5 Ways Rituals Add Magic to Your Life

Ritual is the way you carry out the presence of the sacred. Ritual is the spark that must not go out.

~Christina Baldwin

Make magic out of the mundane! Introduce the sacred to your day, every day.

Lift your life to a higher level by turning the ordinary, everyday acts you normally do by rote into something special, something out of the ordinary.

We’d all like a little more magic in our life. And we imagine that we need some outside force, some ’someday’ thing, to suddenly spirit us away from the chores and transform our lives. But in the back of our minds we know that the handsome prince, or the lotto win, or the slim figure is never actually going to magically happen. And even if it did, there would still be moments of mundaneness…

Is it any wonder so many of us succumb to depression and anxiety? There is no magic in our lives, and we can see no hope of there ever being any!

Stop right there.

There is magic. There is hope. There is a sublime sense of the beautiful. And I’m here to hand you the key to the door that will open up to a whole new world.

Ready?

To feel the magic, to feel the sense of wonder and hope and joy that lights up your heart and puts a spring in your step, we need to add a little ritual and a little ceremony to those things you do every single day. It won’t take but a moment or two more, but the benefits will be immeasurable!

1. When you shower, pay attention

Feel the water on your skin, in your hair. Make the shower a sensory experience by using products to cleanse yourself that smell beautiful and uplifting. Try pure, organic aromatherapy products if at all possible. Chose oils that uplift, relax, rejuvenate or invigorate.

When your mind starts to drift off towards that insidious to-do list, gently bring it back to the feel of water, the feel of the loofah, the scents and steam. Have a soft, fluffy towel to swaddle yourself in when you’re done.

Make bathing a ritual and start your day on a high note.

2. Look your best, every day

There is no excuse to run out the door in old sweats – unless you’re literally going for a run.

Even though I work at home, and have to walk a dozen paces or so from my bed to my desk, I always feel better, write better, respond better and handle issues better when I’m feeling good about myself.

To feel good about myself, I get dressed in nice clothes (I no longer own baggy sweats or misshapen t-shirts), moisturise my skin, put on a little lip balm and a swipe of mascara, and a spritzing of my favourite perfume, every single day no matter what. When you feel good about the way you look, you cope better and feel stronger and more able to cope with whatever the day brings. Make it a ritual.

This is my “depressed stance.” When you’re depressed, it makes a lot of difference how you stand. The worst thing you can do is straighten up and hold your head high because then you’ll start to feel better. If you’re going to get any joy out of being depressed, you’ve got to stand like this.

~Charlie Brown

3. Do the chores with love

Chores. You know they have to get done. And more often than not, you’re the one doing them. (No matter how much we dream the kids will suddenly develop an affinity with the vacuum or the washing machine… sigh).

You can do them grudgingly, and you’ll feel terrible (and so will everyone else in the house). Or you can do them with love.

Make a ceremony out of it.

I may be odd, but I’ve always loved hanging washing on the line. Sorting, pegging, checking. I enjoy being outside and feeling the sun and the breeze. My line is surrounded by big trees, and there are often a multitude of birds waiting for me. The flash of red from a king parrot. The harsh swark from a rainbow lorikeet. The gorgeous greeting song from a butcher bird. The call of a pheasant to his mate, somewhere down the back.

I let my time at the line renew me, and when I come back inside, I’m invigorated and ready for what I need to do next. Whether you’re washing floors or making beds, add a dash of ceremony, a touch of ritual, a splash of music and get it done with zing.

4. Cook with a smile on your face.

When I bake, I like to start with a clean kitchen and a lit candle. There is something about baking with love that infuses the food with an indefinable but tangible quality. When you prepare any food, for yourself, for your family, or for a houseful of guests, take a leaf from Nigella Lawson’s book and relish the absolute lusciousness of the tastes, textures and colours.

In his book Waiting for Autumn, Scott Blum’s character goes into a restaurant and orders a sandwich during a spiritual adventure where he can sense the energy of others. There was “a huge dark cloud coming from the back kitchen that slowly began to fill the entire restaurant. … When my food finally arrived, I was surprised to discover that there was also energy emanating from the sandwich on the plate. It was nearly identical to the dark cloud I felt coming from the back kitchen, and I became quote agitated when I picked the sandwich up. … when I bit into it, I almost choked. I felt as if I’d consumed someone else’s anger with that first bite, and it was toxic to me.“

Don’t be like the chef in this story. Don’t cook when you’re mad or frustrated. Do what you need to do to make cooking pleasurable. Infuse food with love as you prepare it. Food cooked with love satisfies hunger like no other food can.

5. Make a ceremony of the water you drink.

Masaru Emoto’s groundbreaking work into water crystals shows that water picks up on the vibrations around it. Take up your water glass and, holding it in both hands, breathe deeply and radiate love, happiness or joy into the water through your hands. This need only take a second or two.

As you sip the water, be mindful that you’re filling yourself with that feeling. The water in your stomach is radiating love, happiness, joy or whatever emotion you’re most in need of, throughout your body. Nourishing you, feeding you, uplifting you.

There are many more ways you can bring rituals into every day. Once you start to look for ways to add ceremony and the hint of special to chores and routines, you’ll find new and exciting ways to add that touch of magic, every single day of the year.

You’re so worth it!