Hello and welcome back to practicing human, the podcast where every day we're getting a little better at life.

I'm your host, Corey Miscara, and in today's episode, we're going to talk about the power of going more slowly.

More to come on that in a moment.

First, let's settle in together with the sound of the bells.

Okay. First, let's settle in together with the sound of the bells. Okay, so this is a poem by Dana Faults. It's called Walk Slowly. It only takes a reminder to breathe, a moment to be still. And just like that, something in me settles, softens,

makes space for imperfection. The harsh voice of judgment drops to a whisper, and I remember again that life isn't a relay race, that we will all cross the finish line,

that waking up to life is what we were born for.

As many times as I forget, catch myself charging forward without even knowing where I'm going,

that many times I can make the choice to stop,

to breathe and be,

and walk slowly into the mystery.

Just take a moment to let that linger

in your mind and your system.

I like the first few lines.

It only takes a reminder to breathe, a moment to be still, and just like that, something in me settles softens makes space for imperfection

that feels very resonant to me as it relates to the integration of a mindfulness practice into one's life.

We start to develop access to these small moments throughout the day

where it's just a reminder to drop in.

In this case, she says, to breathe, a moment to be still. But truly, just in that

reorientation, something settles. It's a softening. What is softening? You know, very practically,

for me, it feels like the body is softening. So maybe that's it

at the heart of it. But it just, it feels more like an expansion, like awareness itself. We're

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