Italians take it nice and easy on world slow day

Rome - Italians were reminded to slow down and relax on Monday with a host of events marking World Slow Day, the third annual edition of an event celebrating life's simple pleasures.

"Let's take this one day to stop and think about all the things we miss out on while we're rushing through our lives," said Bruno Contigiani, the President of the Art of Living Slowly Association.

A veteran of life in the fast lane as a one-time high-powered executive, Contigiani, 62, has since become an ambassador for the slow life movement around the world. He launched the first World Slow Day in 2007 to promote the values of living and working at a more natural pace, a lifestyle change that boils down to rethinking our daily routine.

Contigiani's philosophy closely resembles the principles embraced by the slow food movement, launched in Italy in the 1980s, though the group says it has no more specific agenda than an easygoing society. His association suggests "14 commandments" for living better, including waking up five minutes earlier to enjoy breakfast without rushing and using time stuck in traffic jams to have a chat with the driver of a neighboring car. Others include walking whenever possible, reading in the evenings instead of watching television, focusing on one chore at a time instead of multitasking and avoiding at all costs the phrase, "I don't have time".

This year, Contigiani left Italy where the event has spread around the country for the Chinese megalopolis of Shanghai, one of the fastest moving cities in the world. The slow-living advocate said he wandered around the busiest streets of the commercial center for an entire afternoon with a placard inviting people to "slow down". "A lot of people stopped to ask what I was doing," said Contigiani, who responded by giving them a copy of the group's 'commandments' and asking them to choose their favorite. "The one about waking up five minutes earlier was the most popular by far," he said.

Back in Italy, the now well-known event gave rise to a broad range of initiatives all over the country reminding people for the third year in a row to stop and smell the roses. One of the best known are the "Slow Wardens" patrolling the heavily trafficked San Babila square in central Milan, where fast-walking pedestrians risked a symbolic fine unless they slow down to a stroll. Wardens were also in force in central Genoa, issuing citations to people walking straight to their destinations, and advising them about pleasant diversions on nearby side streets.

Public transportation was free on Monday in the Sicilian city of Caltanissetta where commuters received a free copy of the '14 Commandments', with a few extra spaces to add tips of their own. A number of slow competitions marked the day in other Italian cities, such as the southern town of Benevento where a panel of judges graded the haiku best expressing the day's ideals.

Recreation spaces with free yoga and Tai Chi lessons are a mainstay of the event in parks and public spaces from the northern city of Treviso to the Sicilian city of Palermo. Slow living recalls many of the themes and ideas expressed by the slow food movement, an effort to defend regional and organic cuisine from the onslaught of fast food.

As such, Italian farmers union Coldiretti said World Slow Day was a good opportunity to reflect on the amount of time we spend in the kitchen. The group noted that the average Italian spends less and less time preparing meals, a habit some studies have connected to rising levels of obesity. It suggested that Italians prepare their own foods whenever possible, pointing to such time-honored staples as homemade pasta, fruit preserves and yogurt.

Coldiretti also observed that 37% of Italians spend at least some time gardening, a well known stress reliever not to mention its edible rewards.