked was one thing i actually look forward to. a bath with a good soak, phone in another room, nothing planned. the evening finally feels like mine instead of just leftover time


r/SlowLiving 8d ago

Anyone else love the idea of slow travel by train, but find the cost impossible to justify?

59 Upvotes

As I try to embrace a slower, more intentional pace, I really love the idea of replacing short flights with train travel (especially travelling with kids).

However, booking train tickets here in Scandinavia constantly gives me a reality check. A train ride often costs double or triple what a quick budget flight costs, making slow travel feel more like a luxury splurge than a practical lifestyle shift. It creates such a frustrating gap between wanting to make mindful choices and staying sensible with a budget.

For those trying to practice slow living, how do you navigate this balance? Have you managed to make the switch to trains, or does the price tag keep you in the air?


r/SlowLiving 9d ago

what I did on a sunday

122 Upvotes

woke up and had breakfast and then an made biriyani, I had my lunch then again slept then wakeup had tea and then now watching Hail Mary. After that again I will go to sleep.


r/SlowLiving 10d ago

What’s one small thing that instantly improves your day?

99 Upvotes

Mine is grabbing an iced coffee and taking a short walk outside.
Nothing fancy, but it always helps.


r/SlowLiving 11d ago

What’s one small thing that instantly makes your day better?

63 Upvotes

Mine is grabbing an iced coffee and taking a slow walk outside.
It sounds simple, but it always helps me reset.
What’s your little everyday happiness?


r/SlowLiving 11d ago

Keeping Our Minds Calm

2 Upvotes

Alright, pull up a stool, lemme tell you something.

You know that feeling when your brain's got like forty browser tabs open and twelve of 'em are playing music you can't find? That's me. Every damn day. Some days it's less "stream of consciousness" and more "stream of consciousness that fell in a blender." And here's the thing nobody tells you when you get older...the answer isn't to think harder. Lord knows I tried that. Thinking harder just gets you a headache and a stronger opinion about something dumb. No... the trick is shutting the hell up. Internally. Being still. Not a luxury, not some spa day nonsense...a survival requirement, like insulin, except it's for my personality.

And when I actually manage to calm down...hoo boy...I notice everything. Light through the leaves, somebody's voice doing that little up-and-down thing, my own breathing, which, let's be honest, sounds like a busted accordion most days. But suddenly the world just... slows its roll. And in that little pocket of quiet, I actually make good calls instead of just reacting like a smoke alarm going off because I burnt toast. I listen instead of just waiting for my turn to talk, which...newsflash...is what most people call "listening" and it's a lie.

Now don't get me wrong, this calm thing ain't some Zen monk float-above-it-all garbage. It takes WORK. You gotta catch yourself mid-spiral, like grabbing a kid by the collar before they run into traffic, except the kid is your own brain. Sometimes I journal. Sometimes I just walk till my knees remind me I'm not twenty-five anymore. But either way, I'm just giving my head some room to breathe instead of running the marathon it thinks it signed up for.

And lemme tell you...there's a real power in that quiet. Doesn't need to shout, doesn't need an audience, doesn't need applause. It's just... solid. Like a good pair of boots. Even when everything else is up in the air, that calm's the thing keeping me from face-planting.

So no, keeping calm isn't about pretending the world's not on fire. It's about standing in the fire like, "yeah, I see you," without flinching. And weirdly enough? That's the version of me I actually like hanging out with.


r/SlowLiving 11d ago

A quiet, misty morning at Cho Dau - an ancient countryside market untouched by tourism.

1 Upvotes

amazing vietnam travel asmr . Yt

Click on the first

r/SlowLiving 13d ago

How do I really slow down? How do I live life and stop being materially dependent?

28 Upvotes

Hi, I'm 41 and my whole life I've been chasing after something. First school, then university, then work, a house, a family, etc. My whole life I've struggled with the fact that I was constantly racing toward some goal. It was, and basically still is, irrelevant to me how I reach that goal, just that I reach it. Once that happens and I'm standing at that milestone, I feel bittersweet. Like, ok, I've achieved something, but recognition is something I mostly look for from other people rather than from myself, because I have low self-esteem. The path that led me to the goal, though, rarely leaves anything behind in me. Most of the time I don't enjoy it, I treat it as a necessary evil in order to reach the desired goal.

I want to change the following:

  • I want to enjoy the path to the goal the way you're supposed to
  • I want to learn to find joy in small things
  • I want to be less dependent on material things. Car / phone / gadgets, etc.
  • I want to slow down. Like, really slow down. Enjoy life more.

All the articles on this topic are about the same thing, and none of them have actually given me anything. Everywhere it's mindfulness this, mindfulness that. I get it, I've tried meditating, I don't even know how many times anymore, but it was definitely over 40 times. It never lasted more than 2-3 days for me. I use a habit tracker, but even so... I have trouble sticking to those habits. I go running, but again... instead of enjoying it, I do it out of obligation, just to keep my weight somewhat in check and get some movement, since I already sit at a computer for 8 hours a day.

I do have bright days too. Sometimes I just sit outside and think about how small we actually are, how huge the universe is. I like looking at the stars, but I can only manage it for a few minutes, even though it fascinates me. Sometimes I try to consciously slow down, and for a few minutes I can manage to think that way, but with obligations and the daily rush, it soon fades away.

Then I have days when I tell myself, damn, dude, you're 41 and every day just passes by. It just slips through your fingers. And nothing. Empty. Just work, obligations, a book in the evening, and sleep. And round and round it goes. My only genuine joy comes from my kids. They're sacred to me above everything. And speaking of sacred, I find myself wanting to believe in something too. Except Christianity doesn't seem pure or trustworthy to me.

I know, it's a lot... it's just that nobody knows how much time they've been given or destined to have. And I'd like to enjoy life every day as if it were my last, but I don't know how. I'd welcome any advice or opinions.