Threemile Idaho

I have many rituals in my practice, but the most powerful healing ritual for me is what I call a "three-mile Idaho." I live about 1¼ miles from the Idaho border just east of Palouse, WA, in a very lovely setting along the North Fork of the Palouse River. A gravel road heads east from here along the river, and over the years of living here I have discovered how transformative that walk can be. If I go another ¼ mile past the border, the river valley opens up to an expansive plain where Palootspu and Nez Perce would camp in summer before Europeans came to this country, and right at that point is a portal of sorts with Ponderosa pines on either side of the road, framing the view of the valley. Walking to that point and back is almost precisely three miles.

When I have been miserable, stressed-out, unable to see how to go forward from an impossible situation, I have found that I can hold my crisis in my heart-mind and walk out the door, down that road. The walk is long enough that I can go through every voice inside me, and I begin to sort through them, watching the unconstructive voices fall away as I become invigorated with the exercise, breathing deep into my center. The unresolvable struggles transform somehow to become understandable, manageable. Often there are moments of absolute clarity. Over the years, various "stations" along the walk have become associated in my mind with particular transcendent insights, and if I linger at those points I seem to be able to draw on those experiences in addressing whatever I am carrying at the moment. When I reach the portal, I greet the trees on either side and step through. If the moon is out, or the Milky Way, I align somehow with them, breathing and stretching. I offer whatever I have to the spirit of that place.

Then I turn towards home, and every time it feels as though a huge weight has been lifted from my being. The return trip integrates the transformation into the world I left at home, with everything in perspective.

Of course, I also go on three-miles to entertain my dog and collect native plant seeds, but the ceremonial three-mile Idaho is in an entirely different league. I believe it has saved my sanity on several occasions.

Paul Ely Smith
www.palouserivermusic.com

I Take Breaks to Breathe, Rest My Mind and Eyes

Waking and sitting on the porch before I start my day, feeling the air, listening to birds, noticing how I am feeling, setting intention, perhaps drinking a lovely cup of coffee as I awaken to the day.

This continues throughout my day as I am on computer a lot, I take breaks to breathe, rest my mind and eyes, check in....even for just a small moment. Creativity cannot sustain itself well, I have found, without some space...

And of course caring for my dog brings a lot.....walking him a few times a day, I notice how it feels to be in a body that day....brushing him patiently brings me to the present.....giving things to him that makes him happy.

Food is also a great time to feel gratitude and commune with life energy, whether it be cooking, eating, growing food. And any exploration in/with for that matter can bring this opportunity for me.

Finally, most reliably in my day, I have found I need a certain amount of time alone, to do nothing at all. All kinds of things unwind in this space for me.

~ Anonymous


Woman on porch photo
Corn photo

Journaling and then Meditating

For about 10 years I have been journaling every day. It is about a page typewritten. Then I meditate/contemplate for about 20 minutes. This order seems to work better for me than the other way around--perhaps I get the junk out on the page and then can be clearer in the m/c.

For about 6 months I have been attending a Friends meeting, and that is a welcoming and welcome time each First Day, as Quakers say. Now it is interesting to call all this ritual, the Quakers being so plain and not liking the word! But then again, some people think open space has no structure....

I also like to read a lot--mainly spiritual type reading. Just finished John Shelby Spong's A New Christianity For a New World; before that it was Walter Brueggemann's The Prophetic Imagination. These both excited me and reverberated through my life. Of course, Lawrence Thornton's Imagining Argentina, and Peter Block's Community are spiritual books to me!

The big ritual I am working on now is to invite without ceasing.

You may also want to look at www.FootprintsintheWind.com and read the article "12@21" (right hand column) for a romantic kind of ritual.

Doug Germann

photo source

Wow!! I Do Take Care of Myself With My Rituals

For me… I do a meditation/clearing/intention time each morning consisting of energetically clearing out my house, my office space, and my boyfriend’s house, then putting in white light of the highest vibration into each of these spaces where I spend the most time. Then I call in all helpers/angels etc to assist me for the day (in general and in specific if I am working on something), and then I do the same for my daughter. Sometimes I do it at my altar, other times in bed before I get up.

Currently for the next 2 weeks I am cleaning out my energy field 2x/day after a shaman session I had recently.

I work out 3-4x/week…hike, swim, cardio, weights…

Before I go to sleep I go through the day and get into a space of gratitude for all the things that I enjoyed throughout the day. Occasionally I’ll get to write in my journal.

I have a spiritual book club that I attend 2x/month. I belong to a women’s prosperity circle that we talk 1x/week and do emails during the week to keep our vibration high!

I get Acupuncture (1-2x/month), Massage, Anat Baniel, Chiropractic etc as needed.

WOW!! I do take good care of myself with my rituals!

W.W
Source for Wellbeing


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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

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



photo source