What is your morning ritual? Does it involve exercise, meditation, prayer, affirmations, goal setting, lifestyle planning…? Or is it more reactive… hit the snooze button 3 times, get up late, cut yourself shaving, grab coffee on the way out the door, and speed through morning rush hour to arrive at work one or two minutes late.
How about your bedtime ritual? Do you stretch, pray, prepare tomorrow’s clothes, prioritize your day, say a heartfelt goodnight to the family and read. Or are you more geared to a brush of the teeth, a quick pee, and take your clothes off bedside with the TV remote in hand?
I’m not advocating one style over another… what I am saying is that your morning and bedtime rituals proudly illustrate your beliefs and priorities.
So what are rituals… communication in its finest and purest form. Rituals are a natural occurring phenomenon within every culture that communicates to the individuals within that culture, “this is who we are, this is what we believe in, and this is how you fit in as one of us.
All rituals are a unit of communication that involve the following three components
- movement
- sound
- symbolic meaning
The most powerful aspect of rituals is their innate ability to help you communicate with yourself.
I have had the privilege of being exposed to every “hot topic” seminar or leaning modality on communication and change that good money can buy. Whether you are a Certified Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, a Certified Hypno-therapist, an Energy Healer, or dynamic leader, effectiveness in any arena is directly associated with ones ability to communicate with their own internal self and manage their emotional states. Some of us are lucky enough to have modeled very effective self-communication patterns; others have modeled very destructive ones. Remember, if we don’t establish our own success rituals (self-communication habits), our unconscious communication patterns will often establish ineffective one’s for us. Deep inside, our own minds and hearts live in a world of rituals. Let this post serve to remind you to be mindful and purposeful in the rituals you choose to engage your energy in… its self-communication at its finest and purest form and has been for thousands of years.
