This will be the last in my small series on daily rituals. Here I explore the feelings I have about how daily rituals can help in coping with the situation that continues to dominate our lives – lockdown during Coronavirus and share a few more of the rituals I follow.
Pause for a moment and consider your routines. We all have routines we follow, many on a daily basis. Notice I have used the word routine. The difference between a routine and a ritual is the feeling behind the action.
Routines are often things we feel we have to do (like brushing our teeth, making the bed). Routines may seem dull and boring, but in my own experience I have found routines to be soothing and comforting as I believe they help ground me and keep me experiencing what’s happening in each moment. They help keep me mindful and self aware.
For me, I am convinced that my sub-conscious mind becomes steady and safe through repetitive motions and expected outcomes. I have been taking advantage of this time to expand on my daily routines to fill my days with more creative and joyous pursuits that make me feel good. These then become my daily rituals … routines for joy! They make me feel good  because I believe my habits create my mood and my mood is a filter through which I experience life. So therefore to experience life as joy, I am responsible, it is up to me to make my life work for me and I do this by being in control of my mood. I have been adding daily rituals to my daily life because I choose to live with joy. Finding inner happiness or joy is what we all strive for. For me I find this blissful state by ‘filling my cup’ with rituals that help keep me free from anxiety.
I am living through a beautiful, relaxing time during lockdown and I am convinced this is because I have carefully chosen daily rituals to keep me balanced and feeling grateful for being alive.
Here are my daily rituals:
- Creative Writing. You can read about this :Â here
- Practising Yoga. You can read about this :Â here
- Meditation. I practice meditation to go within, to still my mind and to connect with my inner flame, the real me, the I AM.
- Walking. It goes without saying the many benefits there are in walking but I am enhancing the wellbeing of my daily walk by taking my time to slow down and appreciate every step I take. I use all my senses to take in the environment and give thanks for nature.
- Daily musing on Bliss. It has been wholly healing to mediate on the word bliss and what it means for me. Bliss is where I wish to reside. I have been sharing a few words about how I feel about Bliss and combining my thought for the day with a photograph I take on my daily walk. I post my photograph alongside my words on Instagram. It will be something beautiful I can look back on when lockdown ends and will remind me of the wonderful walks I have enjoyed.
- Singing. The wellbeing benefits of singing are well documented and well known. I have found HUGE pleasure in singing for Gareth Malone since day one when he started his Great British Home Chorus
- Being grateful. Every day I give thanks for existing.
I hope anyone who has read this far (and thank you if you have) finds inspiration to consider their daily routines and  turn them into beautiful, life enhancing daily rituals.
Here’s a link to a wellbeing site where you can read more about the benefits of creating daily rituals. I hope you find it useful
LIHazleton.
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