What Daily (Spiritual or Meaningful) Rituals do You Particpate In?

Having coffee with my husband every morning
calling my mom every morning
emailing my daughter every morning when I do not see her
calling my son every day (very briefly, promise)
Having a solitary cup of tea with a book

My father comes over every morning for coffee and crosswords.

Also at 5:00 my spouse and I have a glass or wine or beer and relax.

@mcbealer- Long time no see!

Everyday I try to go for a walk/hike/bike ride, weather permitting. Right now my bike is kaput, which really sucks.
This is my thinking time, when I can get away and just ponder stuff.

Sometimes I have time to go for longer walks/hikes/bike rides—those are the best!
yet even 20–30 min daily helps immensely to stay centered.

For the hikes, usually it’s just me and my dog(s) although sometimes my son or a friend will join me. It’s a pretty big deal in my book if I invite someone on one of these thinking hikes, because it’s when I’m at my rawest, emotionally speaking.

I practice compassion and empathy on a daily basis. It has helped me to understand the human condition, which I believe is a huge part of my spirituality.

I brush my teeth, twice daily.

I have my coffee on the roof of my house house/apartment every morning, 365 days a year, no matter the weather.

Yoga, every morning, after everyone leaves the house. It’s quiet and peaceful.

When my son comes home, after my husband goes back to work, we have our time to talk about his day, without interruption. I take the same kind of time with my daughter, when she gets home.

When my husband and I go to bed, we turn any form of noise off and just talk. Some nights are longer conversations, than other nights, but it’s our time.

I spend half an hour stretching every morning, before I do anything else – I started it because I was waking up with a lot of back pain, but now it’s more of a calm, peaceful way to start the day. If the weather is nice, I follow it up with a half-hour walk before breakfast – I love having the time to myself to sort out my thoughts and get ready for the day.

Also, I stop whatever I’m doing around 3:00 every afternoon, make a cup of coffee, and curl up with a good book. I don’t go back to whatever work I was doing until the coffee is gone and the chapter is done.

All of my rituals are about making sure I have some quiet time to myself. If I don’t make it a ritual, it ends up getting pushed aside, and the flurry of life sort of whisks me away – my rituals help to keep me grounded.

I’m having trouble seeing the difference between ritual and routine in most responses. @RedPowerLady, did you mean something else by “ritual”?

@Jeruba I suppose I was thinking of a spiritual or deep meaning ritual but I see how these routines could be exactly that. I really enjoy reading everyone’s responses. So far it seems that time alone with family and time alone with oneself is the biggest theme here. When I think of rituals for myself I don’t include those things. Of course family time is very important to me (not so much alone time) but I never thought of it as a ritual. I like asking these type of questions because they give me pause to think about how others live their lives. I’m also very interested in ritual.

Hi,

I read the Bible and Pray every morning. I have been doing this for 20 years.

It works for stress and anything that ails you, try it you’ll like it.

Jeff
http://dailywordofgod.org

I have gone through periods of poverty when I literally could not afford food, so everytime I have a decent meal I sort of pray secretly, saying something “thank God, got fed again today”. After the meal though (as opposed to the Christian tradition, which arrogantly believes that there will be no earthquake, fire, flood or nuclear war sometime between the salad and the dessert).

I always take time to listen to music.

@Jack79 Great Answer

When I was growing up we never starved but there were times when we didn’t have enough food. It is quite sad thinking back on it. But now I am also Very! thankful to have food. Because of that I also have food issues and get quite anxious if I think there won’t be enough or if someone I know doesn’t have enough food.

Every Friday evening I engage in a ritual that takes me out of my head and into my body. It does much more than that, of course, but I’ve written at length about that elsewhere.

i should do some meditation, instead i torment my soul, with irksome news bulletins, from two robotic presenters, one attractive female, the other – distinguished looking older male who dish up the daily helping of misery with a smile and intense glances at each other and the camera , and finally a relaxed chuckle, like they’ve just fucked….

Everyday I attempt to sit for a few moments in silence so that I can sooth the soul and listen to the inner voice..quiet the brain chatter..

Everyday I acknowledge the beauty all around me to remind myself I am blessed to witness it

Autocrossing on the Henry Hudson Parkway.

GA @Dog: Dads are cool.

I breathe and release any negative influences over my thoughts by replacing them with either a hopeful verse from a spiritual book or offering hope to someone with less emotional or material resources.

I try to meditate once a week- most of the time my mom interrupts me (seemingly on purpose) so it’s really only successful maybe twice a month if I’m lucky.

Daily I look at a picture or two of my girlfriend before heading out- she gives me the strength to keep on truckin’ and doing my best.

I wake up and write a letter to my guardian angel. Taking to my angel as I write, explaining where I need her help. Afterwords, I put the post it note on the side of my computer screen.

@Jack79 Such a sweet post. May you have many delicious meals, forever.