I’ve just spent a week in NYC with an amazing group of designers from across the country.
The days were long and intensely focused, and the time flew by. Every night the dinner discussions continued over drinks, and went into the early morning. A few hours of sleep, and we would start it all over again the next day.
If you know me at all, you know how I treasure the quiet rituals of my morning. However, between an intense schedule, not quite enough sleep, and the desire to fit everything in while I was there, it didn’t take me long to abandon any attempt at my usual self-care.
When I finally returned home, It felt SO good to walk the dogs in the pre-dawn light, to stretch into my yoga asanas, and to go deep in meditation for the first time in a week. It felt so good to open my journal and pick up my favorite pen.
And so this might seem like common sense, but I want to say it here: our rituals help us feel good.
As far as my rituals go, yoga brings balance and integration to my mind and body. And meditation gives me focus and equanimity to stay in the saddle when life accelerates to a gallop. Journaling gives me a sense of peace and purpose.
But rituals give us a lot more than that.
We do our rituals so we can meet the world from our own place of power.
Our rituals let us say “I’ve got this.” Like the precise warm-up ritual of an Olympic-level gymnast, it’s more than stretching muscles. It’s where our agility, flexibility, and resilience come from. From our rituals we derive inner strength.
Paradoxically, meeting the world from our own place of power also means submitting to the present moment, bowing to the situation, and accepting the circumstances that present themselves. There is nothing more powerful than this.
The rituals of self-care that we intentionally perform are for far more than just feeling good. These rituals are a way to thrive.
Create rituals for yourself.
If you haven’t done so, intentionally creating self-care rituals can help you meet the world from your own place of power. But how exactly does one do that?
Creating a new ritual is as easy as setting an intention and adopting a new, gentle practice. Such as… meditating in the morning. Or, brewing a really special cup of tea.
Here’s a couple of things to keep in mind:
- Give your ritual a beginning and an end. Decide what action begins your ritual, and how you will end it. This helps signal to your mind that this time is set apart for a special purpose.
- Involve your whole body. The more senses you can involve in your ritual, the more immersive your experience will be. Movement, smell, taste, touch, sounds, something spoken, sung, or quietly breathed — all of these things make the ritual more involving.
- Try to perform your ritual consistently.If you mess it up, remember that perfection is not the goal. Presence is.
- A ritual doesn’t have to be spiritual. While a ritual certainly can be spiritually-based, it doesn’t need to be. Don’t be surprised, however, if you get something spiritual out of it.
- A ritual takes time. Give yourself enough time to just go there. You’ll be glad you did.
Go Deeper…
To get a leg up on some of your rituals, check out some of mine in the posts below. Maybe they’d make a great place to start for some of yours.
Let’s talk about it.
So, what are the rituals you have in your day or week right now? How do they bring you to your place of power?
What rituals are you seeking to develop in your life? What meaning will they hold for you?
With love and gratitude,
Lisa
Love your blog today on Ritual. One ritual that I have regards my dream work. I take a few minutes each morning to recall dreams, if I can recall them. Once I’m up I sit with my lemon water and write in my dream journal and consider what messages I’ve received. Then I pull a tarot card and consider its message. It’s a rich ritual that has been guiding and inspiring me now for 15+ years. I do try to continue this while I’m traveling, too.
I really enjoyed your Ritual Blog & once again it came at a perfect time for me to listen to the universe. I have been missing out on some of my morning routines as well, and know the feeling of what it does and how if affects me. Personally the month of May was extremely hectic, sad, stressful, worrysome, and filled with anxiety and unexpected movement in my daily schedule, which truly throws me off terribly as a grounded MOON CANCER child. So I knew I need to get back to “my rituals” to get back on my path. So June has been just that,, back to my morning Sanctuary Lanai, cancles, coffee, essential oils diffuser, journaling and diving back into my DREAMBOOK & Planner from dragontree. And oh goodness, it has been so nice to get back to me. When I get more connected & grounded I am a much better person all around.
And just this lovely Saturday morning, I am taking extra time and care to do my morning rituals. And I just think I found someting to add to my morning ritual, playing on my iphone sounds of ocean.
As I was doing some journaling it came to my attentions I feel very grounded and serene always at the beach. And then I thought why not enjoy some ocean sounds in the background while I journal in the mornings! And just like that I found something new that I truly connect with on so many levels.
So with my essentials oils, journaling, coffee,candles and now serene ocean sounds I choose to start me days off.
Much love,
Michelle
Michelle, I know exactly what you mean. Our rituals are what bring us back to our bodies, and back to the present moment. I just attended a mindfulness panel discussion, and it reminded me of how important mindful attention to the present moment is.
I love that you’re listening to ocean sounds! What app are you using for that?
Occasionally I like to listen to the sounds of rain and distant, rolling thunder, and I use an iPhone app called Thunderspace and I really love it.