We are accustomed to marking significant moments of our lives with some form of ritualistic celebration. Birthdays and weddings to graduations and holiday traditions are marked by ceremony.
We need rituals because they provide meaning and make our experiences more memorable. They’re often an excuse (if one were required) to have fun, feel joy and be with others!
If you’d like to start your day feeling powered up yet calm and peaceful, see my ‘Alternative Sunrise Brew’ ritual at the end of this story!
A life without ritual
(By the way, I share stories like this every week in my Go Slow Friday Letter that help you feel a little more awake and alive – sign up here.)
Many of the rituals that enrich our lives used to be informed by religion – but religion is rapidly becoming less important than it’s ever been, even to people who live in countries where faith has affected everything from rulers to borders to architecture. (Source)
Faith, hope and certainty
In the absence of religion we have become untied from the routine practices that may once have guided our lives. We have lost much of the certainty and closeness with our local community that was created through the repetition of certain practices eg Sunday church service and seasonal religious celebrations.
As this anthropologist explains, “stressful events….are often linked with spikes in ritualist activity”. The age of Covid uncertainty that we have navigated for the last 18 months has demanded new ways to bring faith and hope into our lives – our much needed anchor in stormy seas.
Some clients have told me they’re curious about Reiki because they’re lacking a sense of fulfillment and purpose. Ambition, career successes and comfortable salaries just don’t satiate the spirit. They ask me if Reiki might provide a deeper connection to their lives.
People are usually pleased to discover that Reiki does not require any subscription to particular religions or belief systems.
The reassurance of routine rituals
Part of my move to India was about revising and re-creating the people and structures that comprise ‘my life’. With the gift of more time and a slower pace of life, I quickly recognised the need for ritual to create elements of certainty within my week.
I specifically needed daily rituals that would benefit my health, deepen my awareness of myself and connection to my surroundings, and calm the parasympathetic system (after years of being in almost continual fight-flight).
Rituals provide a sense of control by imposing order on the chaos of everyday life. In a world full of ever-changing variables, ritual is a much-needed constant. (Source)
The more I’ve experimented with rituals to start and close my day, the calmer and more peaceful I feel. I discovered that book-ending my days with the same rituals creates predictability, helping to subdue cognitive functions and the uncertainties of the more open and fluid structure of my life.
In my ‘new pandemic India life’ I allow space for things to just happen. I don’t have every minute of my day planned out; goals are smaller and more realistic; I schedule in time to read or just “be” outdoors. And daily rituals help to keep me focused and grounded.
My ‘Alternative Sunrise Brew’ ritual
For many years making a coffee was the extent of my daily ritual – something I would usually without fail complete on a semi-conscious auto-pilot. (My liver now enjoys not having to work so hard first thing in the morning on an empty stomach!)
I have banished the coffee and replaced it with ‘Do-In’, a physical practice using the fingers and hands. Think of it as a ‘rise n shine’ for your fascia that helps to wake up every cell of your body (yes, all 37.2 trillion of them!)
The tapping movements stimulate electrical charges throughout the fascia, a system of connective tissue that in Chinese Medicine is believed to act as a superhigway communications network.
Fascia is a thin casing of connective tissue that surrounds and holds every organ, blood vessel, bone, nerve fiber and muscle in place. The tissue does more than provide internal structure; fascia has nerves that make it almost as sensitive as skin. (Source)
I love the simplicity of Do-In and its ability to connect with our whole – mind, body and spirit. At a minimum, it helps bring awareness to my physicality, reminding me that I am more than a ‘brain taxi’!
Directions:
- Alternate the speed and pressure depending on how you’re feeling and what you need
- Start on top of the head and move down to the feet (don’t forget to give your feet some TLC too)
- Visualise bringing loving awareness to every cell of your body – use coloured light if it helps
Feeling sleepy? Take it easy with gentle strokes, light taps (with cupped hand) and a careful shake of each part of the body. Fill the lungs with long deep breaths.
Stiff or achey? Tapping acupressure point Gall Bladder 21 on the top of your shoulders with your closed fist is excellent for removing aches and pains in the neck, upper back and shoulders.
Feeling full of beans?! Tap more vigorously (open hand), massage any areas of tension you discover and have a good wriggle and a shake!
My evening ritual
I’ll be sharing this soon – Hint: a Reiki cleanse before bed helps to wipe away stress from your day and improve your sleep. To get your copy, sign up to my Go Slow Friday Letter sharing practices from Eastern Medicine that help you to get well, feel great and stay well.
Need some help identifying practices from Eastern Medicine to create your own nourishing and supportive daily ritual? We can do this in a Guided Self-Shiatsu Session. Book via the website or drop me a line.
