The Art of Self Care Rituals

Holy Nows

How holy is your ‘now’? How magical is your moment? How alive is your everyday life?

Plenty of times during the day, we find ourselves wishing for a change in our lives, wishing for our dreams to come true, praying for a miracle to happen. All this is perfect, except we sometimes forget that we too have a little magic on our fingertips and we can sprinkle it onto everything we want. There are some tiny but yet powerful things that we can do to turn a plain ‘now’ into a holy one; turn an ordinary moment into an extraordinary one; turn life into true blessed living.

1) The first three minutes of the day
You just woke up. Breathe deep. You have been given a gift again; it’s called Life. Say ‘thank you’ for this new day, and willingly let go of every memory you have of the past: every sorrow, every regret, every ‘good’ and every ‘bad’ memory that chains you to something known and familiar. Start anew! See every goal you’ve set already achieved, see yourself completed, fulfilled, peaceful. Give thanks, see happiness filling up everything; the room, the house, the world, you. Get up. Hold happiness by the hand, and let it guide you through your day. Expect miracles. And let them happen.

2) Power dressing
Picture yourself as a super hero, and as you open your closet to pick your outfit for today, imagine that each garment you have is a super power: kindness, determination, forgiveness, bravery, love, expressiveness, courage, honesty, and so on. And as you are deciding on what to wear, think that you are actually choosing the super power that you want for today. Close your eyes as you’re getting dressed, and think that you’re actually putting on this mighty power that you’ve chosen. It will be with you all day, helping you make the most of it.

3) Sun gazing
The Sun is the light of this world. And as it sheds its light onto everything, visualize that the Sun also sheds light into your own self. Next time you are outdoors on a sunny day, ask the Sun to shine inside you, so that whatever dark spots exist in your mind and heart, they can be dissolved outright with the Sun’s light. Open wide all the ‘doors’ and ‘windows’ of your being so that the Sun can come in and light everything up.

4) Walk in grace
You’re probably reading this sitting on your chair or sofa. Next time you walk or take just a small step, try to picture this: through your feet, you send a million blessings to the ground you walk on and to every creature on the planet. You feel grateful for Life itself, and with your every single step you say ‘thank you’ to everyone and everything that ever lived, to every form of life in the world. In this way, walking becomes a ritual, it becomes your own everyday meditation. You walk consciously, you walk in grace, you feel Life in every cell of your body. You are living the miracle… already!

5) Meeting Saints and Angels
You’ re getting ready to go to work, or have a cup of coffee with a friend, or visit a relative. Before meeting whomever you are about to meet, say to yourself that you’re going to meet a saint or an angel: you can picture the person in your mind as, let’s say, the ‘most kind person on earth’, or the ‘most caring person’, or whatever attribute you want to imagine this person has. In this way, the theory of ‘self-fulfilling prophesy’ is set in motion: subconsciously you have already started to adjust your behavior so that what you think of the other person comes true.
And before you know it, you do end up in the company of saints and angels!

6) Eating thankfully
In the Japanese culture, it is common before every meal to say the phrase ‘itadakimasu’. A broad definition of this phrase could be ‘I am thankful to everyone and everything that helped make this meal’. Surely we don’t have to use the actual phrase, but it is a truly wonderful way to eat our meals having in our minds the thought that many beings worked with love and care in order to make our meal: the plants, the animals, the people who cooked it, the soil, the rain, the sun. Gratitude and humility grow subtle, yet strong roots inside us while we eat, and we can take pleasure of their benefits during the day.

7) Create while sleeping
The day is coming to an end; you go to bed feeling more or less tired, more or less accomplished. Don’t open the TV, skip reading your favorite book before sleep, and do this instead: lie down on your bed, close your eyes, and let go of all the data you keep in your mind. Set a goal that is so high, so difficult to achieve that if you ever did achieve it, you would be amazed. Think of this goal already achieved, think of all the satisfaction you’re feeling, all the happiness and the joy you have in your heart. Fall asleep with this feeling, with this picture in your mind, and let it work inside you all night. Next morning, you will most likely wake up with this feeling of joy and happiness, with this satisfaction that you’ve reached your highest peak. What a way to start your day!

Reality has the color you choose to use. Choose freely. ۞