– A key pillar in the slow living lifestyle is to begin by examining your relationship with your technological devices. How much time, consciously and not, do you spend in front of them. Do you scroll on your phone while the television is on? Are you on your phone first thing in the morning and the last thing at night? Slow living is about understanding when enough is enough and it’s time to put the screens away and be present.

– Another key point is understanding that we have been conditioned in society to have a “go, go, go” mentality. Whether that be the constantly updating world of social media or the idea that we must always be doing something in our own lives, FOMO (fear of missing out) is exactly what slow living tries to prevent. Learning to say no to things in order to prioritize what is important to you is crucial, and as a chronic people-pleaser, I understand how hard that mindset is to rewire. Sitting down and being honest with yourself about what your boundaries are, what brings you joy, and what you have the bandwidth for, is a great first step to bring slow living into your life.

– Mealtimes are also a great place to incorporate slow living. So many of us are on our phones or watching tv while we eat which leads to a lot of mindless meals. Did you know that the average person spends a little over 1 hour per week eating? If you eat 2 meals a day, that’s around 4 minutes per meal. However, it takes approximately 20 minutes from the time you start eating for your brain to send out signals of fullness. Eating at a slower pace ensures you are allowing your stomach to receive those signals, preventing overeating and that dreaded stuffed feeling. During your next meal, eat as you normally would and time yourself to see how long you take. Try to increase that time by a minute each day. If meals are the time you relax and watch something, put on a 20-minute show and be mindful of having your meal last that long.

At HempMy Pet™, we incorporate many ideas from the slow living movement into our business. In the garden, letting our plants grow as long as they need to reach the quality and efficacy we stand for. And during extraction, we make sure the process is done slowly at very low temperatures to maintain the medicinal integrity of the extract. As well as during formulation, as we make our hemp-infused oils and biscuits in small batches to ensure consistency and potency. Loving care and quality is at the core of everything we do, and we love that this philosophy promotes the same for all of our lives.