What Are Rituals And Why They Are Good For Us

"When things change inside you, things change around you"

Definition

A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed in a sequestered place and according to set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community.

As you can see, this is my first blog post and given that I chose this topic for it, tells you already a lot about me :-)

To me, a ritual is powered by an intention, is part of my morning and/or evening routine, a self-created ceremony which gives me meaning and order and helps me to connect with my inner soul. It takes me to my inner sacred place and is a beautiful way to give myself some love and attention and often times to find peace within. It is a wonderful opportunity for renewal and a way to give room to my creativity.

History

Rituals are inherently tied to the human experience and countless rituals have existed in human history. The oldest known ritual is more than 70,000 years old and consisted of early humans worshiping a stone python. Early humans had their own burial rituals, too. But rituals aren’t just the actions of “primitive” and superstitious societies. Modern society is filled with rituals, both religious and secular.

We all have our own rituals. There’s the basketball player who goes through the same routine before a free throw, or the student who wears their lucky socks when taking an exam. We have rituals for all parts of our life, big and small. Rituals also play in important role in death and with grief and help us get through a loss.

Types

In the following posts, I will share some of my favorite rituals. They work for me and as everyone is different, I want to encourage you to try and experiment, be creative, listen to your intuition and find the ones that are best for you.

Some rituals may be around the following topics:

Moon rituals

Baths

Meditations

Mantra singing

Prayers

Pranayamas

Sitting in silence

Cooking

Sport

Being in nature

Reading

Lighting a candle for someone

Beauty rituals

Gratitude practice

Rituals for children

Why are rituals good for us? (as read in "Psychology Today")

1. Rituals serve as a bridge between our outer and inner worlds, between the profane and the sacred, and between the ordinary and the extraordinary. 

Ritual has its roots in religion, and life's fundamental passages are often traditionally accompanied by religious ritual. But life's great passages are by nature spiritual. They affirm human mystery and mutability, our connection with the universal.

2. Rituals afford us a sense of belonging.

When we engage in the ritual process we are, in essence, connected to "original time." Rituals awaken that which is eternal within us and show us how our individual lives are part of a much grander design. 

3. Rituals connect us with nature and the seasons.

The ongoing transitions that occur in nature provide the prototype for change. By watching the constant shifts and turns in nature we recognize our own cycles of life, our own rhythms as humans. Rituals remind us of the interconnectedness of all of life. 

4. 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 our selves 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. 

5. Rituals provide an ongoing way to structure our lives.

The ritual process provides a sense of stability and continuity amidst the ever-changing, hectic, and often chaotic world in which we live. Rituals engender a sense of healing calm and a feeling of trust in life's flow and forward movement. 

5. Rituals give us a way to connect to family, past and present.

Rituals tie us to our ancestors and to our heritage. Their creation and performance helps us to understand where we came from. As a bridge between past and future, they enable us to access, honor, and strengthen our own identity.

6. Rituals remove us from the ordinary flow of life and place us in sacred space.

It is out of the realm of ordinary space and time that rituals create their magic through the mysterious and mystical language of symbolic reenactment. 

7. Rituals help us access our authentic selves by carrying us into deeper levels of consciousness.

By engaging all of our senses through the use of ritual elements inherent in the ritual process, we are able to bypass the intellect in favor of our intuitive, instinctive knowing. Rituals help us balance the work of our outer and inner lives and allow for the full expression of our soul and spirit. 

8. Rituals provide the essential tools for co-creating our own lives.

Creating and performing rituals that are personally meaningful to us helps us as evolving creations to set the exact intention that will ultimately enable us to manifest and reach desired goals and aspirations. 

9. Rituals give our lives a sense of meaning and purpose. 

While the ongoing creation and performance of rituals prepares us for the next stages of life, the successive and cumulative practice of rituals over time has the power to ultimately transform us. 

10. Rituals that mark "rites of passage" — major transitional turning points — help us "connect the dots." 

They help us find and define the patterns and cycles in our individual lives that might otherwise seem to be random happenings if viewed separately.