Go slow to go fast

I’m starting to think that I should rename this Substack, “How to better flow through life with more self-love and compassion so that you have the peace and space needed to write a novel”, but I digress.

Here’s what I’ve been thinking about this week.

At the fitness studio I attend, I am part of a small clutch of women 45+. The demographic of this studio hard skews to women 19-28, so it’s easy to spot one another in the crowd and catch up before or after barre class. We are sometimes referred to as “the beasts”, because we are famously focussed in class. We aren’t better than anyone else in the room, it’s just that all of us agree that taking care of this body is a privilege and we are grateful for every workout we can still engage in.

If there’s anything that separates us from others in the room, it’s the following.

Trying to make the back more neat is making the work more intentional

What you need to know about barre is that it builds strength and stamina through a combination of slower repetitions with faster movements. Although the instructor clearly sets the pace, it often happens that the young woman next to me is exercising at double that speed. What inevitably happens is that she burns out within the first ten reps and must then stop during the faster reps to catch her breath. She rejoins the flow shortly after, but continues to repeat the cycle, burning off her stores of energy and then getting frustrated when she can’t finish the class strong.

I get it.

When I was in my 20s, nothing felt as good as “finished”. I thought that going faster equalled a better workout too. I was so desperate to burn calories that I pushed myself, but the lack of consistency kept fatiguing my muscles, ultimately making it harder for me to reach my goals. I didn’t understand consistency. I just wanted to reach that finish line in the shortest time possible.

And I’m not just talking about workouts, obviously.

My beasts and I follow the flow, warming up our bodies gradually so that we have the juice to push it a little further along. But this is a lesson learned in time, something that our gang has the privilege of having.

I still have an uneasy relationship with patience, but I can confidently say that lately, nothing feels as good as “done with intention”. I may not be the strongest person in the room, but I relish the dialogue between fast and slow, and how my body opens up when I flow with the moment rather than trying to make it into something else.

In 2025, I am simply recommitting to the “little acts of magic that make change happen”. I’m going to lean into the slow so that I am ready when it’s time to go fast.

What are you committing to this year, friends?