Why Not . . . Create Your Own Simple Ritual?

Jul 14, 2010

 
Humans, for better or for worse, are creatures of habit.  Sometimes the routines a person becomes accustomed to are mundane and uneventful, yet necessary, like putting the trash out on the curb every Sunday night. But there are other routines – rituals, as I like to call them – that one can incorporate into their lives to add luxury to each day.  While certain luxuries are grand expenditures, there are so many other luxuries that cost nothing or next to nothing, yet bring a tremendous amount of joy.

Each week in The Simply Luxurious Life newsletter, I highlight a few readers and ask them to answer the question that will be expanded upon today – what every day luxuries do you enjoy?  Each one that I have received has been a delight to read and share. What I find is that each person’s luxuries are uniquely their own, revealing a glimpse at their personality and charm.

Often times, the hustle and bustle of daily errands, jobs, meetings and responsibilities impede upon one’s ability to take a few moments to breathe, slow down and enjoy, so today’s post will focus on sharing ideas on how you can bring a ritual (or two) into your life with the sole intention to fill yourself up – replenish your spirit and remind you that you are more than worth the time and energy to unwind, relax, and appreciate pleasurable things.

Beauty

Nothing reveals a woman’s opinion of herself like the way she cares for her appearance, and one aspect of this is her beauty regime.  Creating beauty rituals that you attend to just before turning in to bed or upon awaking in the morning are an easy way to bring a ritual into your life that has many benefits and makes you feel as though you are being pampered. Examples: use moisturizer over your entire body immediately after stepping out the bath/shower, remove all make-up before bed and apply a rich facial crème to hydrate your skin (eye cream too, if you’d like), a spritz of your favorite perfume, and of course a blissful night’s sleep to restore and invigorate not only your skin, but your body and mind.  Here are a few more beauty rituals you might want to consider.

Fitness

You do not have to be as bouncy as Jane Fonda to include the daily ritual of fitness into your life.  View fitness as an opportunity to improve your life, to restore more energy so that you can do the things you wish to do. One ritual that I enjoy every morning is taking a walk with my dogs.  Now some mornings, it is a very vigorous, long walk, but other times, it is just a stroll to allow the dogs to frolic and play. Either way, it is a ritual that I try to continue, and it makes me feel good.

 

Bedtime

Above was mentioned a few beauty rituals that can be done just before bed, but what do you do that turns that switch in your mind conveying the message to start winding down, to get ready to be lulled to sleep?  Whether you go to bed early or late, reading a book in bed, watching your favorite comedy (even if it’s a rerun – for me Frasier), sipping a bit of tea, tucking your kids in and reading to them out of a lovely children’s book, sitting on the porch with a cup of decaf, any of these and so many more communicate to your body and more importantly the mind, that you are about to give it some rest.  Think about something that brings you pleasure that you could envision yourself doing nearly every night before you drift off into dreamland.  Something to think about.

Morning

If you are not a morning person, this one might be a bit more difficult to introduce into your life, but I’m going to venture to argue that you still can bring a bit of ritual to your morning routine.  Whether it’s stopping by your local coffee house and chatting with the barista behind the counter, reading the paper while you sip your morning cup of joe, perusing through your favorite blogs, looking at your daily calendar to remind yourself of the day ahead and making a note to find some time for yourself each day, whatever you choose to do, make sure it’s something that you look forward to and lifts your spirits just as you are about to embark on a brand new day with no mistakes in it.

Weekly

Some of the best rituals endure because you don’t get to enjoy them every day.  Now due to the fact that they aren’t every day, they can be a bit more decadent if you’d like.  I know a handful of couples who reserve Friday nights as their dinner out – and typically reservations at a fine dining establishment. What a beautiful way to end the week.  No matter how rambunctious it may have been, this provides a time to celebrate its culmination and reflect on successes that may have occurred.  How about a weekly trip to your favorite book store, a weekly gathering of good friends for brunch, coffee or a walk, or allow yourself the indulgence of purchasing a new bottle of wine that you’ve never had the opportunity to try and pair it with a decadent homemade meal? Find something that knowing in the back of your mind is going to take place every week provides a bit more motivation to push through your work and do your best.
Okay, now that I’ve shared, I am dying to hear from you.  Please do tell.  We can all gain inspiration and ideas from one another.  Have a wonderful Wednesday!  You’re halfway there
Image: TSLL’s Instagram, a scene captured at Bend, Oregon’s Foxtail Bakeshop


15 thoughts on “Why Not . . . Create Your Own Simple Ritual?”

  1. I’m such a creature of habit that I actually feel a bit embarrassed sometimes… I always need a a glass of water and an espresso in the morning, do 10 minutes of yoga 5 times a week and play tennis pretty much every day at the same time, and so on. Routines keep me together, but I think one major point is they also incorporate activities I’m not so keen on; e.g. if I started thinking: Do I want to do yoga? I would probably rather not. When I’m travelling and at the weekend I let everything slip and do just as I please, and this feels wonderful, too. It’s about the balance, I guess. xo

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  2. I wish I were a morning person! I used to visit my grandparents as a child and sometimes wake up really early (because they went to bed SO early!) and walk around the garden. It was so unnaturally still in the country (I’m a city girl) but I loved it! Beauty routines – I’ve been looking after my face and body since I was about 16. Exercise – bad track record but getting better, yoga twice a week!

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  3. I used to make fun of my husband b/c he is sooo routined…but now that I think about it so am I :/
    1. Morning routine includes coffee while reading e-mails and blogs
    2. I have a nightly routine as well…
    3 beauty routines…
    4. I have to go to the gym everyday, if I miss a day, i am messed up for days..

    the only time I do not follow a “routine” is at work..which is why I love my job so much, it is different every single day 🙂

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  4. I’m a big routine person as well.
    I do everything at basically the same time every morning. Sometimes I wish I would switch things up a bit for variety but I think routines really help keep me sane and grounded.

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  5. what a fabulous post! I truly enjoy my evening ritual: I do an hour stretch to calm and ease my mind, then I brush my teeth, wash my face, moisturize, etc, and climb in to bed with the hubs and we have a nightly chat all cuddled up. It’s the perfect winddown!

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  6. That was a lovely post and a nice reminder that slavering on moisturizer at night is a luxury not drudgery. I think I’ll enjoy it more tonight.

    As soon as my children were old enough to take a bath we instituted the Bath/Book/Bed routine. It doesn’t always look like a Normal Rockwell painting (but sometimes it does;) but it as served us well in getting the kids to bed so that we can have time for ourselves as well. Sometimes having a routine can LEAD to life’s little luxuries.

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  8. Beauty Routine…I never leave the house without a dab of lipstick/gloss and a spritz of my favorite perfume. Just doing these two things uplifts me and reminds me of my inner girly girl, even if I am just dressed in jeans and a T.
    My mornings always consist of my favorite coffee.
    And a weekly ritual of mine is getting up before them every Sunday morning and making them whole wheat applesauce chocolate chip pancakes or french toast. It never fails one of them always says “I always look forward to this weekend breakfast”.

    Love this post! Happy Wednesday!

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  9. This is a great question: you know there are a few things that are routine: like taking my dog for walks everyday, grabbing a cup of coffee while I listen to the news in the morning and one when I get into the office; eating sunday breakfast with Mr. X; and cleaning on the weekends. There is one thing that I would love to be more routine – exercise!!!

    XOXO
    kiki

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  13. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy reading your blog and look forward to receiving your Friday wrap-up every week. You find such great links to peruse — and create so many yourself.

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  14. Thank you so much for this! It is just a reminder, or inspiration, to start doing what I’ve neglected recently. I used to set a breakfast table the night before, and pour bath salt in the bath before I leave the house in the morning. When I get up, I just have to make coffee, the rest is done. When I get home from work, I just need to run the bath. That way I get the ‘spoiled in a guest house’ feeling in my own home, and it just makes the difficult times of the day: morning, and just after a tiring workday, much more enjoyable.

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  15. When waking up in the morning I make a huge bowl of green tea, reading mails and blogs before I start my work…
    I enjoy hot chocolate every night when going to bed and read a bit…
    On sunday evenings I meet friends for a drink at a bar (i love that as the usual nightlife-people are at home that day and we are actually on our own)
    My husband and I go for dinner every friday night since 20yrs now…

    Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are fully blocked for work but I make a break after about 4 hours: 10-15 Minutes I do my cleaning routine, every day! I created a warm but truly minimalistic home so I don’t need more time… I open the windows and listen to classical music… afterwards a quick and healthy lunch, sometimes only fruits and a cup of tea – then I go on, with work or, like on Thursday and Friday late afternoons with whatever I love to do: going to the museum… going into the forest… going for a swim… etc.
    If I’m home I listen to jazz the early evening while preparing dinner.

    Also I have my daily beauty routines…

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