I love rituals, don’t you? They create the setting for something special to happen - and that something special is YOU. They feel good precisely because they are designed to feel good. We can all use more feel good in our lives, right? Right. There are monthly rituals (full/new moon) there are yearly rituals (Equinoxes, Solstices, Birthdays, Religious holidays etc.), and these once or twice a year happenings are often easier to put energy into because they usually involve other people, and as Feminine Goddesses, we make time for other people, don’t we? So what about YOU? Your rituals that is just for YOU. Here are a few of my favorites - I won’t pretend I do these every day because it’s always a struggle for me to find time for just myself - for myself - by myself. BUT when I do, here are my favorites: FIRST ALWAYS - IN SPIRIT Gratitude, Meditation, Oracles and writing. My waking eyes don’t even open without a moment of gratitude. I consciously put a smile on my face (see my note about consciously smiling at the end of this article), and speak from my heart of the joy of each day. It’s my prayer to the universe to be grateful for the abundance that is bestowed on my life. No matter what else is going on in my world, there is always much to be grateful for and I love starting my day with this feel good habit. Then I move into my connection with the self through meditation. I breathe in Self Love Energy, and release limiting beliefs and behaviors as I breathe out. I usually play Scared Spirit Drums by David & Steve Gordon…..it’s only 5 minutes or so, and I just breathe in the energy of self love before I even step out of bed. I begin each day with this mantra: on the inhale: “I love myself, l love myself” (twice on each inhale) and on the exhale “I release limiting beliefs and behaviors”. 5-7 minutes each day - [This is NOT the "Look at me, aren't I amazing" kind of self-Love, but the deep appreciation and acceptance of all that you are kind of love].This one thing will create miracles in your life. Of course you know I have Oracle Cards - heaps of them. My current favorites are: Wisdom of the Hidden Realms by Colette Baron-Reid, Energy Oracle Cards by Sandra Anne Taylor, and I also I have a new deck, Wisdom of the Oracle Divination cards by Colette Baron Reid, that I've preordered and should arrive Sept 29th. I communicate with Spirit through my Oracle cards. Over the years I've learned how to ask questions and how to interpret the answers. They keep me grounded and connected to myself. After years of doing this, I am still completely blown away by how spot-on they are….Whenever I am feeling off or out of sorts, it's because I haven't been having these powerful conversations with Spirit - you know my favorite saying: Spirit is always talking to you...are you listening? When I don't take time to listen, I begin to feel ungrounded. The last part of my morning “before-I-talk-to-anyone” routine is I try to write down any new thoughts or inspiration that comes up during my mediation or oracle readings. This is when my intuition does it's sorting and clarifying - I have to be careful about this because I get a plethora of ideas ALL. THE. TIME, and not every one needs to be acted on…but every one takes me to a place of possibilities that live in my subconscious every moment of everyday. It’s like connecting the dots, each one leads to the next one, and all dots create a complete picture. BODY Music is always my go-to for mood adjustment as well as my workout cheerleader. Being old school, I'm an Oldies but Goodies kind of gal, but you pick what gets your juices flowing and your body moving. My favorite workout is either a walk in the woods or a paddle on the lake. Neither of which are very close to where I live, so they are luxuries….but my daily rituals include 2 must-dos….One is what I call “log time”. I use my yoga log to stretch my contracted chest muscles (from sitting at a computer for hours on end). This helps straighten my spine as well, and I do it about 4 times a day, sometimes for 15 minutes, but usually for only 3-5 minutes. My other can’t-live-without is my Total Gym (Yes, the same one you see on infomercials). I never thought I would own one because during my devoted gym rat days in my 40s, free weights ruled. But with age and back problems I’ve had to love myself enough to dial it down several notches. I can no longer push myself without injuries that take too long to recover from, so I do baby steps - and you know, a lot of those baby steps put together gets you places. I can feel and see the difference in how I function. Win Win ALTAR TENDING Altars should be everywhere. this is my favorite altar for my professional oracle readings. It sets the intention to open my channel to spirit on behalf of someone else. This altar lives in my studio: my silver cocoon called Gypsy - you might recognize her as an Airstream - but she is so much more than that - she is my haven, my womb, my very essence. She invites creativity and self love.
EVENING RITUALS I'm pretty spent by the time dinner is over and I am finally dialing down my energy - so it's usually just a quiet, soaking bath for me. My bath is filled with a cup or two Epsom Salts mixed with essential oils and a handful of baking soda, I light candles and just deeply relax into the water. It’s not unheard of for me to sip my favorite glass of whisky to complete the ritual - it's a treat to myself. NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP My days begin with gratitude and end with gratitude - a simple prayer of thanks as I stretch into warmth of the bed. Always with a smile on my face. Here’s the thing about smiling I promised you at the beginning: It’s pretty hard to hang onto any bullshit chatter of our egoic minds; the fears, the coulda, woulda, shouldas, when you are smiling. It is a conscious act to remind myself that it is all good - and sometimes to remember that "this too shall pass". I would love to hear from you - what are your favorite rituals? What yummy things do you do that are filled with self-love? How do you celebrate YOU?
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