Making the Mundane a Mindful Ritual

We often feel that we have to allocate a specific time and make a date with ourselves to undergo these unrealistically long rituals and self-care practices that we read about. The 12 step facial….I mean honestly who has time for that on a daily basis? But most importantly why should you have to clear your calendar to make a date with yourself for your own mental and soulful wellbeing? That in itself can bring a level of anxiety for the mere fact that it becomes counter product and unsustainable Yes of course when time permits, pack everyone off, lock your doors, light every candle known to man, crank up your favourite playlist and have the ultimate “me time.” 

But since we all live in reality and life doesn’t frequently permit, I am an advocate of turning the very mundane things into a mindful ritual. Something I learnt years ago from a beautiful monk I spent some months with. 

So here are my 3 favourite daily rituals that you are all doing anyway or at least should be doing, so why not shift your perspectives of these daily moments into becoming magical mindful practices and moments of introspect and even meditation. Because again, meditation isn’t about clearing an external space of quiet to sit and meditate, it’s about creating an internal space of quiet whenever and wherever you are.

1. Making your bed - As you jump out of bed, light your incense or candle of choice and in the minutes that it takes you to make your bed. Slow your mind, be fully present in that moment and attend to the task in a loving and intentional way. Ultimately this is a space that you lay your head to rest, restore and reenergise, so slowing your mind down to pour some loving energy into this space will only help to make it even more of a blissful place of solace.

2. Taking a shower - We all love a good bath, but since 2/3 of the population are showering everyday, why not turn this moment into a ritual. Have you really stopped to focus on what you are doing and how it makes you feel when you shower? The attention and love you give to your body, your hair, yourself? Even if you are having a quick shower you can still be present, meditative and mindful in those few minutes. Setting your intentions for the day ahead and releasing whatever you have been holding on to from the day before.

3. Washing dishes - I always put music on to wash dishes, it has become automatic. Again meditation doesn’t mean silence or meditative sounds. Meditation is very different for everyone and is simply those moments that allows your mind and body to find themselves in a moment of stillness. 

However you choose to adapt these moments in your life, the purpose is to make them intentional, helping you to start finding pleasure and beauty in the most mundane of moments. If we can cultivate gratitude in these moments, then the bigger things will come. Allowing yourself to be present within each one of them, slowing your mind from wondering and becoming distracted with a million and one other things. As you continue to find the magic in the mundane, you will find that as your are continually in a space of calm, the way in which you not only approach your external world, but also how you view your internal world starts to shift.