Rituals – inviting the sacred into everyday

What does the word ritual mean to you? Do you have regular rituals that bring a sense of the sacred into your life? Or perhaps you have yearly rituals that bring a sense of connection as you gather with family or community?

Rituals come in many forms. Rituals can help us focus our attention, pause from our everyday busyness, and add meaning to our lives. Time to pause and listen to what our soul is calling for. The voice of our higher self that often doesn’t get noticed in the loudness of life. Or it might receive a fleeting moment of attention before our chatty mind jumps in and distracts us with the numerous external distractions of life.

A good reason to consider bringing ritual into your life is exactly that, helping to take the external focus into the internal space. As we embark on this journey into the internal, we may notice what is alive within us in that moment. When I say what is alive, I mean what emotion, thought, or mood is present, checking in and feeling the good, bad, ugly, joyful, happy, and everything in between. It’s an opportunity to notice and process the incoming regularly so that we don’t end up overwhelmed and exhausted or stiff and sore, as we know the body keeps the score on everything we do, think, feel, all that we don’t express sits in our tissues!

It’s a bit like sweeping the floor every morning instead of letting the grime build up for a few days and having a harder job sweeping it away. A little internal housework work so to speak!

In every moment, we have a choice to make it more divine or not. Consider bringing rituals into your daily life and see it transform as you connect more deeply to your inner guidance, allowing this to guide you from a place of reflection as opposed to a place of reaction.

Let me share a daily ritual I have enjoyed for years. I have a perpetual Wayne Dyer desk calendar that sits on my hallway altar. My hallway altar greets anyone who comes in the front door. On there, apart from the calendar, are some crystals, an incense holder, a mini bamboo plant, a statue of Quan Yin (goddess of compassion), a candle, and a small cat and dog that represent two precious past pets. Every morning, I turn the page on the calendar, read the message, and take that moment to ponder its meaning for the day ahead. If I am staying home, I will light a candle and incense.

This takes less than five minutes, but it makes a huge difference in my day.

Today’s message from that calendar is:

“There is a rhythm to the universe. When we are able to get quiet enough, we experience how we are a part of that perfect rhythm. “ Wayne Dyer

Let’s look at the myriad of rituals that you might like to explore or might already be doing.

• Cleansing rituals using sage, light up the sage or other cleansing herbal stick you might have, ensure you have something to catch the embers in, and go about cleansing your space, house, room, and self.
• Journaling rituals for those who find benefit in writing to release unspoken words or to write a question, then put the pen in your non-dominant hand and let it write the answer, it is amazing what you will go back and read!
• Tea or your favourite beverage ritual. Prepare your drink with reverence and let it enliven all your senses. Use a nice cup or mug, take time to enjoy the process, then sit and savour every mouthful.
• Daily self-massage or Abhayanga in Ayurvedic terms, where you use warmed oil to massage your body. Personally, I do this most evenings whilst watching a show on TV. I will massage my feet and hands, parts of our body that do so much for us but are often neglected. This makes a huge difference to my skin and gives me the opportunity to send some love to these precious body parts.
• Bathing rituals, many people around the world visit hot springs for bathing in as well as the numerous ways you could add ritual to taking a bath.
• Before sleep ritual like using some deep breaths to calm you down and kick start the relaxation response for a better night’s sleep.

Then we have candles and the endless ways these are used to sanctify our space, create an atmosphere, and so much more, like:

• Lighting a candle whilst preparing a meal and letting it imbue the food with light.
• Lighting a candle to hold a vigil for someone or a greater cause, like world peace.
• Lighting a candle to practice the ancient yogic practice of trataka, candle gazing, to take you into a meditative space.
• Lighting a candle in the bathroom to enjoy with a bath or shower.
• Lighting a candle for the sharing of food, having it on the table with you as you eat.
• I love lighting a candle on Sundays, on my altar, to send light to all those who need it.
• Lighting a candle to enliven your prayers or meditation.

Then there’s seasonal rituals like the winter solstice, summer solstice, honouring the elements of each season.

In autumn, I love to visit a tree park about an hour’s drive away from where I live. It is full of trees from all over the world, and the autumn display is always breathtaking. I love to sit amongst the trees, connect to the earth, and really feel into nature’s season of letting go. It reminds me to tune into what I might be holding onto that would be best let go of. Nature is the greatest teacher when we stop long enough to connect deeply and listen, attune ourselves to her rhythm, and allow ourselves to respond in our own unique way.

There are many rituals around honouring the elements of water, fire, earth, air, and ether.

Many cultures have seasonal rituals like sausage making or preserving the fruits of the season for the pantry shelf. Crushing of the grapes for wine making is another one that I know happens where you get in the barrel with bare feet and crush the grapes.  These rituals bring people together for a common cause and it’s this that makes life rich with meaning and connection.

If you don’t have any cultural rituals, borrow one that you like and try it out with family and friends, and make it a regular event. We need to start connecting in more meaningful ways with others, something that is greatly lacking in our society right now.

There are so many ways to bring ritual into our lives. I hope I have inspired you to find a way to bring the sacred into your everyday life.

As always, I would love to hear what rituals you enjoy and how they affect you.

Until next time, take care and take time out for your precious self.