... Deepening my spiritual practices has been a deeply personal journey for me. It's intimate. An exploration of the soul that very much feels like coming back home to myself. My core. My light. It's a sacred process that's very close to my heart - it is my heart. And it's one that I'll tweak, change, adjust, and deepen as I continue to evolve and grow. (That is to say - it's never-ending.)
... Cultivating ritual in your own life is a unique experience. These are just some of the ways that I turn inwards, connect, and ground myself - they might resonate with you and they might not. That's okay. We are all different, and this is merely a snapshot of my own experience, in hopes to shed some light and possibly inspire you to deepen the ways you connect to yourself.
... In many ways, I feel like I'm coming out of the 'woo-woo' closet! Sometimes certain aspects of spirituality are deemed as being air-fairy, out there, and dare I say a bit weird! While some of this may be outside of the realm of mainstream, I ask that you consider this: weird can feel really, really good.
CONNECTING ON A SOUL-LEVEL:
CREATE SOUL-LOVING RITUALS
Making the space for ritual is a beautiful way to tune in to your wise inner guide, ground yourself, and connect back to your truth. For me, it's a way to take time to turn inward, re-focus my intentions, and clear the clutter in my mind. Let's dive into some of these practices:
+ Set your intentions. At the beginning of the year, my guiding word was vibrant - but I often like to choose a word for each day, week, or month. As soon as I wake up, I consciously check in with myself: How do I feel right now? How do I want to feel? What do I need right now?
+ Keep a gratitude journal. When you're consciously taking stock of what you're grateful for, you radiate that energy, and it reflects back at you, ten-fold.
+ Create a sacred space. Whether I'm meditating, writing, or doing yoga, I like to surround myself with candles, crystals, incense, and anything else that I'm feeling drawn to. By doing this (and I have little areas all throughout the house, or I'll just carry certain items from room-to-room as I go!), it immediately sets the tone and promotes a sense of peace.
+ Seek Stillness. Whether I'm feeling overwhelmed/ frustrated/ lacking clarity or at peace/ filled with joy, meditation is my go-to for turning inward, simply to see what comes up. No expectation, no stress, just... remaining open. Sometimes that looks like sitting down for a longer medi sesh, other times it might mean turning the radio off in my car and practising deep breathing (while paying attention to my surroundings, of course!). It's amazing what even 5 minutes of meditation will do - refreshed, radiant, and centred all come to mind.
+ Ask for guidance. The more I dive into my spiritual practice, the more I feel connected to something bigger than myself. When I first picked up a deck of oracle cards, my interest was definitely peaked. I'll dive into the "how" below, but all I can say is: spot on guidance, every single time. (And ahem, mind blown.)
+ Honour yourself. The biggest hug you can give to your soul is listening to it. We all have an endless well-spring of wisdom within us, that will provide clear direction as long as we're open and connected to it. When we follow through on that, shifts happen. Life flows.
ESSENCES + OILS + REMEDIES
Calm & Clear Essence: For winding down, relaxing, and seeking peace. If I'm feelin' particularly scattered or know I have a huge list of things to do throughout the day, I'll grab this bottle o' goodness.
Lavender Essential Oil: My all-time favourite way to fall asleep! Just put 3-4 drops on your hands, rub 'em together, then rub your hands on your pillow. Not only will you fall asleep in 2 seconds flat - it's the most divine scent to fall asleep to. You can also add a few drops to a warm bath! Divine.
Rescue Remedy: For those anxious bunnies out there. After using this on my own wedding day, I'm also convinced it should be in every bride's purse.
CRYSTALS
Confession: I have a total love affair with crystals.
Yes, they're gorgeous - but there's also thousands of varieties, all with different properties, meanings, and intentions. They can also remind you of your own intentions and what you're seeking. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, let's say, you're battling with your inner-critic and you want to welcome a more loving perspective into your life. You might want to carry some rose quartz (the stone of the heart, directly relating to love, compassion, and peace) in your pocket, and give it a squeeze any time you find your critic pops up.
The crystals pictured are...
Citrine: for prosperity, abundance, joy, and manifestation of your visions.
Amethyst: for spirituality, meditation, creativity, and restful sleep.
Rose Quartz: opens the heart to give and receive love.
Flourite: for harmony, balance, meditation, and bringing order to chaos.
Black Tourmaline: for protection against negativity, radiation and external influences, promotes relaxation and sleep.
Clear Quartz: known as the 'master healer', magnifies energy/ intentions.
The best way to choose your crystal is to follow your intuition. How I go about it is by browsing around and seeing what catches my eye or what I'm drawn to, and I'll stick with that. Later on, when I'm reading up on the crystal I picked out, it always turns out to be exactly what I need in that moment. Simply trust that you'll be guided to what you need.
ORACLE CARDS
Woo-woo alert: Things are about to get interesting...
I've fallen head over heels for Doreen Virtue's oracle cards - which are essentially a direct-line to connect to the archangels - powerful, wise, and loving guides who can motivate, uplift, heal, and inspire us.
How I approach these cards, is that often, I'll ask (after saying a little prayer): What do I need to know, right now?
I'll shuffle the cards, letting my intuition guide me, and stop when I feel compelled to. I'll either pull one or three cards, depending on how I'm feeling, and the guidance is always BANG on. True story: I've pulled cards and failed to listen to the message, only to continually pull the same card, over and over again. Yep, okay! Got the message, loud and clear!
This is simply another way to receive divine guidance, connect on a deeper level, and create ritual in our every day lives. Sometimes I'll pull a card first thing in the morning, post-meditation, or sometimes, I'll randomly feel pulled to ask a specific question, only to receive the answer I needed to hear.
Before snapping the above picture, I set the intention to send a message to you, whoever would be reading this, asking to send a message that you might need to hear, and this is what came up:
Divine Order
"Everything is how it needs to be right now. Look past the illusion, and see underlying order."
"A win-win situation is brewing, one with solutions that are fair to everyone involved. This requires you to have blind faith that Heaven is working behind the scenes to extract the highest good for all. Ask me to buoy your faith if it wavers. Use positive affirmations and prayers to keep your spirits high. Above all, make sure that your conversations about this situation involve positive and optimistic words and phrases. You're so powerful that your positive thoughts can speed the resolution along even quicker."
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TELL ME: Do you have any rituals that you practice? Is there anything you'd like to learn more about? Just holler at me in the comments, soulful seeker!
P.S. You may want to check out: SELF-CARE: FOR THE BODY | SELF-CARE: FOR THE MIND
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