What rituals do you have, and why are they important to you?

in #ecotrain6 years ago
From small to those bigger ones, we perform rituals every day. They are in our daily lives and not only in the spiritual from but the business and leisure one too. Some are even habitual and we do not think about them. Let's do that now. Let's talk about our rituals and why are or aren't they important to us.


CC0 licence, Pixabay, author: Myriams-Fotos , adapted by me

Sometimes we are eager to proclaim how someone is a creature of habit and say how someone else is completely unpredictable. Where do you see yourself on that scale? As for me, it all depends on what part of my life we are talking about. There are areas where rituals are important to me and those where doing something the same way over and over again seems like a nightmare. It just proves that we are multilayered beings and labeling or putting us in little boxes is never a good thing to do.

My mornings are always the same, except when there is hardfork happening that is lol. When I get up, the first thing I do is put some water on the stove for my coffee and while the water is heating up, I do everything I have to in the bathroom. When I am done, so is the water and I can make myself that magical cup that turns me from hater to lover of things. I was never a morning person. I need at least an hour (sometimes much more) to become normal.

Coffee is magic...

I need my cup of magical liquid to get into my happy zone. I meditate, do yoga and exercise but coffee comes first. People who know me are smart enough to realize there is no use in trying to talk to me before I have had my first cup. Back when I was not allowed the drink coffee due to stomach problems, I was having tea but that quiet time with the cup was equally important. It was actually never about the type of liquid. It is about that ritualistic getting to know myself and the world each day and restarting my brain. I need that time. It is like my body gets up but my mind needs a bit more time to join the party.

I have mentioned brain synapses in my posts before and how they are responsible for our ability to learn new things. Let's shortly recap what we have talked about. Whenever you repeat a certain action, it becomes easier to do that action in the future. This works not only for your actions but for your thoughts and opinions too. First, you were having trouble tying your shoes but it became easier and easier until it was normal for you to do it.

Repetitio est mater studiorum.

We are learning and growing by repeating things. We are repeating action and thoughts until they become habits or natural subconscious knowledge that we do not have to think about, we just do it automatically. Ritualistic behavior can help with that. Just try to think about why do you think like you do or do things like you do. It is because you have convinced yourself that is the way to go and it has nothing to do with it being right or wrong. It is right and or natural to you because you have learned it that way. Strong synapses are hard to break, not impossible but hard and whenever you see in yourself or others troubles to change certain things, it is because the repeating process of new things is yet to come while those things you are familiar with are easier, we already have them in our knowledge.

Change does not need to be hard.

We often hear how change is hard and learning new things is even harder. Some even reject the notion of expanding their horizons and learning. Even being stubborn is a learned and repeated behavior. Change does not need to be like that, it can be fun if we make our rituals fun. Imagination and strong determination help. Make rituals work for you and not the other way around.

Every religion and every spiritual path has some kind of ritualistic practice. Some are rigid and strict and some more easy going, but rituals are there. There is a reason for that. Rituals not only help with remembering things and putting them in our subconscious, they strengthen our focus too.

Repeat a thought or action enough times
and it becomes the truth to you.

Many religions are well aware of this brain thingy and they have been exploiting it since the beginning of time. There is nothing wrong with you having an opinion or a habit as long as you are in control of it and aware of how it got there in the first place. Your strong opinions once started as ideas or observations and gradually grew into your character traits. Rituals in spiritual practice can be beautiful and beneficial but they can also be harmful if you are not thinking and paying attention. Remember what I always say?

Follow your heart,
but take your brain with you.

There is a reason for you having both those organs, do not favor one over the other. We need both. We need our emotions and spiritual growth just as we need our rational thinking. They are not opposites. We have turned them into opposites because saying no is often easier than saying yes. Think about that for a moment. How many times have you discarded something just because you are trained to discard things? How many times has our conditioned behavior stopped us from developing and growing? Ritualistic behavior just like anything other in life can be good or bad. It is extremely powerful. Nothing is just black or just white, it all depends on what we do with it. Life is about color, so much color and about including, not excluding things. Do your rituals help you with including or excluding?

Until next time,
KEEP YOUR SMILE ON!

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I am so bad at rituals and routines. I do try to listen to a positive meditation when I first wake up, but I don't always wake up early enough. I usually drink coffee in the morning, but then will randomly stop drinking it for months on end.

I guess the closest ritual thing I have at the moment is brewing my kombucha. I find the process soothing and relaxing for some reason. I do a big 'second ferment process every Monday and Tuesday (although I'm trying to hone it down to one day a week in case I need to start working outside the home.)

Kombucha is amazing, really healthy for you. I used to have her too and enjoyed brewing her then I switched to kefir fungus, they can be fun too. Thank you for your lovely comment 💚

I am a morning person, and my coffee is vital to what I do the rest of the day. I have altered the base coffee ritual slightly so that I now drink a half liter of water before I even have a taste of coffee.

Generally speaking I sit in the dark for something over an hour. I meditate some (not much, just brain engagement stuff) then go over my day, and what I want to accomplish and such. And it's pretty consistent. Even when I'm travelling I get that 'quiet time' in.

I have other rituals that I process every day. I put my left sock on first every time. Goes back to my baseball days and a superstition. It still works, no sense changing it!

With the exception of the morning time I try to not let my life become bogged down with rituals. I think it is important for me to change things on a regular basis.

Thanks for a great post Petra. I'm glad we're done forking around and back to mostly normal. Your post makes up part of my normal.

Oh I am glad the forking is over too, some of my routines were messed up while there was no steemit :D

The title of this post leapt out of me even before I saw who wrote it! Rituals are so important, because they're one of the few ways that we can communicate with the subconscious. I'm fascinated by this idea, especially having read Bruce Lipton's amazing book, The Biology of Belief.
I have the morning coffee ritual - heaven help anyone who tries to talk to me before my strong black coffee! I have a yoga ritual - not first thing in the morning, but before I go to the climbing centre. I have a checking keys ritual before I leave home. I have some daft ones, like giving my car a gentle pat after a long journey. It's really a reminder that this is a valuable possession that should be carefully looked after.
And I often catch myself, if I've made a mistake, saying to myself, "You idiot!" If I'm aware of it, I say "No I'm not! I'm very clever!" - because that is how the subconscious learns things. It takes these small messages seriously.

Tapping your car sounds adorable 💚 and you correcting yourself when you catch yourself being negative is very important, good for you to be aware of it, keep it up!

I. LOVE. THIS. POST.

First of all, I am also not a morning person. I soooooo get it. Second, every other thing you said here makes sense and reminds me of the importance of getting clear on what I want, and choosing thoughts/responses/rituals that create that reality. Now if I only knew what I wanted, I'd be golden. ;)

As for rituals, I always do at least 15 minutes of yoga in the morning. My body craves it, and my spirit needs the chance to ground into the earth again. Instead of coffee, I drink herbs mixed by my TCM to help me ground my energy. I tend to get lost in my head, but it's so helpful to recognize the patterns, and realize that they can be changed.

Now if I only knew what I wanted, I'd be golden. ;)

This was the first thing that made me smile today, thank you! :D
You have lovely mornings honey, much love 💚

If I'm going to tell you about all my crazy rituals it wouldn't be just another very long post, but the story in a few extensions that would overflow over the cover of the book.

But I can tell you this. When it comes to a morning cup of coffee, I can relate a lot to you. Although, I have to say I'm not that grumpy until I got it, and it takes only one sip and one smoke of the cigarette to make me feel better. Yeah, in my world the coffee goes with the cigarette as an unavoidable part. 😜

Never the less, your post reminded me on some (I could even say) our family habit of which I wasn't even aware (although I initiated it) until my kids (my daughter, to be precise) didn't draw my attention to it.
In other words, you just gave me the idea for one of my next posts. 😉👍😊

Yeah, in my world the coffee goes with the cigarette as an unavoidable part.

Mine too 😜

I am glad I provided you with the idea or gently pushed you into the right direction and am looking forward to reading all about it 💚

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You can see your post's place along the track here: The Daily Whistle Stops, Issue 269 (10/02/18)

Thank you 💚💚💚

I get the dog out at 5:35am to go potty, fix his bowl of food , get some ice tea, and wake up my youngest to take a shower. The older one does it night before .

Thanks for your post zen-art :)

That sounds like a fun morning, especially the part where you have to wake up your daughters. To see their faces must brighten up your entire day.


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I am not a morning person either
The kids have trained to become one out of necessity...haha
Loved that last bit about following your heart but bringing your brain along 😊

I was never a morning person, not even as a kid :D People hated that about me :D

Completely agree that coffee is magic! LOL! It's definitely part of my morning ritual as well. This is an awesome idea for a blog post, @zen-art - thanks for sharing it with us!

I'll leave you with this thought about coffee... 😊


via GIPHY

Awwww, it really is like a hug in a cup 💚💚💚

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