Although it may seem as simple as lighting a candle, carving out the time in your day to pause and give yourself a moment can do all the wonders.
Healing doesn’t have to just happen physically. It can occur in all aspects of ourselves; mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, so it is important that we take the time to pause and work to recognise these parts within us. Now, everyone’s self-care ritual will look different, so it’s important to understand that building it will take time. Just because one way works for one person, doesn’t mean it’s going to work on everyone. What we mean is, go into your self-fulfilment journey with wide eyes and be open to new possibilities. Speak to new people, try new things, listen to yourself (we know, crazy concepts). It’s never too early or too late for self-growth and although the road is everchanging and may feel never-ending. It’s the process of how you get there that will make all the difference.
As a way to make this journey seem a bit less intimidating, we recommend that everyone creates their very own selfcare ritual. As we said before, everyone’s ritual will be different so we can’t sit here and give you a list of things to do and that they will cure all your issues in the world. That’s impossible. Instead, we want to encourage and inspire you to branch out and find moments of joy, peace, and empowerment within your own life. To take control.
Now don’t let the word ritual scare you off. Ritual can stand for many other words; act, habit, practice, procedure, routine. It’s all of these words that work together to form the idea of what we are trying to get across. The self care process doesn’t have to feel like a gargantuan weight. Instead, it’s getting yourself into the habit of implementing these small moments throughout your day, that over time don’t even feel like an effort anymore.
“Self-created ceremonies give meaning and order to our personal lives…Rituals are tools that give us the freedom to take responsibility for the direction and purpose of our lives…Rituals provide us with a sense of renewal. They offer us a time-out from our everyday routine, habitual existence. Metaphorically, rituals are oases, a time to rest, replenish, and restore ourselves on our long and winding path through life. Rituals help us to reevaluate our journey thus far and to reaffirm that the path we are traveling is the right one for us.” (Brenner, 2015)
Instead here is a list of possible activities you could do throughout your day. Remember to take it easy in yourself, depending on how you’re feeling, start with one and gradually build from there. These activities aren’t things you have to do every day, at the same time of day, in the same room. No that’s boring. Instead find things activities (big or small) that bring you joy and grow it from there.
– Light a candle (shocker!)
– Read a book
– Start a new tv series
– Get outside and go for a walk
– Go to a park and sit and people watch. (we know it may sound a bit creepy but you’d be surprised by just how calming it can be)
– Listen to some music, sing at the top of your lungs and dance around your living room
– Snuggle up and take a nap, a nap fixes everything.
– Go and grab a coffee, but instead, try a different café. Maybe even try a different café every time you go.
– Pop to Bunnings and buy yourself a plant, wonder the garden aisles and take your time.
-Get Baking! spend some time in the kitchen and let yourself zone out and at the end you can reward yourself with some yummy treats.
Sources
Brenner, A., 2015. 10 Ways Rituals Help Us Celebrate Our Lives. [Blog] Psychology Today, Available at: <https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-flux/201508/10-ways-rituals-help-us-celebrate-our-lives> .