Slow Practice equals Fast Progress
This is a sagely piece of advice commonly shared by instrumental music teachers to their students.
Sound a little cryptic?
Essentially it just means beginning very, very slowly and very, very gradually increasing the tempo of something you are working on. This allows you to remain in control and aware of even the smallest part of what you’re doing. Taking time like this keeps us from rushing and establishing small errors which can become issues we later need to address.
This leads us into another often used phrase in music, ‘Practice makes (no, not perfect)… Permanent. Practice can easily NOT lead to ‘perfection’ but rather what we repeat in our practice becomes well-established (permanent).
Practise mistakes, sloppily, carelessly and the results will reflect this ‘perfectly’.
Is slowness the key or is it the quality of the concentration brought to the activity?
Going slowly can help especially if our concentration level isn’t high. Slowing down makes small details more obvious and so our ability to focus on them is aided.
With high concentration our experience is amplified. There is greater vividness.
Life comes to life!
We begin to see the real value of bringing more of ourselves into our moments.
It is enriching and fulfilling.
Here’s some really good news!
This ability, concentration, is one of the three attentional skills of mindfulness and it can be developed.
Slow Living
Slow living is a philosophy that encourages a slower, more intentional approach to daily life.
Some of the key approaches to embracing slow living include:
- Focusing on one task or activity at a time
- Reducing screen time, especially from social media and news.
- Decluttering living space
- Prioritize Quality Over Quantity
- Slow Food: Savoring Meals, cooking and eating at home..
- Nature Connection: Spend more time outdoors.
- Rethink Productivity: It’s about valuing quality and depth over the quantity and breadth of what you produce or achieve.
- Community and Relationships: Prioritize meaningful interactions over superficial ones.
- Intentional Leisure: Engage in hobbies and activities that you truly love, rather than what is trendy or expected.
Slow living isn’t necessarily about doing everything at a snail’s pace, but rather doing things mindfully. As above this is the kind of concentration that brings more of us to our experience and makes life more vivid and fulfilling.
When we prioritise the attention skills of mindfulness we’re prioritising the quality of our experience.
As above – ‘practice makes permanent’.
Practising the skills of mindfulness and establishing high concentration, sensory clarity and equanimity as habits transforms our experience from distracted to present and vague to vivid.