Excellent Rituals are natural Good Morning by Maria Millsaps

I had to be gentle with her. She was getting older and not as agile as she used to be. Like an old model car, getting her warm enough to get her going took time.  “Wake up,” I announced like a bugler playing Reveille. She lay there looking like, “Why are you bothering me? Can’t you see I am trying to sleep?”  “Of course, I can see you are trying to sleep, but it’s a new day full of great things in store if you wake up and catch the tide,” I replied.  She thought, “Every morning, it's the same old song. It hurts to wake up in the mornings, especially at my age. I do not feel like getting up. Unless, of course, I can meditate first.” “Okay,” I say, embracing her idea. Meditation is a beautiful way to start the day. It will tune in your emotions...what form of meditation did you have in mind?” “I want to do the Silva Centering.” The exercise takes half an hour but gets the old bones moving. She turned her headphones on and focused on her meditation. She started to relax, and her mind slowed down. She became utterly relaxed as she reflected on how every part of her body aligned with the alpha beat.  Half an hour later, she woke in a better frame of mind, but her bones were still cold. “I think a hot soak in Epsom salts will warm up my bones,” she said as she went to the bathroom to run the hot water and sprinkle it with mint-scented Epsom salt. The aromas filled the room as she soaked her tired bones. The warm water felt rich on her aching muscles. She soaked for another half hour. “Gal, you best get out of that tub and get going,” I reminded her. She would stay there all day if I didn’t say something. She was awakened, and her bones were working with her, but her muscles complained, “I need a stretch. Twenty minutes of Sri Yantra would unite the community of muscles and fuel me,” she retorted. I agreed wholeheartedly if that’s what it would take to get her going. The sacred sounds filled the air as she exercised the union of masculine and feminine energies for total connection with the cosmos.   Finally, she was dressed and ready to greet the day. She decided to go for a walk and jog on her favorite path.  The fog started to dissipate as we drove to the National Park. There, she covered her head with a sun scrawl. She doesn’t want the sun to stain her face. She was a sun worshipper for years, but she was not anymore. At her age, she had to protect her skin. She turned on her headphones to listen to Isha Kyria's music and walked on a sandy path surrounded by tall trees. Squirrels were playing on tree limbs. Roadrunners and quails darted into bushes—an eagle soared into the sky with a snake in its talons. Nature played an array of anthems. A gentle wind brushed her face. She walked, stretching her arms for a mile and a half. For the rest of the three miles, she jogged to the beat of the music. As she jogged, she reflected on God's goodness and started praising him for her age, ability to jog, mind, spirit, family, and friends. Her thoughts reached almost every part of the world, searching to deliver prayers or blessings to those God put in her heart at that time and place. Some would say, “that’s ritualistic.”   I say yes; it is as ritualistic as the sun's rise in the mornings or ocean waves. The pattern, the flow, the cadence, the tempo throbs the heart in unison with the universe.           Author Notes Since the beginning of humankind, there has been an endless array of rituals. Rituals are sequences of repeatable acts performed methodologically, ranging from self-care to political traditions. Rituals have become sidelined in modern times. These executions of conscious and deliberate actions are what the world needs now.

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