The feeling of completeness arrives when you surrender to the truest version of you: the deepest part that was crushed in the early years.
The part you didn’t show to the world. The part that came here with a life to live.
You can’t fake the core. The truth that lives there will always come out—Cheryl Strayed
I’ve had a morning ritual for nine years.
I will be sharing it in detail in my upcoming 5 module embodied writing course for cultivating deep healing, self-love and acceptance.
It is a daily routine that took me from self destruction to self-respect. A daily practice that opened up a dream about writing a book, to a reality of six books, 3 of them on the shelves in Barnes and Noble stores.
It involves energy healing, self-care, and daily writing—a constant shape carved into the air giving me the gift of radical self-acceptance and peace.
Like the daily breaking of bread, it is nourishing and healing.
It deepened a year ago when I became certified in trauma-informed manifestation and root cause therapy. And, further still in September when I created and welcomed a shamanic drum into my world.
A few years ago, I learned a hard lesson that I’ve written about in my free eBook. (If you’d like to read it, a copy can be found at the end of this post.)
I desperately needed to embed a much deeper ritual into my life to stay closer to what is true for me—my values, my heart, my self-worth; everything that can shatter in the wrong hands.
If the ground beneath you is ever pulled out from under you, the way back is to root yourself into it even more deeply.
When you devote your whole self to something you do from the soul, you are alive all the time.
When you cherish the process: your own way of healing and staying close to what is true, you will deepen the relationship you have with yourself and your life.
Even when the content changes. Even when the thoughts change, and the emotions get uprooted along with faded imprints and memories, the ritual somehow holds it all.
When you work with your own energy in your own space, that space becomes sacred.
Insights arise, wisdom weaves its way in, and reminders resurface when you need them the most. Like this one:
whatever is happening on the outside is nearly always reflecting what is happening on the inside.
So, each day becomes an invitation to keep showing up, to keep doing the work.
My ritual brings me joy. The joy brings me vitality, and that vitality brings me to a new earth every day. A place where, after years of hiding who I was, hiding how I felt, and seeking relief from how I felt, I don’t ever have to apologise.
I can be who I am.
My body, the drum, and the air all know what to expect. But the words that arise and leave my lips, the rhythm of my drum and the pen on the page, are never the same.
I drink cacao before I start, and I speak to her. I tell her who I am, thank her for being here and ask her to open my heart a little wider.
When I go away for a few days, I still do my ritual, but new insights arise.
I think taking yourself away from your everyday environment gives you clarity about the changes you wish to make when you return.
Sometimes, you need to go somewhere new to see what you’ve left behind a little more clearly.
I accept who I am. The space I’ve created accepts who I am.
And because of this, I love who I am.
Tender reminder:
When you stand still for long enough, you notice where the magic is. It is within the middle ground where so many, (including me many years ago) fail to see.
How to deepen your daily ritual
When you can cultivate the courage to speak aloud in your ritual space you will be inviting your deeper, most authentic self to speak.
It’s a bit like free writing—you’re allowing a hidden voice to enter the space.
In the process, you’re declaring that it’s safe to be here, it’s safe to be who you are.
The more you embed this into your daily routine, the more you align with and attract authentic communication.
When speaking out loud:
Become aware of how your body responds.
The authentic self is not overly emotional. It is calm and non reactive.
Do you feel open and expansive, or contracted and fearful?
Start to notice and get curious. Drop in somatically and trust that your body will show you any parts that are activated when you speak about your desires.
These parts are afraid of relaxing, afraid they will no longer be able to protect you if you step into a new space. They show up in your day to day life as resistance and procrastination.
Just notice, and meet any contracted energy with compassion.
The goal is for you to harness joy—to be yourself, love yourself, honour yourself; and to cultivate more presence, more stillness, and more gratitude for what you already have.
A quote for you:
“Witches do not need to fix problems.
Witches fix the energy AROUND problems.
Then the problems fix themselves.”
― Dacha Avelin
Reflection:
Until you discover, accept and love who you truly are beneath it all, you will not comfortably step into the life you’re dreaming about.
Monet Lake
An otter has been spotted in the lake a few times now. I’m relishing the opportunity to get up close with it.
I’m no longer swimming as the water is too cold (8.9 degrees). Instead, I stand with the water up to my neck, my hands pressed into prayer, and I undertake a 5 minute meditation.
Last week, as I was about to play my drum and thank the unseen forces for being here I heard a beautiful birdsong. So I started my ritual by thanking the birds instead.
That morning I noticed birds everywhere I looked: up close and in a new light. Jacky, the resident Jackdaw ate my breakfast with me, perched on my hand.
I recognise I had awakened the reticular activating system in my brain, but it reaffirmed to me that a morning ritual is the alchemy that allows your day to unfold in the same way you start it.
Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful week.
April
My course Going Within: an embodied writing course for cultivating deep healing, self-love, and acceptance” starts on Monday 4th to Friday 8th December. For more information, see here. The course is valued at £222 but if you are paid subscriber, (£5 a month, or £50 for the year) you will have free access to it. Learn how to heal deeply, manage your emotions, and use the power of embodied writing and energy work to create more presence and joy.
There will also be a live zoom call a week after the course where we will do a meditation and talk about any parts of the course you have questions or reflections on.
Within is a weekly (news) letter. Please feel free to share parts of the letter that connect with you on social media, or send to someone you love. If you enjoy and benefit from my work, I invite you to become a paid subscriber. This is a reader-supported offering and I’m so grateful for your presence here. To find out more about my books and my healing work, visit my website.
My ritual would involve lots and lots of coffee and jazz, haha. Love Monet btw.
Well said. In that sense, having a positive, empowering morning ritual is important for setting a positive tone and mindset for ourselves throughout the day.