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A post shared by Anja Brierley Lange (@anja_yogini) on Jun 24, 2019 at 12:37pm PDT

I am finally learning to slow down. As long as I am in the right environment that is.

It’s about 19 months since we moved from London to a town by the British seaside.

And since moving down to the seaside we have definitely slowed down. Just taking time to hang out on the beach, listening to waves, watching the horizon or watching the sunset or moonrise…

Being in nature and feeling the rhythm of Mother Nature definitely inspired me slowing down. And thereby the natural slowing down of the breath.

The breath that calms down the nervous system. And calms any excess Vata Dosha or increased Pitta from an Ayurvedic view. Excess Vata Dosha can create anxiety and insomnia. Too much Pitta may manifest as anger, irritation and eventually burn-out.

City life increases both Vata with its constant movement and changes, as well as Pitta with the fastpaced lifestyle and ambitions.

When I lived in London the speed and activity of the big city were normal. The rush on the underground, the discipline of how to behave on the escalator. In case you haven’t been to London’s underground… it’s busy. Like super busy. If you don’t stand to the right-hand side on the escalator (as you “should”) so people can (power) walk to the left you will won’t be popular.

It drove me nuts when I went elsewhere and everyone was just so slow. They didn’t use the escalator protocol that I was so used to in London and I couldn’t rush up/down the escalators. Arghh (read Pitta Dosha increased!).

When I visited Denmark where most of my family lives everything was slow… even in the capital of Copenhagen which in comparison to London is a small city. I had to deal with the escalator issue and my sister would complain of traffic and I only saw a few cars.

It’s all our own individual perspective. And it changes. Since moving out of London it’s the opposite.

Now the seaside rhythm is my new normal. People rush and are aggressive in London (a generalisation of course! I still love the city).

I commute to London to teach yoga classes and wellbeing/ayurvedic workshops up there. I feel the craziness of the High Street where I teach and used to live. And I love it too. But I am noticing the difference. The difference in me. Nothing else has changed. Just my own perspective.

But I am noticing the difference. The difference in me. Nothing else has changed. Just my own perspective.

I still love the buzz of London. But when I step out of the train at my new seaside town, smell the sea salt and feel the fresh breeze on my skin – then I take that slow deep inhale, I calm down, breathe and relax.

I am slowing down.