Speak Slowly

The Medicine of Slowing Down

Trauma is speed. It rushes in too fast, lasts too long, or starves us of what we needed until the silence is deafening. Too much, too soon. Too much, too long. Not enough for too long. It overwhelms, floods the system, and then, in an attempt to survive, the body either shuts down or stays stuck in overdrive. Either way, we lose access to presence. To clarity. To breath.

Healing moves in the opposite direction. It slows things down. It creates space. It invites us to metabolize what was once too overwhelming to feel, too chaotic to process, too fragmented to hold. And speaking slowly? That’s one way we begin to rewire.

Have you ever noticed how a soft, measured voice can calm your nervous system? How speaking slowly—not in hesitation, but in intention—grounds you? This isn’t just about communication; it’s about self-repair. When we speak to ourselves with slowness, with care, we reparent the parts of us that were left spinning in survival mode. We tell our system: You are safe now. You have time. You can feel this, and it won’t break you.

This is how we reestablish secure attachment with ourselves. Not through force. Not through bypassing. But through presence. Through pacing. Through honoring the body's natural rhythm of healing—because when we finally slow down, we can integrate. And once we integrate, we can move forward with clarity, with energy, with freedom.

So, take a breath. Speak slowly. Let yourself arrive. The pace of healing isn’t a sprint—it’s a deep, steady return to yourself.