Someone said to me the other day: āI really want to be disciplined, but Iām just not good at discipline.ā
And I said, āIāll bet you donāt really want ādisciplineā per se.
Just hear me out.
I think what you really want is joy.
And freedom.
And continuous cycles of growth that expand who you are.
I think you want a body that feels wonderful and complies easily with your wishes.
And you want a whole life that feels delicious and like a series of gifts you gave to yourself: gifts that keep on giving.
You want relationships that thrive and juice you up, and you want to feel satisfied and eager, and you want to create and live in flow mode.
And you think that good habits are the way to get there.
And you think that discipline is the way to get to good habits.
But what actually keeps happening is your efforts at ādisciplineā keep flipping on your struggle switch, and what feels like self-sabotage follows from there. Shame spiral ensues. You set new discipline goals. Struggle switch flips to āONā. Rinse and repeat.
Am I right about any of this?ā I asked, checking in.
āYeah. All of it.ā my friend said.
The objectives of this human life are freedom, growth and joy. So anything that feels the opposite of freedom ā like, say discipline ā is likely to flip on the same struggle switch, over and over, that nearly ensures you either wonāt stick with the effort to change or wonāt be happy, even if you do.
Sound familiar?
So, if discipline isnāt the answer to everyday behaviors that facilitate our thriving and creating, then what is?
Rituals.
Rituals are the answer.
Rituals are habits made sacred.
Rituals have meaning. They create containers of meaningful, sacred space and time.
They are elective. We donāt have to do them. We choose to do them.
We can use them to make any area or task or project in our lives special, and they can turn any so-called āgoalā or desire into a delicious, transformational romp.
Laura Day writes that ārituals are an external equivalent of embodiment. Just as embodying imprints your wish in your conscious and unconscious minds as well as in the energy of the Universe around you, rituals imprint your wish in your environment, everyday actions, and outer life. Rituals give form and shape to the events that you are creating now and empower them with sacredness.ā
Habits can become, as she puts it āsoulless reflexes.ā
Habits connote āunconsciousā. Autopilot.
And this is fine for some healthy habits. We donāt have to give a ton of thought to every single thing. You donāt have to make a super sacred ritual out of brushing your teethā¦ though you could (and Iād be into it, so hit reply and let me know if you do)!
My point is, to do that with everything would overburden our brains. So there is a proper place for habit.
But if you want to be a real-life transformation athlete, you need to carve out time and space for rituals, too.
Healthy habits, sure. But also sacred, meaningful moments.
And Iām talking about more than your morning ritual, though thatās a good start.
Building rituals throughout your day is the way to build a whole-life of your conscious creation.
Bringing sacred new everyday ways of being and special sacred moments into your life is how you dissolve and dissipate stubborn old, unwanted habits of thought and default ways of being without forcing or self-shaming or “discipline”.
So, get to your favorite spot to sit, and cozy on up. Sit with your feet flat on the ground, your weight equally distributed on your seat, your back fully supported.
Take a few breaths while your eyes are still open, and just feel the weight of your entire body settle in.
Feel the contact between your body and your seat.
Feel the contact of your feet on the floor.
Feel the contact of your arms and hands on your lap or on the chair.
Let every part of you be supported.
Let your body and your mind settle in at their own pace.
Take a few slightly deeper than normal breaths, and let your breath naturally slow down and settle in as well.
Feel the warmth in your body as you inhale, and feel your body relax and release tension, percent by percent, degree by degree as you exhale.
When youāre done, with your eyes closed, visualize that just above your head is a golden stream of flowing liquid light.
This is the light of love and of life.
This light represents of all the Resources of this Universe, straight from Source.
Allow this liquid, golden, molten love to pour and flow into the top of your head and just coat and infuse every cell it touches on its way through your body.
Allow it to fill you from your toe-tips all the way up.
As it streams into you, let it warm what needs warming. Let it cool what needs cooling.
Anyplace that is tense or tight or constricted or clenched, this liquid light simply soothes it open, coating it, filling it, infusing it with Limitless Love, with Infinite Intelligence.
This light knows where to go.
And as you sit and receive it, and breathe and open to it, every cell of you is filled with wellbeing.
You are filled with total and complete wellbeing from the very deepest nooks and crannies of your body and your organs, to your bones and connective tissues, all the way out to your skin.
Just feel what it feels like to be filled up with this light and love and life.
Just watch and feel it happen, you donāt have to make it happen or do anything for it to happen.
Just watch it happen. And feel it happen.
Let it soothe open your pelvic floor, your shoulders, your jaw.
And especially let it coat and fill and penetrate the innermost chambers and vessels of your heart. Let every cell of your heart be filled with this light and love from above. Allow any tightness in or around your chest to open up, degree by degree, and receive Source-level
Limitless love. Profound love. Unconditional love. Reckless and complete love. Perfect love.
Sit like this and be filled with this for another 10 minutes today.
Then, for the rest of the day, simply allow rays of this love and light to peek out from behind your eyes, to shine out from your fingertips to any other person or being you touch, and just to radiate this light and love out from your actual heart, all day today.
>> P.S. I’m delivering a keynote on the Recalibration Rituals of Conscious Creators at The Athena Pack, a 2-day summit for women entrepreneurs and business owners in Bozeman, MontanaĀ this THURSDAY!Ā Click here to learn more + register.
>> P.P.S. I’m also speaking *twice* at Wanderlust San FranciscoĀ this WEEKEND,Ā May 4th and 5th!Ā Click here to learn more + register.
Head up + heart out,
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