The Amazing Power of Ritual

Last week I held a mini retreat for the women who had participated in retreats earlier in the year to focus on goals and planning. In the midst of celebrating their accomplishments and creating great goals for the rest of the year, we began to talk about the rituals in our lives and what it is that they create for us.

The most interesting thing about this conversation is that none of the women recognized what she had been doing as a ritual until she began to talk about it.
Rituals serve a huge number of purposes in our lives and likely you have several that are important that you are not even aware of.

The rituals that my group talked about last week were those related to transitioning from work to home. Being busy working moms these women realized the power of creating a transition space between work and home and how the ritual allowed them to let go of one aspect of their day and become present with another. Here are some examples:

• Liza, a busy psychologist and mother of two noted that as she walks to her car from her office she calls someone on her cell phone and chats all the way home. For her this activity allows her to disconnect from her patients and turn her mind towards her personal life.
• Marian, also a busy psychologist who has a home office, described a process in which she leaves her office and goes to her bedroom where she takes off her work clothes, washes her hands and face and then spends time playing and reading with her daughter. This allows her to clear away the energy of her clients and reconnect with her daughter before the tasks of the evening begin.

Think about your life. Where are your rituals? What do you do that is a habit that brings you peace, or a feeling of stability or connection. Likely you have some rituals around the holidays, but you probably have rituals every day that if left undone, leave you feeling undone.

I have a morning ritual. Once I've done my morning chores, feed the dog, water the plants, etc., I take my coffee upstairs to my lanai, which has a great comfy chair, blooming plants, my altar, and a killer view of the mountains. I light a candle on my altar (which is a space containing important and inspriring objects) read the paper and do the crossword puzzle and then think about my day. I have a deck of inspiring cards, and I pull a couple of cards from this deck, while considering what it is I need to focus on for my day. Then I'm ready to go downstairs and work.

It doesn't matter how early my day begins. I get up early enough to feel the space of this ritual - because that's what it brings to me, space. I feel centered and prepared to move on to the doing part of my day.

What are your rituals and what is important about them? Share with us.