Life Going Too Fast? 3 Ways to Slow it Down

Is life going too fast and you need to slow it down? In this year of Magic 2012, many people are experiencing this. On top of regular quick paced routines and daily life responsibilities, many are finding time speeding by this year. If you are finding life going too fast, there are ways to magically slow it down.

3 Ways to Slow it Down
1. Cortothalamic Pause
The Cortothalamic Pause is a way to stretch time by creating a bridge between the thalamus (part of the forebrain) and the cortex allowing us to move from reaction to reason. At the thalamic level you can check your reaction to see how you feel about a situation or interaction, then take that information to the cortex level to reason out the best response.

It takes some practice to become proficient at using the Cortothalamic Pause. You will know you have it down when you feel an actual separation from physical time. Here are the steps to practice:

• To start, pick a small thing that is not something you have a passion for. Don't start with something you know is a pet peeve or "touchy" subject for you.
   
• When someone asks you a question or asks you to do something – STOP. Do not respond right away. Shut your mouth and calm everything inside you as much as you can. This part obviously takes practice too.
   
• Wait 2-3 seconds and don't let your mind race ahead thinking of all the things you could say in response. Just absorb the question and stay quiet.
   
• Take a deep breath and now respond to the question.

Practice these steps several times a day. The more you practice, the better you will get at using this technique to slow it down when life is going too fast.

2. Do An Act of Power
Any intentional act is a magical act as well as an act of power. Any act of power restores personal power and grounds you in your life. Being grounded in life puts you in control and feels less chaotic. When we are in control of our lives, grounded and putting aside chaos, our lives are less hectic. Doing an act of power allows us to slow it down. Here are the steps to performing an act of power.

• Choose a simple act and decide when you will do this act.
  It does need to be a simple act and you do need to specify the time you will do it because a complicated act could be interrupted and a non-specific time nullifies the act of power. An example is to decide you will get up from your desk at noon, go to the kitchen and drink a glass of water. An even simpler one would be that at noon you are going to draw an X on a piece of paper. It doesn't matter what the act is as long as it would be easily accomplished without interruption. 
• When the time you specified comes to do your act of power, do it.
  Let nothing interrupt you before you complete your act. That is why it is important to pick something in the first step that you know you will be able to accomplish in your individual circumstance.
• When your act of power is complete, take a moment to review the act and the fact that you have completed the act. This moment of "appreciation" will help you gain all the power you can from your magic ritual.

You can do this several times a day to increase the anchoring in your life and thus slow it down.

3. Start Your Day Over With the Day Greetings
You can re-start your day at any time and as many times as you need by doing the Day Greeting ritual to the 4 directions, Sky Father and Earth Mother. If you are not familiar with how to do Day Greetings, you can find the directions HERE.

If your life is really going too fast you can use all three of these techniques to help slow it down. After a little practice you will find they are easy to do and will really pay off for you.


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Big Nasty Problems: What Do You Do Magically?

Picture this ordinary scenario: you're cruising merrily through your day when all of sudden a big unexpected problem pops up on your radar screen. What do you do?

How you respond to a problem situation has a lot to do with the outcome that you get. In problem panic situations most of us don't have enough presence of mind to be "able to respond" appropriately--in other words, we can't be responsible. Here are three typical (but not effective!) ways that we respond to problem situations and their natural outcomes:

Take Action!
For those of us who don't feel comfortable unless we're doing something, the natural response is to dive in and do something! Unfortunately this doesn't give us much time think through the situation and plan a response. We end up "doing" as fast as we can--often in completely the wrong direction! Result? Lots of action and not much positive achievement.

Obsess and Complain
The obsessive-compulsive ones among us will start running on the hamster-wheel of worry, complaining all the while. The problem will be on our minds while we work, eat, sleep and have sex (what a time to worry!). And not only will we worry obsessively, we'll talk compulsively about it too. But we won't take any action--we'd rather talk and fret. Result? Smoke pouring out of our ears and hot air coming out of our mouths. Not much else!

Ignore It
Finally, there's the classic ostrich response of ignoring the problem altogether. We think that if we don't look at the problem it will eventually go away on its own. In fact, we might even try to keep ourselves otherwise occupied with slightly obsessive eating, drinking, or playing. The problem with this response is that we keep peeking at the problem subconsciously so we're continually aware of it anyway. Result? Possibly some weight gain or hangovers but no progress in solving the problem.

These three responses all share the common characteristic of avoidance. All three responses take us out of the present moment and into action, obsession, or ignorance. The truly odd part is that if we can manage to stay in the present and really look at the problem, we're liable to find that the problem isn't as big or nasty as we originally thought.

From a shaman's perspective, the appropriate response to a potential problem would be:

1. Stop Everything
To prevent initial reactions from blowing the problem out of proportion, the shaman practices what's called the "cortothalamic pause," in which she stops all internal thoughts, feelings, and associations so she can take in the present situation without any prior ideas or emotions.

2. Research
Before taking action the shaman uses various tools of divination, such as pendulums or tarot cards, and consults with her guides to research the situation. Although she may be very thorough, this step often takes no more than a few hours.

3. Plan and Take Action
Based on the information she's gathered, the shaman then makes a plan and takes action. At this point there is no hesitation or doubt. The course has been plotted, contingency plans have been made, and it's all about moving forward with strength.

While the shaman has many tools and guides available to her, the most important step in the above process is the first one--the Stop. What gets most of us in trouble in that we dive headlong into our usual reaction to any problem situation without taking the time to stop and clear our minds. If we can train ourselves to take a cortothalamic pause when a problem rears its ugly head, we'll find that solutions are much easier to find and implement. It's such a simple step and so very effective!

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