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Tag: Slow

  • A Light, Slow, Deep (LSD) Breathing Meditation

    A Light, Slow, Deep (LSD) Breathing Meditation

    Our breathing often becomes shallow, tense, or restricted during the day, and we don’t even notice it. Try this Light, Slow, Deep breathing technique to soften, relax, and expand again.

    Thanks to our autonomic nervous system, life-sustaining processes like our heartbeat, digestion, and breathing all happen without us even having to pay attention. But our environments, stress levels, and other factors can definitely affect the health and efficiency of these processes.

    For example, sitting hunched at our desks and staring at screens often means that our breathing gets shallow and irregular—which of course affects things like focus, energy, cognition, and attention.

    This week, Shamash Alidina leads a guided breathing exercise called Light, Slow, Deep (or LSD), designed to re-set the breath in a way that opens the chest, relaxes tension, and calms the nervous system.

    Most of us breathe backwards: too hard, too fast, and too much. We grip the breath without realizing it. LSD breathing is an invitation to do the opposite.

    • Light means breathing with softness, a gentleness, as if the breath is barely disturbing the air around you.
    • Slow means extending each breath, giving your nervous system time to settle like a pendulum that’s swinging wildly gradually finding its still point.
    • Deep means breathing low in your lower abdomen, not in your chest, but down where the lungs are roomiest and most efficient.

    Together, these three qualities activate your parasympathetic nervous system—the calm, rest-and-digest part of you that so often gets crowded out by the noise of the day. Think of it like turning down volume on a radio that’s been playing too loud. You’re not switching it off, you’re just bringing it to a gentler, more natural level.

    A Light, Slow, Deep (LSD) Breathing Meditation

    Read and practice the guided meditation script below, pausing after each paragraph. Or listen to the audio practice.

    1. Begin by finding a comfortable position. You could be on a chair, cross legged on the floor, lying down. You could even be standing and just gently moving. Whatever allows your body to feel supported and at ease. 
    2. The breath pattern we’ll use today is simple. Inhale for four counts, a gentle pause, and then exhale for six counts. A slightly longer exhale is key. Longer exhalations directly stimulate the vagus nerve, signaling to the whole system that you’re safe. So you don’t need to force anything, you just allow. 
    3. Let’s begin. Take one natural breath first. No need to change anything yet. 
    4. Now place one hand on your lower abdomen, just below your navel. This is your anchor and as you inhale you’re aiming to feel that hand rise like a tide coming in. As you exhale, the hand falls, the tide going out. 
    5. Keep going with that easy breath. Inhaling softly through the nose, feeling the lower abdomen expand. In two, three, four, pause. And exhale slowly. Two, three, four, five, six. And then pause. In, two, three, four, and out two, three, four, five, six
    6. Inhale light and steady like warming mists rising from still water. Exhale, the breath dissolving. Body softening. 
    7. If there is any tendency to grip or control as you’re breathing right now, see if you can loosen your hold on the breath by just a few percent. Inhaling, the lower abdomen is rising. Your chest is barely moving, your shoulders are down. 
    8. Remember to keep exhaling longer than the inhale. All the way to the end. As you inhale, receive the breath rather than taking it in. Exhale and release. Not pushing, just allowing the air to naturally leave.
    9. Now let the breath find its own natural rhythm. Your job is to simply notice it now as the witness, not as the controller. If thoughts arise, and they will, treat them like clouds passing through the still sky. The sky doesn’t chase the clouds, it doesn’t argue with them, it simply holds them. Allows them to be there, and they pass. 
    10. Feel how each complete breath cycle leaves you a little more still, a little more at ease. Like sediment settling slowly to the bottom of a glass of water. The water doesn’t try to clear itself, it just rests. And some clarity naturally comes. Breathing in, slow, light, low. Exhaling slowly. There’s nothing to achieve and nowhere to get to. The breath is simply happening—as it has, without effort, your whole life, long before any thought about it. 
    11. One way to breathe lightly is to breathe quietly. See if you can breathe so quietly that you can hardly hear your own breath. As you do this, you may sense a tiny amount of air hunger, a tiny urge to breathe more. And that’s quite natural. In fact, that’s a good sign. You’re rebalancing your oxygen and carbon dioxide in your body. More oxygen is getting into your cells and into your brain when you breathe lightly. 
    12. When you don’t force yourself too much, you may be able to notice a bit more saliva in your mouth, a bit more warmth in your hands and feet perhaps. This is the sign of the relaxation response engaging, a sign that you’re going in the right direction. 
    13. As we move towards the end of the practice, start noticing the quality of your mind right now. Is it quieter than when we started? Is it more spacious? LSD breathing doesn’t create this stillness, it reveals it. The stillness was always there underneath the movement. The breath simply clears the way. Inhaling light, slow, deep. And exhale, releasing any last effort. 
    14. Remember you can return to this breath at any point in your day—on the train, at your desk, before a difficult conversation. Doesn’t need any special equipment. Just a few moments. 
    15. When you’re ready, slowly allow your eyes to open if they’ve been closed. Take the outside world back into you, and carry this quality into your day. Well done, you’ve given yourself 12 minutes of genuine rest. Thank you for joining me.



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  • Does Skipping Meals Help You Lose Weight or Slow Metabolism? What You Need to Know

    Does Skipping Meals Help You Lose Weight or Slow Metabolism? What You Need to Know

    Skipping meals is often seen as a quick shortcut for weight loss because it reduces daily calorie intake. In the short term, it can create a calorie deficit, which is necessary for fat loss. However, the body doesn’t simply burn fat without consequences. When you skip meals, your system responds by adjusting energy use, hunger levels, and hormone balance. This can make weight management more complicated than it appears.

    While some people try to skip meals to lose weight, this habit may backfire over time. Hunger hormones can spike, leading to overeating later, while metabolism may slow down to conserve energy. Nutrition for weight loss is not just about eating less—it’s about eating smart. Sustainable fat loss requires consistency, balanced meals, and strategies that support both metabolism and overall health.

    Skipping Meals Metabolic Impact Short Long Term

    Skipping meals can negatively affect weight loss by triggering metabolic adaptation, where the body reduces energy expenditure to conserve calories. This means that even if you initially lose weight, your metabolism may slow down, making further fat loss more difficult. According to Banner Health, skipping meals can lead to reduced energy levels and a slower metabolism, which may counteract weight loss efforts over time.

    Another key issue is the disruption of hunger hormones, which directly affects fat loss and eating behavior. When you skip meals, ghrelin levels increase, making you feel hungrier, while leptin decreases, reducing satiety. This imbalance often leads to overeating later in the day, canceling out the calorie deficit. As a result, trying to skip meals to lose weight may create a cycle of restriction and overconsumption, making consistent fat loss harder to achieve.

    Skipping meals also contributes to muscle protein breakdown, especially when protein intake is inadequate. During long gaps without food, the body may use muscle tissue for energy, which reduces lean mass. Since muscle plays a major role in metabolism, losing it can slow calorie burning and impact long-term weight loss. This highlights why proper nutrition for weight loss should include regular meals with enough protein rather than relying on inconsistent eating patterns.

    Weight Loss Intermittent Fasting vs Continuous Deficit

    Intermittent fasting is a structured way to skip meals to lose weight, but it differs from random meal skipping because it follows a consistent schedule. Methods like the 16:8 approach limit eating to a specific time window, helping reduce calorie intake while still supporting fat loss.

    A continuous calorie deficit focuses on lowering daily intake in a steady, predictable way. This supports gradual weight loss while keeping energy levels stable. Based on a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health via PubMed, consistent calorie restriction can be effective for fat loss while reducing extreme metabolic adaptation.

    Both approaches can work, but consistency matters most. Unstructured skipping meals often leads to hunger and poor adherence. Nutrition for weight loss works best when it prioritizes balance, whether through intermittent fasting or regular meals.

    Nutrition for Weight Loss Sustainable Strategies Beyond Skipping

    Nutrition for weight loss is about building habits that support fat loss while protecting your metabolism. According to the National Institutes of Health, balanced nutrition and adequate energy intake are essential for maintaining metabolic health and preventing muscle loss. Instead of relying on skipping meals, focusing on sustainable strategies leads to better long-term results.

    • Protein Intake for Fat Loss and Muscle Preservation: Increasing protein intake supports fat loss by helping maintain muscle mass and improving satiety. Protein also has a higher thermic effect, meaning your body burns more calories digesting it compared to fats or carbohydrates. This makes it easier to stay in a calorie deficit without extreme restriction or skipping meals.
    • Diet Breaks and Refeed Periods for Metabolic Support: Using planned diet breaks helps prevent metabolic adaptation and keeps energy levels stable. Temporarily increasing calories to maintenance levels can restore hormone balance and support performance. This strategy allows your body to recover while still progressing toward weight loss goals.
    • Behavioral Consistency for Long-Term Success: Building consistent habits is key to sustainable nutrition for weight loss. Practices like meal planning, mindful eating, and food tracking improve adherence and reduce overeating. Instead of trying to skip meals to lose weight, focusing on routine makes fat loss more manageable and long-lasting.
    • Balanced Macronutrient Intake for Energy and Satiety: A proper balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats supports steady energy levels and reduces cravings. Carbohydrates fuel daily activity, while healthy fats help regulate hormones linked to hunger. This balance improves adherence and makes it easier to maintain a consistent calorie deficit.
    • Meal Timing and Regular Eating Patterns: Eating at regular intervals helps regulate hunger hormones and prevents extreme hunger later in the day. Consistent meal timing can improve satiety and reduce the urge to overeat. This approach supports both fat loss and metabolic stability without the need to skip meals.

    Sustainable Fat Loss Framework Beyond Meal Skipping

    Skipping meals may seem like a simple way to lose weight, but it often creates more challenges than benefits in the long run. While it can lead to a short-term calorie deficit, it may also slow metabolism, increase hunger, and reduce muscle mass. These effects can make weight loss less predictable and harder to sustain.

    A more effective approach focuses on consistency, balanced nutrition, and realistic habits. By prioritizing protein intake, maintaining a steady calorie deficit, and avoiding extreme restriction, you can support long-term fat loss. Nutrition for weight loss works best when it aligns with your lifestyle, helping you achieve lasting results without compromising your health.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    1. Is skipping meals a good way to lose weight quickly?

    Skipping meals can reduce calorie intake, leading to short-term weight loss. However, it often increases hunger and may cause overeating later. This can cancel out the calorie deficit created earlier in the day. Sustainable weight loss usually works better with consistent eating patterns.

    2. Does skipping meals slow down metabolism?

    Yes, skipping meals can lead to metabolic adaptation over time. The body may reduce its energy expenditure to conserve calories. This makes it harder to continue losing weight. Maintaining regular meals helps support a stable metabolism.

    3. Is intermittent fasting better than skipping meals randomly?

    Intermittent fasting is more structured and can be more effective than random meal skipping. It provides a clear eating schedule that helps control calorie intake. Random skipping often leads to inconsistent results and overeating. Structure plays a key role in success.

    4. How can I lose fat without skipping meals?

    You can lose fat by creating a moderate calorie deficit through balanced meals. Focus on protein intake, portion control, and consistent eating habits. Regular meals help manage hunger and maintain energy levels. This approach supports long-term fat loss and better overall health.



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  • How Slow Can You Go?

    How Slow Can You Go?

    Going slow has always been accompanied by an air of wisdom. “Adopt the pace of nature,” advised Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Her secret is patience.” A couple millennia and change before that, Lao Tzu said something similar: “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

    Yet these days, paeans to slowness have taken on a slightly more urgent tone. “We are on a bus speeding faster and faster toward a cliff, and we celebrate every added mile per hour as progress,” wrote the French economist Timothée Parrique in Slow Down or Die, published last May. “It’s madness. Maximizing growth is like stepping on the accelerator with the absolute certainty of dying in a social and ecological collapse.”

    The Japanese philosopher and economist Kohei Saito covered similar territory in Slow Down, his 2024 degrowth manifesto. Our obsession with GDPs is contributing not only to our collective suffering but to our eventual demise. After all, economic growth might be seen as the societal manifestation of individual craving—we want, therefore we buy.

    “We live in a cult of terminal velocity,” wrote the psychotherapist and author Francis Weller in In the Absence of the Ordinary: Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty, a collection of essays. “A type of mania that consumes us with constant motion. Much is lost in this frenzied fidelity to speed.”

    In the age of AI, when the average person consumes more information in a day than someone in the 15th century would have in their entire lifetime, one can see why slowness feels essential. People are caught up in the rat race, leading stressful, overly connected lives. Yet it is one thing to slow down at a systemic level, and quite another to slow down as an individual.

    In the age of AI, when the average person consumes more information in a day than someone in the 15th century would have in their entire lifetime, one can see why slowness feels essential.

    Can mindfulness help us take our foot off the accelerator? And can a personal practice have a meaningful impact on the speed at which society moves?

    Doing Mode to Being Mode

    “Mindfulness practice is certainly a tangible way of slowing down,” says mindfulness scholar Andrew Olendzki. “If only for a brief session, one deliberately drops out of ‘doing’ mode to linger in ‘being’ mode.”

    Lingering in being mode has a tangible impact on our internal speedometer. “Mindfulness practice is a way of re-training oneself to slow down in every way, and the rate of breathing is the most accessible way of doing this,” says Olendzki.

    Indeed, research shows that long-term meditators display slower respiratory rates than non-meditators. Being able to slow down physiologically when one is operating at a higher register might bring a degree of deliberateness to “fast-paced” endeavors. It can help us embody the tortoise despite the prevalence of so many hares.

    Being able to slow down physiologically when one is operating at a higher register might bring a degree of deliberateness to “fast-paced” endeavors. It can help us embody the tortoise despite the prevalence of so many hares.

    When this deliberateness pervades the body, it can extend to the mind, providing a countercurrent to the speed at which modern life moves. It can teach us not just to slow down during common contemplative practices, like meditation or journaling or yoga, but to access a lower gear in the midst of the everyday, which is when we most feel the pressure to maintain forward momentum.

    “For most people today, the speed comes from external engagements: busy schedules, phones set to notify every incoming message, and the basic tendency to ‘do a lot’ in the modern lifestyle,” says Olendzki. “I think the pace at which one lives one’s life is a matter of habit, and like all habits is learned. Much in our society encourages moving fast, and I like to think we still have some choice in how much we participate in this.”

    Unlearning Our Addiction to Speed

    In some respects, then, slowing down involves a type of unlearning. We are so used to moving at the speed of information that we don’t realize that we don’t have to respond to every notification that vibrates in our pockets. The anthropologist Thomas Hylland Eriksen distinguished between “fast time”—writing an email or completing a report, and “slow time”—leisure activities like creating art or sitting still. He noted that when fast time and slow time meet—deadline pressure versus writing poetry—fast time always wins. But when we notice this imbalance we can choose to prioritize slow time.

    Mindfulness might support our efforts to slow down insofar as it reorients us toward the rhythm of the breath, the pace of nature, and the workability of the mind. 

    We may need support in making this choice. Perhaps this is why the past couple of years have seen books about Slow Birding, Slow Productivity, Slow Pleasure, and Slow Seasons—a guide to reconnecting with nature. In an age of abundance those of us in privileged positions are not thirsty for more but for less.

    In this sense, Lao Tzu, Emerson, and Weller may be on to something when they advise us to take a cue from natural rhythms. In his book Weller recalled his mentor, Clarke Berry, placing his hand on a rock and indicating that he operates at geologic speed:

    Geologic speed—the rhythm of eons, of millennia—is etched deep in our bones. When we grant ourselves the time and pace of stone, we come into a deep memory of who we are, where we belong and what is sacred. We remember the values associated with this ancient cadence, among them patience, restraint, and reciprocity.

    Mindfulness might support our efforts to slow down insofar as it reorients us toward the rhythm of the breath, the pace of nature, and the workability of the mind. Whether or not that can address the political and economic issues that plague society is questionable, but individuals that can achieve respite may help shape systems that prioritize it. After all, mindfulness isn’t about getting anywhere, or getting ahead, or even getting it.

    “Be as mindful as you can of the pace you inhabit in any given day,” wrote Weller. “Try to notice what happens when you slow down and enter the stream of connection with the daylight, the wind, the sounds of the city, birdsong, cricket, or silence.”

    Life may be terminal, but our velocity doesn’t have to be.



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  • Slow Your Breath and Your Thoughts: 12-Minute Meditation

    Slow Your Breath and Your Thoughts: 12-Minute Meditation

    Paying attention to the gentle, natural flow of our breath can help us witness the chatter of the mind without judgment.

    By becoming more aware of our inhales and exhales, we gradually bring calm to our mind and our nervous system. We’re giving ourselves permission to slow down for a few minutes. And as we breathe, we can also witness the active chatter of our mind without being swept away, and the thoughts about the past or worries about the future.

    Mindfulness practice reveals how our thoughts and emotions are constantly changing, and this simple, relaxing meditation gives us a chance to release expectations and judgments. A state of mind awareness is strengthened each time we notice the mind wandering and choose to come back to the sensations of the breath moving in and out of our body.

    A Guided Meditation to Slow Your Breathing and Your Mind

    1. First, get yourself ready. You can sit in a comfortable position, in a chair, on a traditional meditation cushion, or on the floor. If you’re sitting, try to sit up tall, working for that dignified spine. Or, maybe you want to take this lying down.  
    2. Let’s start by finding our breath. Empty the breath all the way out, and let it go. Then take a big breath into your belly, then let it go out the mouth nice and easy. Keep breathing like this: really big inhales, slow the breath out. See if you can deepen the breath on each round. 
    3. Become aware of the flow of the breath. Instead of thinking about your breathing, just be curious about it. Curiosity is so nice, because you can step back and just observe the sensations of the breath, allowing it to help slow things down. 
    4. Bring a hand onto your belly, or maybe both hands onto your belly, or right hand in your belly, left hand on your chest. Use the hands to feel more of that breath flowing in and out and focusing just on the simple flow of the breath. By deepening this breath and becoming more aware of the breath, we naturally begin to slow our neurological processes down. We begin to naturally slow the biology down, the heart rate, the blood pressure. We begin to naturally, cognitively slow down the mind. 
    5. Now, let the breath rest in its natural state. It doesn’t have to be as big as the first few minutes. Using the breath as the focusing tool, stay with the flow of the breath as it inflates and then expands the belly and also deflates and contracts the belly. If you’re only breathing into your chest at this point, try to invite the breath down deep into the belly. It’s okay if you’re not breathing this way right now, but just be with the breath as it is, where it is, and be aware without judgment.  
    6. By focusing in this way, you’re going to be able to see the cleverness of the mind, trying to pull you somewhere into the future or drag you into the past. Notice that you’re thinking. You can even label it: That’s thinking. Then come back to the awareness, the simple awareness of your breath as it fills and spills. Be with the mind and the body as they are. The mind is made to be distracted. It always has a sense of alertness to it, but we don’t have to attach to the mind.  
    7. Be curious with the subtleties of each passing breath. Be aware emotionally, as well. Are you beating yourself up when you get attached to a thought? Or swept up in an emotion? Just let that go, too, and come back to the breath. 
    8. Notice, too, where you are holding expectations, and gently let them go. Maybe you came to your practice with the sense of, Oh, I should feel more peaceful right now. I should be experiencing this. I was hoping today that my meditation would yield this. Let it all go. No expectations, no attachment. Being with things as they are inside and outside: inside, just following the breath as it is; outside, letting the world around you be as it is.
    9. Remember, it doesn’t matter if you need to come back 1,000 times to one breath. That’s the practice. It’s not about getting it right or being perfect. It’s about showing up, doing the best you can with where you are physically, mentally, and emotionally in this moment. 
    10. Take a moment and thank yourself for taking the time today to honor your practice and honor your commitment to this course. Thank you for practicing. We’ll see you back here again tomorrow. Have a fantastic day. Way to show up.

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