Up with the chickens...
In our weekly circle we are creating rituals. One of my favorite rituals is getting up early in the morning. I've tried the sleep in method, but my spirit doesn't like that as much as the get up with the cows method.
So I'm up with the chickens, the cows and the morning song birds. My cat Smokey joins me long enough to get his back good and scratched...sometime our dog Thomas comes out and sits on my lap for morning scratching...then they go back to bed and it's me and the morning
My hubby is more fond of the evenings. My brain isn't. So here I am, morning after morning. It's a ritual. My alarm goes off at 5:30. I snooze it, go back to bed and welcome in the day. Some mornings, I'm full of gratitude and love and appreciation...other days I mumble and wander until the snooze sounds. Then I'm up, put on my sweats, brush my teeth and wash my face with cold water. I get my hot pot warming water and head to my yoga, writing, morning spot in our living room Every once in a while I get a wild hair and go outside for a early walk or to do yoga-ish in my back yard.
This ritual puts me in a good space. Most mornings I do some meditation/prayer, yoga-ish stuff, writing, reading...I give myself the freedom to do whatever I want. Although I find somethings give more than others. I was taking an online class in the morning but my shoulder was getting mad and my spirit of adventure and morning love irritated. So I've dropped the morning class in my sacred morning pocket.
My mom just turned 83. She is retired can sleep in...but keeps finding...over and over again that she is happinest when she gets up early, honors her morning rituals...which includes getting up with the chickens, the cows and song birds. There is a high probability when I'm 83 I'll be up with the chickens. If I'm listening to my inner rhythms, I'll be up with the chickens.
Early and Late day rituals are good for my soul. My nightime ritual is shorter, different and nourishing. It helps me sleep sweetly.
Beginning and ending rituals are bookends to your days. They wake it up and put it to bed. What you do inbetween has little impact on a good ritual. But a good ritual has a dramatic impace on my day.
I've found the key to morning and night rituals is not to get to stuck in the details. The ritual is more about creating space, freetime to do what my soul, my spirit, my mind, my body asks. It's the space that holds my ritual.
Try it.