The Power of Daily Rituals

A few years ago in the Autumn of 2023, I attended the Banff Wellness Retreat with my colleague + soul sister Erica from Tapestry of the Moon. It was an insightful, intense, and interesting weekend filled with many intriguing mindsets that have stuck with me over the years. 

One of those mindsets was the concept of the ‘Book End Rituals’ and the seasons within a day, brought forward by one of the wise women presenting topics that weekend — the wonderful Gillian White. She was referencing elements of life in reflection to the seasons and the cyclical nature in all things. My interpretation of how she painted a picture of the 24-hour cycle: the morning coming in like Spring with fresh energy and new opportunities arising for the day ahead; the mid-day peak being the energetic Summer season full of vitality and expansion; the evening having an Autumn-like quality with gathering our energy inward and ‘harvesting’ the growth + learnings from experiences in our external environment; and the night being the season of Winter where we return inward to a place of quiet, dark, stillness to renew our energy… and thus complete the cycle of external / Yang energy back to internal / Yin energy. 

In that beautiful presentation from Gillian, she spoke about the importance of creating daily rituals as part of this cyclical nature. These routines can anchor our energy at the start and end of each day to cultivate a connection to Self, amidst the hustle of life and the stimulation of the external world. This really resonated with me, and I realized I had been intuitively doing so on a sporadic subconscious level. Her sharing this mindset inspired me to bring a conscious intention to my morning and evening rituals in this way. That weekend, I began exploring what this looked like for me on a meaningful level.

Since then, it has become such a sacred time in my daily rhythms; carving out these moments for myself first thing in the morning and in the final wakeful moments before bed. I’m a big believer in creating ambience in my spaces; and a significant element of that is through lighting — matching the illumination to the mood that I’m creating. Dim, warm lighting to transition my energy during these pivotal moments in the day from Yang to Yin. The sensory experience of aromatherapy is also an important element in my daily rituals, and I weave this in with incense, scented candles (which is also a nod to the lighting ambience), essential oils, and body lotions.

In conjunction with the lighting and aroma, I like to surround myself with the five elements in a Feng Shui sense (wood, water, fire, metal, earth) through items such as: my water fountain, metal windchimes, plants + flowers, wide tree logs for table stands, and again - candles. 

I start my mornings with lemon water, prepped the night before for a richer steeping of the infusion; and I love enjoying a cup of herbal tea in the evening (for a delightful locally-made suggestion, check out this herbal tea here co-created with our friends at Totalitea). My mornings incorporate gentle movement through Sun Salutations and my favourite Yin asana postures, followed by my daily affirmation sequence that I’ve curated over the last few years, completed with open meditation where I connect to Divine Source and receive clarity for my day ahead. My evenings weave in peaceful music and reading one of the many books that I have on the go (check out my Virtual Book Shelf here for a look at what I’ve been reading).

These practices really set such a meaningful connection on a Soul level; and while I do incorporate many external sensory elements as outlined above, it's more about the time spent inward with my Self and the connection to Universe Creator energy that flows in all things everywhere. I love that I can do variations of these practices anywhere that I may be in the world. These ‘Book Ends’ of my day really do exist each and every day for me, and have become a sacred way of living with purpose and connection.

Several weeks after that inspirational conversation back in 2023, I launched my first iteration of what has now become “Reconnect To Purpose” virtual group, a regular part of my online offerings which runs through the year on the new moon cycles. If you’re interested to join our next group, I invite you to learn more here.

Those other powerful mindsets from that weekend in Banff a few years ago? Those are stories for another time ;) 

Until next time friends ~

xo,

Cher

---

Cher Compton is a yoga teacher, meditation guide, retreat facilitator, the founder of Wellness With Cher and the business owner of Dragonfly Maternity. She is based out of Calgary, Canada leading events around Southern Alberta and also leads international virtual groups through her online work. Connect on IG @wellnesswithcherc