Switch off your Blackberry. Turn off the TV. Go for a walk. Share a long, leisurely meal with friends or family. Read a story to your children. Take a nap in the middle of the day. Do some yoga. Spend the afternoon with a friend that you normally just speak to on Facebook. Channel the Pointer Sisters by bringing a slow hand to your lovemaking.

Wander round a forest or park. Smell the roses.

Or just sit still and do nothing for a few minutes. When was the last time you did that? And didn’t feel restless or guilty?

Do whatever slides you into a slower gear.

Just don’t try to squeeze all the suggestions on the list into a single day. That would turn slowing down into another exercise in rushing to cram everything in. Remember that less is more.

The bottom line is that this is a day to set your inner tortoise free. Don’t fret and overanalyze. Just do it!

Sounds horribly familiar, doesn’t it? These days we skim through thousands of words a day at high speed. But how much of that ‘reading’ do we actually take in? Or enjoy?

The bottom line is that faster isn’t always better. You don’t gulp down a glass of fine wine. You don’t put Mozart on fast-forward. Sure, there are times when whizzing through a piece of text is the only option. Or maybe even the best option: I certainly don’t linger over the prose in the free newspaper on the Tube. But surely Tolstoy deserves a bit more of our attention.

That’s why the Slow Reading Movement is gaining ground.

Think canine sports tournaments, canine yoga and canine spas. A night club for dogs has even opened in New York.

What next? Canine Kumon?

Turn off that Crackberry and pay attention, Chancellor!

Read more here.

“A look at the mismanagement of the contemporary child: overprotected, overindulged, over-stimulated. An indispensable, anecdotal, comnmonsensical guide to why our kids are depressed, lazy and fat, and what we can do about it.”

Last week, the Financial Times urged its readers to pick up a copy of In Praise of Slow. It said the book “is to the Slow movement what Das Kapital is to communism.” And they meant it as a compliment. At least I think they did….Decide for yourself by reading more here.

On Friday, January 15th, I will be doing just that in a public lecture in San Francisco. The topic is all things Slow, with a special emphasis on sex.

If you’re in town, come along and join the conversation. Don’t be shy. There won’t be any nudity. At least not from me…

Click here for more details: http://tiny.cc/xZH3f

And click here to read my recent article about Slow Sex at the Huffington Post:  http://tiny.cc/oKG6E

See you there!

Just click http://tiny.cc/XjrSp….

Bon appétit!