Rituals. Practice. Healing.

Every morning I have a ritual. I wake up and let the pups out, any time between 4:30 and 5:30 most mornings. I step outside into the backyard with them. This morning it was a cool fall morning. It was dark until the light off of my garage lit up sensing my motion. I take deep breaths outside and look up into the skies. I thank God, my Papa, my Ahnung, for another day.

I feed the pups breakfast. I make myself some coffee. While coffee is brewing I lay down on the exercise mat in the front room (now converted into an wellness/workout room) and i measure my HRV (heart rate variability ... the following is a link that shares more info on HRV: http://www.health.com/heart-disease/heart-rate-variability). I have been measuring/tracking my HRV now for about a month and a half. My friend and colleague who is also a personal trainer opened my eyes up to HRV as a way to deepen my health and wellness .. it has been a wonderful tool in my journey to notice more around me and within me, and to notice how my body holds my stories and responds in certain conditioned ways ... (more about HRV and the vagus nerve on a future post!).

After measuring my HRV I enter my meditation/writing room. Typically two of my pups (Mister and Missy) are the ones who follow me into the meditation room ... well, they actually follow me everywhere! I light incense and I situate myself comfortably on my meditation cushion. I sit. I breathe. I notice thoughts fill up my mind. I let them go. I breathe. I notice thoughts. I let them go. I breathe .... over and over. Meditation is as essential and life giving for me as water is.

After meditation, I once again thank God, thank Buddha, thank Papa, Ahnung and all beings for the gift of life and another day.

Then I write. I journal. Some times i sketch and draw in my journal. As Julia Cameron (The Artist's Way) calls them, they are my morning pages. I write for as long as I feel called to do so. Sometimes it is 10 minutes, sometimes an hour, or even two.

And now I have added the following .. I return to the front room. Set aside the exercise mat. Pick up my jo (an aikido practice i learned while in my training in California earlier this month) and after stating my declaration, i practice the first 18 forms of the 31 jo kata movements (some day I will learn the remaining forms!) ...

I then practice ukemi .. the art of falling/surrendering.

Then I make myself breakfast ... scrambled eggs with spinach, mushroom and broccoli ... half an ezekiel muffin with almond butter and a small bowl of strawberries and raspberries.

Ritual. Practice. Prayer.

Meditation. Writing/Journaling. Intention (through jo kata and ukemi). Nourishment.

I go to bed early and I wake up early. That is the rhythm of my body. My early mornings are sacred. They are my water, my air, my fire, my earth. It is a Way I have learned to walk with the guidance of my Ahnung. And it is forever evolving as she teaches me to keep listening and noticing.

Daily practice. Daily ritual. Daily prayer.

What is your daily practice?