Daily rituals to support you to rest, restore and renew
By: Penny Ward
Tags: Yin Yoga, Exhaustion, Productivity, Ritual, Burnout

Daily rituals are essential for dialling down stress and pressure and reconnecting with self

In the fast pace of life and the hyper-connected world we live in, wellness and self-care rituals can often fall to the bottom of the list of our priorities. As someone who revels and the busyness of life and making the most of possibilities, if I am not careful, self-care can take a back seat. But when I have things in control, I absolutely cherish my mini-timeouts or downtime and my deep rest and renew rituals.

At any given moment, I try to connect with calm, the ambient to energise even if it is just for a short time and celebrate the connection with my heart, mind and soul.

When we engage in rituals the opportunity to indulge in self-care and connect we can enhance the quality of our lives. When we are aligned and become a tuned to the environment around us through rituals and honour each moment, these nurturing moments enable us to ground to take a breath and Gain perspective. Doing so regularly as a ritual helps us to connect more deeply as a human being moving through our body and our life around us.

Rituals can transform daily routines and habits from the mundane to something quite powerful and incredibly meaningful.

These moments of devotion enable us to engage in self-care as a matter of normality. The rituals that you engage in are essential for managing your energy levels and re-energising right across your day — from sunrise to sunset. Your rituals serve as a reminder, a motivator, a guiding light to keep you on track and to prevent you from burning out.

What is the difference between ritual and routine?

Rituals are a meaningful and mindful way of connecting with your energy with focused attention and intention. Through rituals, you are giving yourself permission to create the time and space to connect the reality of life with your inner energy, your intuition, your passions and aspirations.

Rituals can be powerful, meaningful and symbolic. In contrast to a routine which is a simple action. The primary difference is the mindset and attitude behind the action.

Routines are like our checklists provide the framework for your day. You don’t have to place a lot of focus on what comes next as they occur naturally and you may find you even do them unconsciously. Routines are about functioning and don’t take too much brainpower, in fact, they alleviate a lot of stress on the day as they are things you often do without even thinking. They are essential as they serve as a checklist to keep us on track and moving in the right direction.

You may find that you ‘mindlessly’ engage in routines. This may not be bad for the brain is it does not draw down on your mental energy, and in fact, your routines may even alleviate stress on your mind!

Rituals, on the other hand, provide us with a sense of control and security. We can turn everyday actions into more sacred and meaningful events to bring more meaning and fulfilment in our lives.

Make a ritual your own. Make it personal, make it meaningful. The beauty of rituals is that these behaviours become habits, and most of all, that they can be created from just about anything.

Getting started with rituals to manage your energy

This process invites you to connect your routine and habits from your outer world and bring them into your inner world with purpose and meaning. This process of blending the routine with the sacred is something you can to do mindfully check in with your body, mind and soul, your emotions and to reconnect with your inner wisdom and intuition.

Your rituals are one way you can manage your energy during your day. From sunrise to sunset you can identify moments to respect and affirm, assemble and gather, adorn, nurture and nourish, connect and retreat.

You may associate rituals with religion or spirituality. However, Deep Rest and Renew enables you to transform any habit or routine into rituals with the right attitude, perspective and behaviour.

Deep Rest and Renew Rituals are based on the themes of respect and affirm, assemble and gather, adorn, nurture and nourish, connect and retreat.

Here is how you can get started:

Respect and Affirm

Affirmations are one way you can show respect and self-love and build the connection to yourself. When you start to respect yourself including your mind, your body, your soul, others will also. Whether this is self-esteem, boundaries, believing in your good, your abilities, what you deserve and how you are treated.

Set your intention for resting deeply

Be clear right upfront about your practice and what you want to achieve. To bring calm. To bring rest. To bring clarity. To bring peace. Say it out loud to yourself. Make it a ritual. Devote it to you. To your day. To someone else. Setting an intention for practice at the start of the day is an excellent foundation. Setting an intention at the end of the day and seal your day with rest allows you to consolidate the day, still your mind and rest your thoughts.

When to practice and making time

Timing is everything when you want to experience the benefits of this practice. Respect and work with your body’s intelligence and your intuition to guide you to the best time of the day, and for what feels right for you. This could be at the end of your day before sleep, or at the end of your workday to ‘seal’ the day before you enjoy your evening. Perhaps you might prefer the morning. If you do, remember this practice is about lengthening and resting into poses, and first thing in the morning you will not be as supple as you are at the end of the day after eight hours or so of movement and action.

Create your sacred space — your rest nest

Surrounding yourself with positive, calming, nurturing energy can totally transform your life. By creating a sacred space to rest — your Rest Nest you can establish your space wherever you dedicated to your well-being, happiness and all things good.

There is an overwhelming sense of calm when you walk into your favourite yoga studio, spa or place of relaxation. There are so many inviting elements that speak to all the senses to enable you to rest and restore your body, mind and soul.

The good thing is that you don’t have to leave home to create your own blissful space

Assemble and gather

Find your sacred space. Seek to find a space that will honour your body, mind and soul. Choose an area in your home that is personal, is quiet and free from distractions and interruptions (if you can!). While it is great to create your Rest Nest in a specific location, the key is not to become dependent on just one place; ultimately you are working towards being comfortable and relaxing under many different conditions.

Adorn yourself

Comfort is everything when you are resting, deeply. Before you start, be sure to choose a comfortable, warm, quiet and safe space to practice. Place particular focus on your environment and ambience. For your body, stretchy, unrestricted clothing is a must. Be unapologetic about it. Don’t wear clothing that will irritate you, is too tight, is distracting, or just plain impractical for moving into deep, restful poses. Importantly, adorn yourself with items that you love and show respect to you and your body.

Many essential oils can be applied topically to calm your nervous system, promote relaxation and lead to deep rest. You can use oils on the soles of your feet, neck, on your temples, inside of your wrists or ankles — try not to apply undiluted oils to the skin by using a carrier oil or cream.

Nurture yourself with something soothing

Deep rest and renewal promote the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system — otherwise known as the ‘rest and digest’ response. To do this, we need to switch off the sympathetic nervous system — the ‘fight or flight’ response. Stimulants before to your practice such as coffee, alcohol, nicotine, electronics, screen time and blue light, etc. serve as an alert stimulus and engage the sympathetic nervous system and consequently can frustrate your attempts to rest deeply. Try something soothing instead such as your favourite herbal tea.

Connect and retreat

Keep a journal. You know you should be resting, but your brain is still on autopilot. This is not uncommon when you are starting out in the practice of deep rest, or when the tempo of your life increases as a result of a change.

Keeping a journal close by or a notebook during your practice to write down any burning ideas or reminders will calm your mind and allow you to focus on rest again. Until your practice develops and you can extend your attention and calm your mind, journal and keep notes.

Mindful awareness. Use your daily chores as an opportunity to practice being more mindful and aware of your actions. So instead of feeling like every daily activity is something that just needs to get done, it becomes an event you feel serves a positive function in your life, and it becomes something you may even enjoy doing and look forward to.

Learn more at: https://deeprestandrenew.teachable.com/p/rest-restore-and-renew-with-yin-yoga-and-yoga-nidra-21-day-program

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