They say routine kills - but it has its uses when we can shape it into something that saves us from thinking and at the same time is nourishing and useful for us. Today we will discuss the topic of creating daily rituals - and I will also describe some healthy Ayurvedic techniques that you can easily invite into your life.
Personally, I value change very much and routine has always aroused a certain aversion in me. However, today, with hindsight, I can really appreciate the repetitive elements of my life - they are what offer me stability and a sense of grounding. Without them, life can be very chaotic and sometimes even pointless. I change my daily rituals from time to time when I feel I need different ones - just as I eat more hot foods in winter than in summer, my habits change seasonally and adapt to my life situation.
In fact, we can transform any habit into a ritual, and I think these are the ones that can become the most valuable to us. In my opinion, the difference here lies in the awareness and purposefulness with which we do a given thing. For example, simply brewing tea or coffee can become a ritual - whether it is a tea ceremony or simply grinding coffee with a manual grinder and brewing it in a pressure coffee maker, as opposed to pressing a button on a coffee machine or pouring water from a kettle over a ready-made tea bag. I recommend assessing the difference in the quality of such a drink yourself, but in my experience, greater attention when cooking anything always affects the resulting taste. Maybe this is also why the opposite of fast food, the so-called slow food!
In Ayurveda, many rituals are performed using natural oils. In my first entry about this medical system (here!) I presented oil pulling, czyli oil pulling. Another use is to rub hot oil onto the skin of the entire body before or after bathing, known as AbhyangaThe element of massage has a soothing effect on muscles and stress, it helps ground us, and of course it also takes care of our skin. Due to the low practicality or, as in my case, limited tolerance of oils on the skin, you can treat this ritual more minimalistically and treat yourself to a regular oil foot massage, e.g. just before going to bed. Deep sleep and relaxation guaranteed! I recommend looking for Ayurvedic oils appropriate for your dosha, or using any oil that suits your skin and nose. In winter, a good base oil is sesame oil - it warms you up a lot, while in summer, more cooling coconut oil may be a better choice.
Another great Ayurvedic ritual is dry skin brushing (or simply dry brushing, in Sanskrit Garshana). It's a form of massage using a natural bristle brush - this time without oil or water. It greatly nourishes the skin, exfoliating it and stimulating the flow of lymph in the body. To start with, I recommend looking for the softest brush possible! Alternatively, you can also try a massage using Gua Sha - a massage tool from Asia, usually made of natural crystal or wood. You will find a lot of tips on the Internet regarding the direction and method of massage, both with a brush and Gua Sha.
Apart from the massage based rituals, or baths, which I wrote about here, I also recommend those related to the phases of the Moon. New moon is the perfect time to specify your intentions, and full moon can be a great time to reflect on our emotional states, which often show their fangs at this time. 😉 We can also perform a ritual of cleansing our house or apartment of old energy and filling it with new, charged with love and gratitude. White sage is suitable for this purpose, and we smear it on every corner of the apartment and on every piece of furniture, starting from the entrance door in a counter-clockwise direction, with the intention of harmonizing and driving away any negative influences. To "charge" the space, we can use incense, crystal or Tibetan singing bowls, singing or healing sound chambers, e.g. from Xi EarthStar.
What are your favourite rituals? Share them in the comments below!