Staying At Home Rituals
We don’t know yet the extent of this crisis or what our effect this pandemic will have on our world when it is over. We also don’t know when it will be over or what ‘over’ means. These are uncertain times which can can lead to strong feelings of fear or low level enduring anxiety.
In the face of this adversity and these uncertain times, humankind is coming together to find strength in our spirits to keep going and find the deep inner resilience that we are born with. Amongst the fear and suffering right now, there have also been many wonderful stories of acts of kindness and love. We can remember that love is the opposite of fear.
There is the opportunity to use this time to turn inwards, to start an inner journey and create rituals and habits to take us through this time and beyond.
I would like to offer some tips that have helped me in the past and are helping me now. As Elizabeth Gilbert recommends , when strong emotions arise, we observe instead of resist and to write ourselves a letter from unconditional love, the first sentence is of your letter is - I am right here. Then let the words flow and give yourself what you have always wanted to hear.
As the poet Maria Rilke says:
Beauty and terror
Just keep going
No feeling is final
- Journaling. For me journaling has allowed to connect with my inner landscape and help me deal with difficult questions and emotions. The Artist’s Way is a wonderful book to help you begin the journaling journey.
- Reading a spiritual text or meditating. I use Insight Timer for my meditation practice and for the wonderful courses.
- Yoga or a movement based practice. This is a wonderful time to start a home yoga practice. I started my practice when I did my teacher training 10 years ago and my mat has been my safe place ever since. I have just written about this at 'Yoga And My Divorce'.
- There are so many yoga teachers and studio offering online classes right now, I am listing many of these @yogispirit_store.
Begin your morning routine before the rest of your family wakes up. If it is difficult to get out of bed, try the 5 second rule from Mel Robbins. “ If you have an instinct to act, you must physically move within 5 seconds or your brain will kill it." When you feel yourself hesitate before doing something, count 5-4-3-2-1 and move towards action. Set yourself the intention the night before and have your yoga clothes ready. Having yoga props at home will also make it easier to begin a home practice.
It takes time to create a new habit and a routine. I have discovered that even if I only have 10 minutes I still get on my mat and practice, sometimes this is a 1 minute of meditation and 5 minutes of yoga, but my daily habit is not broken. Even 5 minutes of your morning ritual will have an impact on your day. Creating a habit takes time so show yourself compassion while creating this new start to your day.
This is the perfect time to invest in yourself and your wellbeing so that from a full cup, love can spill over to others. Allow an air of gentleness to visit, a time to self remember and a time to connect. Allow yourself to soften and your heart open during this time.