Morning rituals

If you wake up in the morning to the sound of the alarm clock and rush off to start the day, then you deprive yourself of one of the most important things vital for a good life. You have missed out on morning rituals and their total benefit.

Let me give my definition of what I think a morning ritual should be. It is not just a habitual act you do such as getting up to prepare coffee for breakfast, brushing your teeth, turning on the TV/radio or deciding on what to wear for the day (although all these can be transformed into morning rituals).

The morning ritual is what you do consciously during the first moments upon waking or during the first hour of the day. Surrendering to fully experience the first few moments upon rising creates a bright and peaceful energy field you cloak yourself with before you go off to face the world. The action can be anything, but what is important is what we think and feel while we are doing it. This is why morning rituals are important since we build consciousness and awareness by daily practice. Morning rituals should be rituals of offering as we allow ourselves to focus on the sacred ground of our beings.

What happens during these times of conscious waking? Such acts allow us to begin our day connecting with our inner universe, our sacred connections to the Divine Source. "Me, me, me" is pushed to the background and this allows the spiritual life to move to the center. We suspend time to connect to an inner compass, checking our feelings, sensing our mood for the day. We set intentions for the day, too. We visualize how we can transform energies into more positive ones (seeing a meeting come out successful, knowing that you will solve a nagging problem, having a great time at work, seeing the number of people you can touch and transform with joy and peace, etc., etc.).

Prayer is the most common morning ritual as we invest it with the energies of longing and request, thanksgiving and offering. As with every prayer that is felt with love and deep reverence, so too must we invoke each action of our morning ritual with that same feeling. That way action is transformed into prayer. Two interesting things must happen. First our minds move into mindful awareness where the mind is settled into a peaceful detachment. Then our hearts, too, must move into "heartfulness" where devotional feelings stir to connect us to the Divine.

When I asked friends for their various morning rituals, I was faced with such a creative list. While saying a prayer was most common, others were quite interesting as they reflected the uniqueness of each person I asked. You may find yourself having this list which includes: Stretching like a lazy cat and marveling at the body, thus bringing forth thanksgiving for the health you are blessed with; stroking your partner fast asleep beside you and feeling your heart swell with love; nursing a cup of freshly brewed coffee and staring at your garden; wishing your face and making the act symbolize the cleansing away of ego and pretenses while calling forth always the natural self; showering and visualizing yourself with light cascading around your body; beginning your yoga practice as you set your mat down on the floor; looking for your dog to give it a long warm hug; rubbing your tummy feeling it warm to the touch and enjoying the flabby softness; checking your baby asleep and hoping and defining a happy life for her; staring at the ceiling and breathing deeply; looking towards the window to study the reflections of the sun’s rays; sitting in the loo and staring deep into the tiled floor; fixing the bed and seeking perfection in the creaseless manner the bedcover is arranged.

Morning rituals initiate a sacred shift of perspective that helps us to remember, align with and receive the peace of being alive. So instead of banging on that alarm clock, gently close it instead – and savor 10 minutes in bed breathing, extending each breath deeper and deeper as you likewise move deeper within yourself.

Morning rituals are gentle passages of time that can allow us experiences of timeless eternity. It is also the experience of creating beginnings all the time.

Make up your own morning rituals – be creative! Each is as unique as the new you that awakens each day to face the world.

(E-mail me at jej1@easycall.com.ph)