If you want to tame the lions, and make the circus to feel more like magic than mania, you need to set the foundation of your show – your daily habits – with practices that bring depth and meaning to your everyday life. When you do this, daily activities become sensuous and nourishing, relationships become more juicy, and your life will be full of wonder and delight. From this place of intention and care, you can fly high, have fun, and shine bright.

In the Center Ring: Attention

Paying attention can taking many forms, but the point of doing it is the same: be awake and present to your life. You may practice this by sitting in silence, moving your body, or by simply observing small details around you at home, in your loved ones’ eyes, or in nature.

One simple way to start: Set a timer for 3 minutes, close your eyes, and listen intently to every sound you hear. You will probably notice sounds that usually fade into the background. You may be surprised at how rich and sensitive your sense of hearing is when you tune in your attention.

In the Ring on the Left: Inquiry

Curious people are lifelong learners. They have interesting conversations and attract interesting people and opportunities. The daily grind can wear us out and dull our curiosity. It can lull us into a state of boredom and make us forget how it feels to learn and discover new things. It’s pretty easy to shift back into inquiry mode and the results can be life-changing.

Here’s an easy way to reignite your curiosity: Read a book. Resist the objections that are saying, “I’m too busy to read a book!” … or whatever is your reason. Reading is the cornerstone of learning, and the most successful people in the world are readers. The best part is this: you don’t have to finish it and you have permission to skim. There’s no law that says you have to digest the thing cover to cover. Read one chapter from a book on a subject you find interesting, and then use that to spark a conversation with your spouse, friend, etc. Go a step further by doing most of the listening in the conversation. Ask your partner questions to learn their perspective on the topic.

In the Ring on the Right: Ritual

Habits are activities we do regularly, with little thought or planning. Routines are a string of habits that create efficiency and order to getting things done. You can bring more meaning into your everyday routines by elevating some of your habits into rituals. Rituals have many of the same characteristics as a habit, but they are done more for their meaning than for speed or efficiency. Repeating a series of actions with attention and reverence is a way to make magic happen in your life.

To make a habit into a ritual: Pick a daily habit and consider the benefit you get from it. When you do that habit each day, do it with a greater awareness of the doing, and also why you do it. Finish your habit with a sense of gratitude for the ability to care for this aspect of yourself and your life, and for the good it brings. That’s it. You’ve just elevated a mindless habit into a ritual – a moment of reverence and meaning.

Ready to Step into the Spotlight

You can bring all of these elements into to your day-to-day. All you have to do is pick something and give it a try. Experimentation and starting small is highly encouraged.

For example, I look at and scrape my tongue every morning, before I brush my teeth. It’s one of the first things I do to start the day right. I take a look at the color, shape, and coating (for me, there’s ALWAYS coating), and compare to recent days. I notice changes and see if I can correlate what I’ve been consuming.

If my looking and scraping shows that my tongue is:

• “Better” today than yesterday, I acknowledge myself for doing things that support healthy digestion and good self-care. I use this moment to set my intention to make today another day of wise choices and healthy living.
• The same, or even a little gunkier than yesterday, I take a moment to give myself some kindness. I acknowledge that my well-being is a lifelong pursuit. I use this moment of attention to allow my imperfection to be my teacher. I reset my intention to keep orienting toward becoming my best self.

Did you see all the elements in there? This simple and quick (this takes seconds to do each day) action is a ritual for me. It has meaning beyond the act itself. It involves curiosity and inquiry, and it is a moment of present moment awareness.

The Show Must Go On!

When life feels like a circus you don’t have to make every habit a ritual. The big idea here is to bring more magic into your life in small, simple ways. You can start right now: pick one mundane habit you do every day, and choose to elevate it to an experience that gives it meaning for you.

Remember, keep it simple. You don’t have to put all three rings into play all the time. Start small. Bring your attention and your curiosity to the way you brush your teeth, make your morning tea, or bring in the mail. Play around with what feels meaningful about these activities. How do they nourish you? What fires up your sense of gratitude? Bring attention and curiosity each time you do the habit, until it becomes a meaningful ritual.

Leave a comment to tell us what you discover!

Holidays and traditions allude to what our ancestors thought would be important for us to remember. These are their visions and values and by understanding them we can get a stronger connection to our roots.  Even if we do not embrace these beliefs in the same way our ancestors did we can still learn from these clues that were left for us.

Tradition and rituals are like habits. They are grounding.They mark the passing of the years. Why is this important? Without these markers, each day becomes the same without any real natural stop and start to each new season or phase of our lives. Our ancestors were more tied to the changing of the seasons and their ancient religious and secular holidays celebrate these changes. Holidays and rituals redefine the focus and activities for the different seasons of the year.

With Easter and Passover we are celebrating a rebirth and a rescue that began a new phase for both of these traditions.This reflects the idea of spring and rebirth. Even as the traditions remain the same every year, our role in these rituals changes and evolves. We go from hunting for the Afikomen (a piece of matzo from Passover) or Easter eggs, to being “too old” for these “little kid activities.” Years later we have fun being the ones doing the hiding so we can observe the joy in our children when they find them. Although these traditions may be consistent year after year, they are always changing for us because we are changing too.

We Come Together to Celebrate

Seasonal celebrations often bring people together.  No matter what else is going on, families tend to stop all other activities and come together around the holidays and traditions. Even those who dread coming back to the “same old traditions” can often find connections.

In addition to religious traditions, there are the family stories and memories that are associated with these seasonal holidays that can remind us of how we used to enjoy things as a child. Maybe it was hunting for Easter eggs or looking for the Afikomen after a Passover meal. We can get insight into how we were as children. How we remember feeling as we discovered something hidden or found  something new. We can reclaim a sense of wonder and joy we may have lost and forgotten. It’s like a clue to help us rediscover our Prakruti.

The More We Change, The More We Are The Same

Sometimes we are reminded of how much we have grown and changed and gotten beyond family conflicts or issues (or not). The holidays are goal posts marking our journey through the years. Whether we dread them or look forward to them they are great places to stop and smell the roses. Or just to stop and see if we can make this holiday a little more festive.

Using the habits we have developed around self-care and meditation, we can remain mentally stable during difficult times at holiday gatherings. When we are focused on our habits, it can be easier to navigate through difficult gatherings. Our habits can also release us from the burden of having everything perfect and missing the joy of the occasion because something did not go the way you expected. 

Traditions pass on the things our ancestors thought would be important for us to remember in order to keep connection to our true values.

This season take a look at what you choose to celebrate and remember:

1. Stick to your regular routine as closely as possible. Even when traveling, stick to your routine to keep you grounded.
2. Look past some of the things you might not enjoy and try to focus on why you are celebrating the occasion. Keep your mind on the why when things are challenging.
3. Connect with those celebrating with you. Holidays are a time of creating new memories and traditions. You never know when you may be creating a memory or a tradition you may want carried on into the future.
4. Use challenging situations as ways to practice acceptance. Practice acceptance not only of others, but of your own needs.