Self-care rituals are modes through which we access our inner life and pathways to make a greater, more intimate connection to ourselves. Rituals ground us and give shape to our days, our weeks, our months and our years. They mark a point in time and bring a sense of meaning and a shape to what otherwise blends into everything else. Rituals make the ordinary remarkable and illuminate the banal.
Rituals are a pathway to self-transformation that can happen in the short term, like aromatherapy to shift a heavy mindset, or dry brushing to get the blood flowing and invigorate the nervous system. Or, they can act more long term, like working through a trauma using tools and therapies, or building more trust with ourselves and others with patience and diligence.
Rituals slow down time, and there are different types to be utilized or set into motion to achieve many different results. Some can wake us up out of our routine state; others are meant to move us to a different emotional place, to stimulate our senses or ground us, among so many other things. Days punctuated with small, simple and meaningful rituals help us experience a greater presence of mind, body and spirit, not to mention a sense of wholeness.
You will be incorporating and integrating these rituals over time. When one no longer serves you, replace it with something else that nourishes your body and feeds your soul. Perhaps you will return to that ritual when it feels relevant again.
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Shel Pink is the founder of SpaRitual, the sustainable vegan beauty brand based on self-care, and author of Slow Beauty: Rituals and Recipes to Nourish the Body and Feed the Soul, with ways to create moments of meaningful self-care and wellness. A wellness industry expert and innovator, Pink’s advice and insights have been featured at events and media outlets around the world.
