Be Stress Free - The Importance of Ritual!
We all have them. Some are healthy, some not so much. Some
are ingrained in to us so much that we don’t even know that we are doing them,
while others are still in the formation stage. Some we learned from our parents
or that we developed because we needed to make changes in our lives.
You probably don’t even realize how many things you do
unconsciously everyday that may be affecting our effectiveness at work or our
ability to focus. Our bodies love ritual. Without looking at the clock, we know
that it is lunch or supper time. If you go to bed at the same time every night,
your body just knows when it is time… same with waking up in the morning. When we do things over and over again, we
become accustomed to it and it becomes part of our daily routine.
This is how I make a conscious effort to positively use
ritual in my life. My morning routine is; wake up (hopefully on my own, before
the alarm clock), turn on the kettle for my morning Organo coffee, then climb
back into bed to reflect on what I have coming up that day and set the tone for
my day by giving thanks and making sure I have a smile on my face. By then, I can officially get out of bed
ready to face the day… well at least to move to phase two. My next goal is to
catch up with family and friends, through emails and facebook, while I enjoy my
morning coffee.
Then I retreat to my living room to do some breathing and
yoga. I end this part of my morning with a short meditation to fully let go of
expectations, fully energise my chakras and to ground myself to the earth for that
sense of calm and ability to deal with anything that comes my way throughout
the day. On the days when I do not at least make the effort to get into my own
personal zone first thing in the morning, I find that I don’t hold the point of
zen as long. Challenges creep in and expectations come to light, (both from
others and in myself) Often times I will take a 5 minute refresher to get back
to my own balance point just to stay grounded and focused on that feeling. If I
am slack and don’t make the effort for a few days, I notice a huge difference
in my ability to deal with issues as they arise and I am more tired at the end
of the day, as it seems to expend more energy to deal with the little things.
Your mind and body learn quickly and respond eagerly to the
implementation of ritual. Be aware of the habits that are not serving you. To
the things that you may be encouraging or supporting on a regular basis that
have sent unconscious messages to your mind and body to create a suggested reaction. The real power of creating ritual that gives your mind and body the sense of evertything is as it should be, on track. It can also be the cue to return to that state of calm and grounding that will get you through anything that tries to disrupt your day. Your awareness is your key to making the changes that can give you back the
power you may have been feeling that you have lost in your day to day life.
Arlana Tanner – Sibelle © 2018
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