One Good Thing for Someone Else Every Day

I have two steady rituals: the first is that I begin every day with meditation and prayer for good health, loving family and friends, and opportunities to do good work. I also try to do at least one good thing for someone else every day. The latter began when I was thinking about giving up something for Lent, as I have always done. I thought that that was not doing anything positive for the world, so determined that it would be better to do something good for someone else every day--and then not just for Lent but throughout the year.

Dee Dickinson
www.newhorizons.org


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Gratitude, Prayer, Meditation and Life Affirming Actions

One of the great truth that has changed and continues to change me came from my study with Dr. Angeles Arrien in Calif. She taught me that all traditional people believe that in order to live in a sacred blessing way, you need to have these three practices in your life daily. I call them rituals and express my original medicine with them. They are the practice of GRATITUDE which I take the time once or twice a day as I feed my horses to look around and say thank you for all the wonders etc in my life. The practice of PRAYER and MEDITATION is the second ritual and that is something that is evolving daily with my spiritual and soul growth. The third is to practice LIFE AFFIRMING ACTIONS everyday. This is the fun one as it reflects the first two. As Rumi says, "Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do"....or something like that!!

~ Anonymous

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I Am Nothing If Not A Person fo Ritual

I am nothing if not a person of rituals. Some of them include morning walks with my dog (now dogs) followed by lots of stretching, enjoying my coffee almost like a religion, praying to God when I go to sleep (for some reason I always remember to do this when I'm traveling but not always at home), try to go to church regularly on Sundays, eating a big breakfast in my room when I'm traveling (always the same thing, too). But you get my drift. I need fewer rituals in my life, not more!

~Becky

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Sharing New Things Each of Us Learned

Give thanks before every meal, joining hands with all gathered around the table

Bless the car and everyone in it as I begin driving

Bless our daughter, Adonia, each night, cuddle and give thanks for the day and look back at what went well and what could work better another day

Share with each other at supper time what new things each of us learned during that day

Pray/meditate each night before going to sleep, even if just for a short while

Touch in with my husband each evening to get a sense of the next day's flow and how we will weave each of our schedules and rhythms together in mutual support and awareness

Do a cleanse in the spring time -- which includes a yearly wildcrafting of nettles

That's a start for now... wanted to write some down right away before your email scoots too far up in my inbox (another "ritual" I am trying to enact more and more ;-))

~anonymous

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Centered, Grounded in Purpose and Possibility, Limber and Healthy

My morning ritual:

Before I'm awake enough to talk myself out of it, I do the 5 Tibetan rites. 20 minutes of mediation follow and then, as I take a shower, I say a multi-part affirmation that I began doing in 1986.

The affirmation was really my first experience of meaningful ritual. It grew out of a workshop called The Wall that was offered through Context Trainings, a cousin to Landmark's Forum. I have no idea what prompted me to begin saying my "definition of success" to myself every morning but I did. Through the years, I have added other elements, including a "stand" (I am Reflecting Pool: nurturing wholeness, creating space for limitless learning, nourishing through purpose) and a question (How am I a spark to grow love's capacity in myself, others and the whole? and its recent partner question: How can we call into being our collective soul so that our many storied world can find its way and each of us our roles in it?).

I added the meditation and Tibetan Rites in 2000 following attending Nine Gates Mystery School.

I believe the meditation centers me and the affirmations ground me in my sense of purpose and possibility. The Rites keep me limber and feeling physically healthy.

Anyway, it is a great way to start the day and I can feel it when I don't take the time in the morning.

Peggy Holman
Open Circle Company


Photo is #2 in the 5 Tibetan Rites

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Sometimes Rituals Turn up. Sometimes They Vanish.

Rituals. Mmh. At certain times in my life, certain rituals turn up. Like meditation in the morning. Sometimes they vanish again. Partly because of a lack of discipline on my part. Partly because of completely mysterious reasons.

Right now, living the pretty scheduled life of a working father, my rituals are (randomly):

• Deep muscular core workout every Tuesday evening
• Anusara-Yoga at Sunday nights
• Singing a good night song to my son three times a week
• Talking my son to sleep. A little ritual I created when Finn couldn't find the gateway to the causal on his own. It's partly progressive muscle relaxation combined with a form of prayer. I always let him decide whether he wants to fall asleep alone or if I should guide him. Finn is 4.5 years old.
• Group meditation (1 hour) and energy work every Thursday night
• Trying hard to drink at least 2 liters of water every day and mostly succeeding
• A cup of strong black coffee in the morning
• Sensual love including oil-massage as regular as possible
• Sitting in a café drinking latte machiato and reading the paper on lonely Sunday mornings

That's it for now. My regular patterns. Rituals in the broad sense. Nonetheless..

Jan Koch
jankoch.email@gmail.com

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Tea With My Son When He Gets Home

I have been so busy lately that I've dropped many of my healthy rituals. Not a good time for that!! I've even picked up some unhealthy ones recently (playing that colored lines game too often). It's incredible how tenuous our healthy habits sometimes are. A very good lesson for me, though. I try to "have it all together" all the time, and I need to allow myself to sometimes NOT!
I am also trying to show this part to others more regularly, rather than hide behind the "got it all together" and "doesn't get perturbed" masks.

But in this last week of school this quarter I have been turning back toward the healthy ones more. One that I have never dropped is praying before dinner. We go around the table and say what we are thankful for at that moment. It is a great way to slow down, and approach the meal with more presence, intention, and gratitude.

Another ritual is having oolong tea with my son when he gets home from school in the afternoon. It is a nice way to relax and be present together. We also read together most evenings before bed. This is probably one of my favorite rituals. We are currently reading the Chronicles of Narnia together. We both enjoy fantasy stories, and simply lying in bed together at the end of the day before going to sleep.

I have also been playing squash once a week with someone who is right at my level. We have a real good battle with each other!! I push myself very hard, and have a lot of fun in the process. This is my only regular exercise at the moment, but it's nice to have a regular time to meet with someone else to keep me engaged with it.

Rituals that I am currently interested in including more in my life are: coloring and drawing, recording and contemplating my night-time dreams, sitting meditation, playing piano, and creative visualization.

Michael Byrne
Creating Vitality



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