What happens when we go slow?
In a culture that constantly asks us to override our bodies, move into action before we’re ready, and shame ourselves - for not having it all together, for feeling stuck, for not knowing what to do - slowing down can feel both desperately necessary and completely impossible.
Many of us know that the pace we’re asked to move at is at best unsustainable and at worst, literally killing us and the planet. We want to untangle our survival from the dreams of capitalism, from the stories about what success looks like told us by our culture, but we might feel caught, unsure how to move or where to go.
Going slow helps us identify how capitalism works on us
Slowness is a skill. It requires muscle to go slow, to pause, to take time to integrate what we know. And it's important to remember that the absence of slowness in our lives, how hard it can be to pause, is less about our own capacity for going slow, or whether we're good at it, and more about how systems impact our experience of urgency and hurry - and how they get in the way of presence.
Not all of us need to move slowly on a consistent basis, but learning to slow down can help us identify how and where systems work on us, where we're unconsciously buying into the dreams, beliefs, and narratives of systems of harm and oppression, and how we might find ways of getting free & less attached to their logic.
In slowness, we can learn to embody and embrace non-capitalist ways of being
Slow Work was born out of years of working with people who were holding questions that needed time, and tending, to reveal their answers. Who needed a space outside of the grind of capitalism & other systems to practice learning how to listen for their own body’s pace, and the ways their own knowings emerged.
This ten month container encourages us to slow down (and see what happens when we do), get curious, and sense & titrate our own pacing, so that each of us can learn the ways and the speeds that our bodies & brains like to move - at work, in our personal lives, in our relationships, without the pressure of moving into immediate action or self-improvement.
I believe (and have witnessed) that when we have a space to learn about everything that gets in the way of our connection to our bodies, and when we're able to work in partnership with the wisdom of our body-minds, our groundedness and capacity for being with what is become a resource for ourselves and others - no matter where we go & who we're with.
What Slow Work is & is not
Slow work is not a self-improvement program (or therapy), a space to learn how to be a good person, or a place where we are shamed or blamed (or are encouraged to shame and blame ourselves) for where or how we are.
It's a space & pace of permission to slow down, to listen, to reflect, to go back over, to be non-linear, non-binary, messier, playful, more human. It's a space to build skills around slowness, to consider what gets in the way and what am I longing for? It's a practice that allows you to remember that you are not a product or performance to be improved upon - you’re a human, living among systems that seek to extract as much labor, life, and resources from us and the earth as they possibly can.
And, most of all, it's a container for learning the skill of witnessing difficult and beautiful questions as they unfold - without jumping to resolve, discard, or make something useful out of them.
The (slow) details
Slow work consists of:
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monthly 60-minute 1:1 calls with Kali via phone or zoom
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optional monthly zoom gatherings with a small group of people practicing the slow skills of integration
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monthly emails on the questions and wisdom of slow, deep work
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quarterly gathering spaces after the program ends to continue reflecting on integration
Slow Work might be for you if:
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you want to move differently at work, or in other areas of your life, but keep finding external blocks or internal narratives that make it difficult to do so
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you find yourself swinging between frenetic and freeze
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you struggle to rest or take your time, even when there’s enough time and resources to do so
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you’ve taken lots of courses and classes and struggle to feel like you’ve “gotten the information” or that it’s integrated into your life
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you’re interested in learning how to slow down while navigating the very real consequences of capitalism and collapse
Cost
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$100 USD monthly payment, or $1,000 one time payment
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$150 USD monthly payment, or $1,500 one time payment
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$200 USD monthly payment, or $2,000 one time payment
Please choose whichever tier is right for you.
*Need a discount code or other accommodations? Let me know when you sign up.
About Kali
I'm a writer and an anticapitalist working to build a future beyond capitalism and the oppressive systems it's interwoven with. I accompany people as they grapple with questions about how we can live and work in ways that move us towards a meaningful life - for ourselves, our loved ones & communities, and the more-than-human-world. I'm white, queer & nonbinary, live in the US, and come from European settlers and immigrants who work with their hands, live near water, and who chose allegiance to systems over collective care in order to find safety and security, and because of this, struggle with rootlessness, and violence (including complicity/complacency with systemic violence).
I have my grandmother's laugh, and her love of trees.
You can learn more about me on instagram & patreon, and get in touch here.