So much of our lives start out being a subject of awe and amazement and then we fall into a cycle of repeatedly doing it to the point that it becomes ritualistic, with numbness. The regular performance of something becomes boring, bland, and robotic. It leaves a feeling that lacks fulfillment allowing us to believe we are not whole and need to be filled up by something external.Circumstances of ‘lack and emptiness’ will continually present themselves until the lesson is learned…all that is needed to fill ourselves up is already within.
It is the activity in which RITUAL is carried through with emotion and fervor that is experienced anew each and every time. How do we reintroduce that element, that spark into our lives on a daily basis? How does one remind themselves that they are all that ‘they’ need when it just does not always feel like it?
I was in Richmond this past weekend attending a course on Conscious Connected Breathing in which I am pursuing certification. The underlying theory behind it is that we can heal ourselves through breath work. It allows for the movement of energy blocks that sit in the system which ultimately result in the manifestation of dis-ease. One of the goals was to conduct a breath work session in water allowing for negative energy to be released. (You may have seen some of the books by Masaru Emoto regarding his research on the ability of water to take on positive and negative, healing and destructive energies.)
Anyway, as one of the instructors was preparing the tub for the breath work process, I was outside in the yard with the other. She had asked me to spend a moment contemplating what I wanted to receive out of what I was about to experience. I was asked to put out an intention verbally for what I wanted. Then, we went outside to her garden.
Renee had a lovely herb garden to the side of her home. It contained many things that are common: mint, rosemary, echinacea, aloe…also flowers: rose, money plant, etc…and some less known items. We selected some rocks, certain leaves, shells, crystals, and roots. It was all up to me to have what I wanted in the water. As I walked and selected, she told me of the characteristics of many of the items. I also learned their symbolism and some of the history of how indigenous peoples, healers, and alternative medicine practitioners utilize them.
The more I learned, the more I felt deeply honored and grateful for the experience. I realized my connection to all of these wonderful elements of nature. It became clear. The natural depth of feeling that is our true nature will bubble up, if we just allow it to. The yearning to experience is inherent within us…it is just waiting for ‘US’.
So many times we focus upon the task, the objective of completing the task, and how much else we have to do that we miss the importance of the individual parts of the whole. It is by running the race, staying on the hamster wheel…by just going with the flow that we become machines instead of basking in our humanness. For that simple reason, the cliches regarding time have come into existence. “Time flies” “It will be gone before you know it” “It seemed like yesterday…” Time can only escape you if you have not experienced it fully. If you are in the moment, then how could you have missed it?…lost it?…or forgotten it?
The entire experience between the gathering of sacred objects, the breath work, and the revelry lasted approximately two hours. Those two hours seemed like an incredible lifetime within themselves. It will rank as one of the most significant memories of my life simply by the awareness that came from it.
I ask you to look at your rituals in life: the things you now do without thought, without choice, without the experience. Change it. Each participation of your life is an opportunity to know you have lived. Whether it is brushing your teeth and applying your makeup, performing job tasks, or planning out the landscape of a new lawn, each event requires a RITUAL. Each participation should become an act in which you experience the event as well as the magnificent gift of being alive and able.
The next time you brush your teeth, put on a great piece of classical music, or jazz, or rock…something you do not typically listen to. Follow the rhythm of the song and create your own experience with a shining smile at the end. See how that enactment, not only impacts the moment, but how it drives your entire day.
The romance, the fun, the aliveness that each one of us yearns to feel every day already exists. It is deep within our selves waiting to be experienced and unearthed. the RITUALS are longing to be expressed. Too much time has already flown by…it is time for it to be stretched out for a while. Time exists in order to experience it.
Until the next…Fashion Emergency!!!
Warmest Regards,
Simran Singh