Ritual definition (a quick google search) ‘a solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order’.
To me, it’s worth ritualizing the shizz out of everything you possibly can. Ritualizing makes activities more sacred, special and so much sweeter - much better than trying to motivate yourself through plain old ‘I should do that’ or ‘I want to do that’.
And when it comes to movement, rituals are something I make MATTER.
It’s a way that I make the things I do in my life intentional and to support me to do the thing I really want to do but may struggle to stay on track with. Ritualizing movement just feels better and somehow more special.
The role of movement in my youth
As a youngling I’d play with my friends. As I reflect back now, I’m aware of a natural ritual rhythm that took place. Go on, reflect over your own childhood and times when you played. Do you find there was a certain order to how things happened? Even in free play there is a rhythm and ritual that occurs. (I’d love to hear what you come up with, this topic feels juicy, playful and fun!).
In formal settings like at school or in a class or club, ritual surrounding movement was often organised. Think of PE (Physical Education) or Gym, taking place at set times each week. There was always an order to how things happened. I was recently reminded of cross-country through conversation with my son (whose school just did Cross Country) and my friend ‘magical Margot’. We talked about how awful these exercises often felt. They gave an opportunity for the runners and expressive souls to shine, and the not so keen runners and less expressive types to squirm at the thought of being watched, to fear not being able to keep up and to wish for it to be over. Of course, I do acknowledge that these settings can also be really positive, as they encourage potentially new means of interaction for some children. But as a child I remember feeling mixed about my school gym classes.
I tried many different sports clubs and classes growing up, each with their pros and cons. Maybe one sweet day I'll write another post to elaborate on those days.
At 15, I got myself a swanky pair of Asics and started running. There was a running group at my high school, and I knew by joining that it would overall be a good thing. I was enthused by the opportunity to network and connect with an ‘established’ group of folk doing something positive for their wellbeing; and actually this group provided accountability (link to accountability post).
I knew back then that I was more likely to stick at running if I was part of a crew that were doing the same thing. I’m not going to lie, but there was also an element of ‘doing something under sufferance’ in the mix, as in ‘doing it because I felt that I should do it’.
A by-product of working on my personal growth along with I suspect a natural part of getting older, I’m making a deliberate choice these days never to exercise with an ‘I should do it’ energy. It feels like a simple ‘mindset shift’ these days. I do it because it’ll help me feel better, or it’ll be great for my cardio health, or it’ll feel great in my body once I've stretched.
In my late teens/early twenties I would go out nightclubbing with friends and I would just dance and dance and dance and dance non-stop. A gorgeous friend of mine once shared ‘you’re a nightmare to go out with because you never stop dancing to talk!’ Funny how life unfolds….look at me now!
The new rituals of pregnancy yoga and parenthood
Becoming pregnant, I welcomed the start of pregnancy Yoga - a class I'd dreamt of joining for years. Paying up front for a block of Yoga classes or having to get somewhere to meet someone or do something, followed by the ‘catch up’ afterwards was always the ritual aspect of those times.
As a new parent my walking regime increased significantly. When I became a single parent in 2016 I felt depleted, stuck and as if I was running on cortisol. I would walk and walk and walk to get my son to sleep in his pram. I didn't have a car and was forever packing a bag and fitting things under the pram and on my back. So yeah, without consciously knowing it, I had found another way of integrating ritual into movement.
How I began to intentionally ritualize movement
After moving to Burntisland in 2017, movement took on a whole new meaning for me. I started going to NIA, and that was the start of me experiencing the joy of movement in my body, mind, emotions and spirit. It’s where my journey of intentionally ritualizing movement began.
Where discipline is concerned I have to work at it - like really really work at it. But ritualizing movement is where I've found my discipline.
“It’s not just my own movement I need to give attention to”
I think about my almost 10 year old son and how mindful I am of his relationship with regular movement. Could my preoccupation with movement merely be a projection onto him as I consider how his world of movement looks (also bearing in mind we’re in a time of ‘gaming’!!!)? The apparent decline in the importance of movement for our children is a huge topic and at times bugbear for me.
I look forward to elaborating more on this topic in a future write up.
Little and often creates lasting change
One of my biggest societal realisations over the past 4-5 years is that ‘little and often’ is what creates lasting change! It’s the secret sauce for anything. We’ve all heard it, we’ve all tried it and we’ve all likely fallen off the bandwagon. Yet we all know that little and often really can work - if we stick to it.
Folk generally perceive me as really fit, active, motivated to move, high on life (and the list goes on).
But are you ready for a Tutty Truth Bomb? Yes, I keep myself moving (usually from task to task) AND I have to pay special attention to prioritising the movement that my body, mind, emotions and spirit need. I need to be careful not to get stuck in a loop of doing ‘a thing’, in the kitchen, around the house, at the computer, in a conversation. Or getting stuck in a loop of attempting to do every ‘thing’ at once. This is a reality for me. I’ve been sharing more openly of late that perimenopause, neurodiversity, single parenting, trauma and being creative make juicy ingredients for a gloriously interesting magic carpet ride in life. Sticking to a habit, like a movement practice for example, takes work.
I’ve been into making things sacred and ritualistic for years now and when I pieced ritual together with the things I want to prioritise in life (like a variety of movement), suddenly those things I was meant to be doing (but wasn’t) became inviting and delicious.
Now I ALWAYS bring ritual into movement. It's one of the reasons I started teaching NIA and have gone on to run events and bring movement in my 1-2-1 coaching sessions. All this keeps me accountable to ‘moving my own body’. The beautiful thing about NIA is that I need to practice the routines in order to be able to teach them. I practice most mornings, be it a routine I know, the NIA 5 stages, learning the steps to a new routine or reading up on something movement related. It’s not really important what I'm doing, more that I'm doing something. NIA is movement medicine with a range of different modalities. By alchemizing the practice into my overall being I’m making a downpayment into what I’ll get to share in my classes and in the community.
How can I bring the benefits of ritualised movement into my own day?
Most of my own ritualised practices happen first thing in the morning. That's where I set the tone for the day, and movement is a big part of that.
Here’s the general morning line up (I won’t always do everything listed, but there is a ritual to my mornings where I do something for my body, mind, emotions and spirit).
On waking:
Intentionally scan my body, see what calls my attention (body)
Witness my mind (mind)
Focus on what I’m grateful for (body, mind, emotions and spirit)
Set an intention for the day (inspired by David Ji) (body, mind, emotions and spirit)
NIA 5 stages (body) - a gorgeous way to arrive into my ‘now’ body on a brand new day vs launching out of bed and dragging my body and mind into the daily doings.
On rising:
Silent meditation and/or listen to a Mooji satsang (spirit)
Stretches/physio exercises (body)
Go outside for 5-25 mins and run/walk/dance on the earth/just be in my garden (I use this time to check in/have a conversation with my body, mind, emotions and spirit)
Cold plunge + Sauna if time allows (body/mind)
Dance NIA (body, mind, emotions and/or spirit)
I do my best to allow 1hr for my morning ritual, some days I do more or less of something, some days I only have 10 minutes. Little and often, remember. The point I must make is to always do something/s for my overall being.
Later in the morning:
Somewhere in the ritual of a morning, a heart-warming and heart-opening cup of cacao, chai or chocolate usually features. There will generally be a candle burning (which I can see out of the corner of my eye, which delights me no end) and there will often be a scent wafting (diffuser with essential oils or incense). Often my movement ritual involves a friend or a few! Regardless of what I do, it always feels delicious and somehow special.
As I write this all down I'm astounded by how much richness, thought and time actually goes into my mornings! It never feels that way, it feels effortless and somehow necessary to my wellbeing and feeds into the beauty of the day ahead.
The remainder of the day:
Once or twice in the day, then again before I sleep, I check in with my body, mind, emotions and spirit in much the same way as I do in the morning. It’s like a wee stocktake of my whole being. There is an energy in and around me that assures me that I'm doing something for my higher good. It feels in no way ‘task-like’ and it’s actually quite delicious. I ‘get to love and welcome it’ and I feel more centred and embodied after it’s done.
I recommend you read James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits. If you’ve not ordered it or found a copy to borrow, get onto it!!! It’ll clue you in on ‘habit stacking’, it's (a sweet trick for making sure the shit you want to happen, happens!). Stacking habits onto things you’re already doing is a great way to incorporate the things you want to be doing more (or less of) of. Most of my movement habits have been inspired through James’s habit-forming wisdom. And to make it feel delicious and inviting, I throw the energy of ritual in the mix.
“Checking in with my entire being or your relationship with movement in a day feels gorgeous, generous and really self compassionate! I highly recommend blending this as a ritual into your daily doings”.
You’ll have gotten my point by now. Ritualising movement is something that really really works for me.
Now I invite you to ask yourself what place ritual holds in your world of movement.
Even if you don’t think there is any ritual in the mix, I would challenge you otherwise - I assure you it’s there.
Perhaps you feel like you don’t prioritise movement enough, or you’re not doing enough of the right movement (stretches for me), or you’re too much of a task master and you don’t always enjoy movement, or maybe you’re not having enough fun with it. If any of these ring true, why don’t you start paying attention to any movement that you do do and look at what is working for you and feels great? Equally, consider what isn’t working and doesn’t feel so great.
You could begin with something as simple as getting out of bed. You’re doing it everyday, why not ritualize the shizz out of that? E.g. “This is the first day of the rest of my life. I'm going to intentionally step onto the earth with this brand new body and be open to all the sensations that I feel on rising this morning”..etc.
Pay attention to what you’re doing, and then instead of just going through the motions, make it mean something. Why not take this opportunity to use this glorious body and your experience of human life to incorporate ritual into things you already do? You can then allow the space for that to spread into other areas of your life.
Bit by bit, these repeated habits and rituals are the seeds that will turn into the beautiful garden your soul and your system desires.
Case study: The importance of ritualised movement to a previous client
A coaching client I worked with for 12 months managed to find joy in bringing ‘their own style’ of movement into their led classes. In our sessions, we connected to the sacredness of movement and why movement was so important for this client. Little by little, a freedom for moving in the way of their own body, together with a structured movement form started to emerge. It was a beautiful thing to witness.
“Our sessions have given me the space and permission to feel so much free-er to be the real me. “ Rebecca.
Life is short; we get access to these bodies and these opportunities at life for a finite period of time. Why not start today with a small step towards something that will have a massive impact on your life going forward?
X Thanks for stopping by
Bron
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