The Power of Ritual and Retreat
One of my favorite things about travelling has become observing the local rituals.
I first really noticed my gentle obsession with it when I was in Bali.
Each morning they would create a bamboo leaf bowl in which they place a tea light candle and some flowers, sweets perhaps, maybe spices, a stick of incense and food.
They would open the doors to their shop and place the offering in the middle of the middle step with a prayer and prostration.
You would see them pretty much everywhere ~ houses, shops, businesses, and even boats.
Here in Thailand they build a small temple or shrine outside each business and home.
They do this before they build the structure even, to make sure it is blessed.
Everywhere you go you see the miniature temples with juice, water, spices, and small pieces of food and billowing incense.
Not every house or business has one but people will go to the closest one with their offerings everyday.
The also believe the first sale in their shop is lucky. They will take your money and use it to 'dust' the shop, waving it over all the merchandise, and say a short prayer. I especially like this one for two reasons. One because if you go out early you get some great deals, as they want to make that 'lucky' sale and have the store be blessed for the day. The second because this small ritual reminds me, when I watch them, to be grateful for the small things in life.
One country is primarily Muslim, another Buddhist. Both starting their day by honoring the sacred within and around us.
Something I think our culture has completely forgotten.
Imagine we started our day making $1 and thinking this was a blessing, appreciating that gift. Instead of starting the day with coffee and the newspaper, we lit some incense, said a prayer, and made an offering instead.
My favorite ritual at home is when I get ready to teach.
First I shower to cleanse the day and my work, as well as honor the practice of saucha. Then I brush my teeth and practice abhyanga with essential oils.
I have to be honest here, this is crucial for me because I get the whole no scent thing, but having had a few teachers who smell of BO while assisting me and teaching has totally made me aware of even the way I smell (good or 'bad') has an effect on my students practice.
(Telling me to take deep breathes while your stinky armpits are in my face is not my idea of a peaceful or helpful adjustment)
Then I pick my clothes totally based on what I am teaching, style of Yoga, and more importantly the theme.
I want what I am wearing to support my intention for class as best as possible. Students are looking at me occassionally so what better way to be reminded of the theme than with a quick glance.
Lastly, I choose my mala. I have many, all charged with different mantra's. This piece is for me. I wear the mala that will help me focus most clearly on what I am teaching and why. A gentle reminder around my wrist of why I am doing what I am doing, saying what I am saying. The vibration is supporting me in holding the space for my students.
You too have many more rituals than you think you do!
Brushing your teeth, morning tea, your yoga asana practice, family time, Holy Days.
Sadly though, as Georg Feureustein points out in 'Yoga Unveiled', these rituals "have become mundane".
We no longer think of the act of simply getting out of bed as a sacred act.
We often get so caught up in the future ~ planning the day, getting through the day thinking about what to make for dinner or how to get everything done, helping the kids with homework but thinking about bed, then going to bed and can't sleep cause we worry about tomorrow and all it holds.
Every experience though is an opportunity to connect with the sacred, every moment and breath can be an offering, and every action a ritual.
“Ritual maintains the world’s holiness. Knowing that everything we do, no matter how simple, has a halo of imagination around it and can serve the soul enriches and makes the things around us more precious, more worthy of our protection and care.”
~Thomas Moore, 'Care of the Soul'
We started each day of the retreat last week with devotional practices and rituals.
My soul stirred.
What was interesting is that even though I am in love with ritual, having embodied it first thing made my entire day feel like a ritual, every practice became an offering.
Yoga retreats are one of the best ways to step back in the world of ritual because we are given the opportunity to take time away from the daily routine, which without an occasional break, can become mind-numbing and soul-less.
We distant our selves from the everyday and have an opportunity to connect back with ourselves and what is important.
There is a restorative power that emerges and allows us to begin to pay attention to even the smallest act, like brushing our teeth.
For example, now being away for almost three weeks, I was brushing my teeth in my sweet open air bathroom. I could hear the ocean waves lapping against the shore. And I noticed that I noticed the sound. Looking down there was a long line of ants marching along behind the sink tap. I smiled and said good morning to them. At home a long line of ants would make us annoyed, angry even, because it meant we have an 'infestation we have to get rid of'. To me this was their ritual. Walking from one place to another with intention. And for the past three days this has become mine. Notice the sound of the ocean and say good morning to my ants while brushing my teeth.
Grateful for the small things.
So I ask, what do you hear when you are brushing your teeth?
What do you see?
What are you grateful for?
Retreats also always allow us the space and time to reflect and connect with parts of our lives and selves that may be being neglected. Where may we need to make some shifts, changes, and how can we find our way back to the primal desire to connect to the sacred or spiritual on a daily basis.
Throughout history people, and spiritual traditions, have practiced retreat and ritual.
Moses retreated to Mount Sinai and Jesus went into the desert.
Buddhists take a yearly retreat.
Muslims go for a day of prayer and fasting within the mosque.
The Hindu withdraws to the temple or wanders alone across the land.
Native Americans journey to the spirit world.
Perhaps Yoga retreats then, for people like me, are the modern day mystics time to connect inwardly, to the sacred, and observe the rituals of others around us to be inspired and carry pieces of this home with us.
Then share and inspire others to do the same.
This being the ritual of retreating.
So what are your rituals and when is your next retreat?
“Retreats don’t change our lives as much as they change where we stand in relationship to our lives—and our capacity to see the hidden possibilities there.” --Stephen Cope
If you are interested in learning more and embodying these teachings of ritual and retreat, join Megan for the Yogini Yoga: EmpowerFlow Nicaragua Retreat. Only 2 spots remain!
www.megancampbell.ca
I first really noticed my gentle obsession with it when I was in Bali.
Each morning they would create a bamboo leaf bowl in which they place a tea light candle and some flowers, sweets perhaps, maybe spices, a stick of incense and food.
They would open the doors to their shop and place the offering in the middle of the middle step with a prayer and prostration.
You would see them pretty much everywhere ~ houses, shops, businesses, and even boats.
Here in Thailand they build a small temple or shrine outside each business and home.
They do this before they build the structure even, to make sure it is blessed.
Everywhere you go you see the miniature temples with juice, water, spices, and small pieces of food and billowing incense.
Not every house or business has one but people will go to the closest one with their offerings everyday.
The also believe the first sale in their shop is lucky. They will take your money and use it to 'dust' the shop, waving it over all the merchandise, and say a short prayer. I especially like this one for two reasons. One because if you go out early you get some great deals, as they want to make that 'lucky' sale and have the store be blessed for the day. The second because this small ritual reminds me, when I watch them, to be grateful for the small things in life.
One country is primarily Muslim, another Buddhist. Both starting their day by honoring the sacred within and around us.
Something I think our culture has completely forgotten.
Imagine we started our day making $1 and thinking this was a blessing, appreciating that gift. Instead of starting the day with coffee and the newspaper, we lit some incense, said a prayer, and made an offering instead.
My favorite ritual at home is when I get ready to teach.
First I shower to cleanse the day and my work, as well as honor the practice of saucha. Then I brush my teeth and practice abhyanga with essential oils.
I have to be honest here, this is crucial for me because I get the whole no scent thing, but having had a few teachers who smell of BO while assisting me and teaching has totally made me aware of even the way I smell (good or 'bad') has an effect on my students practice.
(Telling me to take deep breathes while your stinky armpits are in my face is not my idea of a peaceful or helpful adjustment)
Then I pick my clothes totally based on what I am teaching, style of Yoga, and more importantly the theme.
I want what I am wearing to support my intention for class as best as possible. Students are looking at me occassionally so what better way to be reminded of the theme than with a quick glance.
Lastly, I choose my mala. I have many, all charged with different mantra's. This piece is for me. I wear the mala that will help me focus most clearly on what I am teaching and why. A gentle reminder around my wrist of why I am doing what I am doing, saying what I am saying. The vibration is supporting me in holding the space for my students.
You too have many more rituals than you think you do!
Brushing your teeth, morning tea, your yoga asana practice, family time, Holy Days.
Sadly though, as Georg Feureustein points out in 'Yoga Unveiled', these rituals "have become mundane".
We no longer think of the act of simply getting out of bed as a sacred act.
We often get so caught up in the future ~ planning the day, getting through the day thinking about what to make for dinner or how to get everything done, helping the kids with homework but thinking about bed, then going to bed and can't sleep cause we worry about tomorrow and all it holds.
Every experience though is an opportunity to connect with the sacred, every moment and breath can be an offering, and every action a ritual.
~Thomas Moore, 'Care of the Soul'
We started each day of the retreat last week with devotional practices and rituals.
My soul stirred.
What was interesting is that even though I am in love with ritual, having embodied it first thing made my entire day feel like a ritual, every practice became an offering.
Yoga retreats are one of the best ways to step back in the world of ritual because we are given the opportunity to take time away from the daily routine, which without an occasional break, can become mind-numbing and soul-less.
We distant our selves from the everyday and have an opportunity to connect back with ourselves and what is important.
There is a restorative power that emerges and allows us to begin to pay attention to even the smallest act, like brushing our teeth.
For example, now being away for almost three weeks, I was brushing my teeth in my sweet open air bathroom. I could hear the ocean waves lapping against the shore. And I noticed that I noticed the sound. Looking down there was a long line of ants marching along behind the sink tap. I smiled and said good morning to them. At home a long line of ants would make us annoyed, angry even, because it meant we have an 'infestation we have to get rid of'. To me this was their ritual. Walking from one place to another with intention. And for the past three days this has become mine. Notice the sound of the ocean and say good morning to my ants while brushing my teeth.
Grateful for the small things.
So I ask, what do you hear when you are brushing your teeth?
What do you see?
What are you grateful for?
Retreats also always allow us the space and time to reflect and connect with parts of our lives and selves that may be being neglected. Where may we need to make some shifts, changes, and how can we find our way back to the primal desire to connect to the sacred or spiritual on a daily basis.
Throughout history people, and spiritual traditions, have practiced retreat and ritual.
Moses retreated to Mount Sinai and Jesus went into the desert.
Buddhists take a yearly retreat.
Muslims go for a day of prayer and fasting within the mosque.
The Hindu withdraws to the temple or wanders alone across the land.
Native Americans journey to the spirit world.
Perhaps Yoga retreats then, for people like me, are the modern day mystics time to connect inwardly, to the sacred, and observe the rituals of others around us to be inspired and carry pieces of this home with us.
Then share and inspire others to do the same.
This being the ritual of retreating.
So what are your rituals and when is your next retreat?
“Retreats don’t change our lives as much as they change where we stand in relationship to our lives—and our capacity to see the hidden possibilities there.” --Stephen Cope
If you are interested in learning more and embodying these teachings of ritual and retreat, join Megan for the Yogini Yoga: EmpowerFlow Nicaragua Retreat. Only 2 spots remain!
www.megancampbell.ca
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