Create A Ritual That Feels Good

rit·u·al : the established form for a ceremony

Merriam-Webster

As much as we associate ‘ritual’ with more complex things like religious ceremony, it can be as simple as being intentionally present + mindful when brewing your morning coffee, taking a quiet moment for the deliberate deep breath + savouring of your first sip of coffee. Ritual is a practice we use to bring significance + intentionality to an experience.

Ways you might be practising ritual already :

• Journaling when you wake or before bedtime
• Taking a bath with bath salts or bubbles + a warm drink
• Inhaling the aroma of an essential oil before heading out for the day
• A bedtime routine for your or your kiddo that includes prayer, a special song, massage.

In my mind, our values are the foundation upon which we build our life, tradition is the frame of how we live together, + ritual is the practice of bringing spiritual meaning to how we live within that frame. As a designer, I think that’s an apt analogy + a concept I’d love to have a bigger conversation about…with a glass of wine…

Some of my favourite rituals are all about transitions + connections. 

For Aaro, it centred on times of transition; upon waking, returning from school, + bedtime. As he’s gotten older the rituals that worked for us when he was younger have needed to be adjusted to better suit where he’s at, because anchoring those transition times are still deeply necessary.

For me, ritual centres around the time I take on Sunday to set up my week, any time I make the time to have a long shower or bath to tune out the noise + do some inner reflecting. I block out time to create retreats for myself + I can’t tell you how necessary I find this time of ceremony.

Whether you’re aware of it or not, you’re creating routine + ritual in your life. So if you take a sec to reflect on how your days go, what kind of rituals are you creating? 

Take some time to consider : 

When considering the questions above, I suggest blocking out 30 minutes to an hour, find a quiet space, sit with your journal, light a candle, drink some tea…+ sit with these questions, journal as needed. In doing so, you will have created a small but impactful ritual.

Here are the elements I like to weave into the experience of a routine to elevate it to the experience of a ritual : 

Engage the senses

Sight : a clean space, colours that align, an altar of sorts or vignette on a bedside table, bookshelf, etc., with the elements you use for the process of your ritual

Touch : fabrics + textures that feel good

Sound : a playlist of music to be the background + theme of your experience, a sound bowl to really elevate, “quiet”, running water

Smell : a scent or aroma to trigger + anchor your ritual; flowers, essential oils – inhaling or diffusing

Activate 

An element that triggers the start of your ritual; I use essential oils in a diffuser quite often, or pausing to take a deep breath + call quiet into the moment. My mom + my friend Nicole like to use a sound bowl. Find something that is the activator that carries you between the space outside the ritual to the centre of your ritual with intention.

Ground

An element that helps keep you in the experience of your ritual; a warm beverage, music, diffusing, a blanket.

Close out

An element that brings a bookend to the experience of your ritual, whether that be prayer, meditation, the use of your sound bowl, breathwork, a few words of gratitude.

Here’s how these elements show up in the morning ritual I created for Aaro + myself when he was younger.

This small ritual helps us start our days grounded in our relationship + our home. A safe place to leave + a safe place to come back to. Regulated, connected, grounded, + centred. Your ritual doesn’t have to be complicated, but it is intentional + it is consistent.

Honestly, it also makes life easier. It makes the moments sweeter. Practicing consistent rituals is grounding in + of itself. It’s creating a lifestyle of intentionality + mindfulness, infused with ceremony.