The Power of Slowing Down

I am grounded. I am steady. I am here.

As summer ends and we get ready for school, routines, and all the tasks that come with late August, it helps to slow down and ground ourselves, honouring our Vata energy.

In Ayurveda, Vata is linked to air and space. It brings movement, creativity, change, and transition. These qualities help us adapt and move forward. But when life gets busy, Vata energy can also make us feel scattered or ungrounded.

The end of summer often brings this kind of energy.

It’s easy to want to rush ahead. We start thinking about schedules, school, work, and all our fall plans. Suddenly, we’re living weeks ahead instead of noticing the day right in front of us.

Today at Lakeside Yoga, we focused on slowing down.

Instead of moving quickly through poses, we took time to feel our feet on the ground, breathe deeply, open our hips, relax our bodies, and let ourselves become still.

Our intention was simple:

I am grounded.

I am steady.

I am here.

After class, I always talk with those who join me in person and ask how the practice felt. I enjoy hearing what they noticed in their bodies, minds, and energy.

One woman said she enjoyed grounding herself during the hour and taking time to really feel each posture.

Another person shared how much she liked Waterfall Pose and how she uses it in the evening to help her body and mind get ready for sleep.

Someone else smiled and said that being with Tavis helps her feel grounded. His presence reminds her to relax, settle, and stay present.

Others shared similar thoughts. What they appreciated most was simply being by the lake, on their mats, and nowhere else.

In Canada and the United States, we have come to view stillness as unproductive. We have vilified slowing down, resting, and taking time to be. We wear busyness like a badge of honour. Yet many of our Mediterranean neighbours across the pond have long embraced pauses in the day, time around the table, afternoon rest, unhurried conversation, and the simple act of being present.

Being still does not mean being stuck.

Sometimes, being still gives us the space we need to listen.

It gives us time to notice what is changing around us and inside us.

It gives us room to think about how we want to respond, instead of just reacting to the next demand, task, or season.

Practicing outside by the lake feels especially powerful. The grass under us, the trees moving in the breeze, the water nearby, and Tavis resting quietly with the group all seemed to share the same message.

You do not always have to be busy.

It is okay to simply be.

As summer slowly turns to fall, we can try to resist the urge to rush along with it.

We can enjoy the days we have left.

We can notice the sun’s warmth, the sound of the water, the earth under our feet, and the people beside us.

When life starts to speed up, we can choose to slow ourselves down.

When our minds race ahead to tomorrow, we can bring ourselves back to today.

When we feel scattered, we can reconnect with the ground beneath us.

Sometimes, grounding can be as simple as taking a slow breath, going for a walk, sitting outside, rolling out a yoga mat, resting in Waterfall Pose, spending time with a beloved dog, or standing with both feet on the earth and reminding ourselves:

I am grounded.

I am steady.

I am here.

The seasons will change in their own time.

We do not have to rush along with them.