Slow TV

By Dianne O’Konski |

Have you heard of the Slow TV phenomenon?  I recently read an article about it and decided to explore a bit further.  It started in 2009 (wow, am I behind the times) in Norway, but it really started to take off a few years ago and has gained more popularity with the pandemic.

Slow TV focuses on slower-paced programming and is touted as a form of meditation. Consider the 7-hour, 14-minute train ride from Oslo to Bergen, Norway.  Yes, you can watch all seven hours!  A video camera was mounted to the front of the train and it recorded the entire journey, every minute (Norway Train Journey).  And, no, I have not watched any of it!

However, twenty minutes flies by pretty quickly when you are in the front seat of a car driving through Iceland’s East fjords with a soothing music overlay (Iceland East Fjords Trip).  The video was shot with a camera mounted on the car’s dashboard, so if you are prone to motion sickness, this one may not be for you.  There is a video of the Strokkur geyser (Geysir video) which has much less commotion.  Also, someone did a super slow-motion video of the geyser which is very interesting (Geysir Slow Motion video).

For those of you who have not tried out Slow TV, go to www.YouTube.com and search for Slow TV for a large list of videos or Slow TV Iceland for a specific list.  If you have watched Slow TV, what caught your attention, and did you find it therapeutic?  (It’s OK if you spent an hour watching someone knit!)