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Given the breakneck speed of modern society, easing your pace can sometimes seem like a daunting or even an impossible task. Fortunately, the natural world extends an invitation to do exactly that each autumn when cooler temperatures and less daylight urge you to rest and recharge.
Slowing down is not an act of laziness. Rather, reducing the speed at which you travel through life—physically, mentally, and emotionally—creates space. Choosing to remain unhurried allows you not only to sense the changes in air and light but to linger over them and enjoy the process of it all.
We hereby grant you permission to press pause on your daily grind and step through fall in slow motion. The following ideas from YJ editors and our friends can help you slow your momentum.
30 Ways to Slow Down This Fall
1. Linger at the farmers market and truly observe the abundance of harvest season (The bounty! The colors!)
2. Window shop with a warm beverage in hand.
3. Plan more hikes—and build in ample time to gawk at the color and movement of the leaves.
4. Cook foods that require patience, such as soups, braises, and roasts.
5. Brew a cup of tea or coffee. Observe the ancient nature of the act.
6. Sit and let your thoughts take you nowhere (and everywhere).
7. Spend time outside taking in the season’s scents.
8. Rewatch those cliché films and show such as You’ve Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally, and Gilmore Girls. They feature some beautiful (and quite cozy) seasonal shots.
9. Jump into leaf piles (again and again and again).
10. Pick fruit. Savor it immediately or save it for baking.
11. Try your hand at handiwork such as knitting or embroidery.
12. Consider starting a dream journal for a mindful transition from sleep to waking.
13. Stare out the window and watch the sun slowly come up (or go down).
14. Make hot chocolate from scratch.
15. Read more fiction.
16. Sit by a fire in the crisp air.
17. Listen to records. Enjoy the activity of setting up the player, listening until your vinyl plays through, then getting up to flip it.
18. Switch up your playlists. Peruse some online autumnal playlists and see what sounds others associate with the season.
19. Attempt something new, whether a recipe, an art form, or a route to work, and know it’s okay when you stumble or take a wrong turn.
20. Lower the lighting. All glows warm and dim are welcome.
21. Candles, candles, candles.
22. Visit a pumpkin patch or apple orchard (maybe more than once).
23. Ease into your mornings.
24. Journal before bed to clear your mind of cobwebs.
25. Wander around an antique store. Sense the stories housed in the items around you.
26. Invite a loved one into the kitchen and prepare a meal together.
27. Select a nearby tree and take a photo of it each day. Watch it change through the season.
28. Watch a black-and-white film. The change in pace is remarkable.
29.Try a restorative yoga practice.
30. Take a staycation—even if it’s just to a tent in your own backyard.
