Starting the Day with Ritual

 

By Leo Babauta

Every new day is a tremendous gift.

And yet we often take these days for granted, rushing into everything we need to respond to, distracting ourselves, forgetting to feel wonder. Wouldn’t it be lovely to create a morning ritual to greet your day?

The purpose of the ritual is to practice full appreciation of the gift we’ve been given, and to set the rest of the day up for wonder.

What would that create for your life, if you had a ritual like that? My suggestion is to create your own ritual, not copy mine, because ritual is best treated as a creative act. Ask yourself, what would be amazing for your morning?

Some ideas and suggestions:

Let the ritual be sacred. Let it have a feeling of elevatedness, transcendence, spirituality. If these aren’t your norm, maybe try them out. It’s possible this is exactly what your day needs.

Start small, but go slow. You don’t need an hour long ritual—perhaps just something that takes a few minutes, at the start. Keep it simple. But as you do it, let yourself do it slowly.

Practice how you want to be during the day. Don’t rush through the ritual, like yet another obligation. How do you want to be during the day? Some ideas are: wonder, joy, play, slowness, spiritual, love. Choose one and practice this as you do the ritual.

Incorporate elements of beauty and purpose. Some examples (but don’t do all of them): Flowers, a candle, music, a notebook and nice pen, incense. Read a text that connects you to wonder. Remind yourself of your deepest purpose.

Gratitude, wonder, prayer. These are three elements we miss out on in our day. How can you incorporate them into your ritual? Prayer, by the way, is something that many of us non-religious people reject, but we miss out on the humbling nature of asking for something you feel you can’t do on your own, from something that’s bigger than you (even if that’s family, community, the universe, etc.).

Another important idea: start out imperfectly, and iterate. That means create new versions as you go through the ritual regularly, adjusting based on what you discover. Don’t try to make it perfect; even if you just pause for a moment in the morning to think of five things you’re grateful for, and that’s an amazing start.

What would be a lovely way to greet your day?

 

Photo:Pixabay

Editor: Dana Gornall

 

Leo Babauta is a regular guy, a father of six kids, a husband, a writer from Guam (now living in San Francisco). He eats vegan food, writes, runs, and reads. He is the founder of Zen Habits which is about finding simplicity and mindfulness in the daily chaos of our lives. It’s about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what’s important, create something amazing, find happiness.

 

This article was originally published on Zen Habits and re-published with author’s permission.

 

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