Are Rituals Just Glorified Everyday Habits?

Every morning without fail, my alarm goes off at 4.10 am; I'm jumping out of bed, pulling on my workout clothes, stumbling downstairs, soak up my first hit of caffeine before walking out of my front door with my loveable dog by my side. I take a deep breath, breathing in the cool, refreshing air before walking 5 miles along the trails next to where I live, then heading home to enjoying my second caffeine hit before getting my kids up and my day can begin.

My ritual is not walking the 5 miles I put my body through each morning, and nor is it the fact I can tick of walking my dog from my massive list of jobs to complete each day. My ritual is breathing in the new morning air as I stand on my front doorstep, as my lungs soak in the cool sometimes (well, quite often) damp atmosphere; at this stage, my ritual is complete!

It's that simple yet probably a balmy act I carry out every morning seven days of the week. It has created an easy, repeatable habit to start my day that is easy to do and has a super bonus; I get to see the sunrise every morning. My ritual is so ingrained now it reduces the chance of skipping it, hitting the alarm button and rolling over for a couple more hours of sleep.

You may be thinking that what I am doing is glorifying a mundane act each morning that anyone can perform if they put their mind to it. Yes, I agree anyone can get up in the early hours of the morning, breathe in the cool air and take their dog for a walk. But I can't entirely agree it's a mundane act that I have over-glorified by calling it a ritual. After all, the Oxford English Dictionary describes a ritual as "a prescribed order of performing religious or other devotional services". As I see it dragging myself out of bed to breathe in the morning air when everyone else is enjoying their sleep has a transforming effect on how I handle the rest of my day.

Therefore by turning a mundane habit into a ritual stops me from lying in bed as my alarm is ringing in my ear, asking myself, "why the hell am i doing this?" Because by the time that question has popped into my head, I'm already outside breathing in the morning air, dog lead in hand committed to my morning walk. No turning back now!!!

Also, calling my morning routine a ritual stops me from questioning on the coldest and extremely wet days "do I like doing this?" It reminds me I am doing the right thing for my mental health and my fitness level.

We all have some rituals that we carry out every day. We don't always realise it. For some people, it's having a long bath after a hard day at work before their head hits the pillow. For others, it's reading before turning the light out and saying good night to the day.

A friend of mine who enjoys painting can't put paint to canvas without dancing around her studio to rock music, as moving her body to the beats gets her in the mindset for creativity.

Then, of course, basketball players touch their socks and bounce the ball three times before they are ready to take the shot. Runners who walk the track before standing at the starting mark. These sequences of ritual behaviour automatically dissolve the self-doubt and fear these athletes have as their ritual represents a calming "you will do great" kind of hug.

My morning ritual of breathing in the morning air at a ridiculous time of the morning just as the sun is waking up is my comforting hug of self-reliance. It deeply reminds me that if all else fails throughout the day, I can depend on myself, as I need my body to carry out my daily tasks of working, running around after children, and keeping a sort of organised mess of our home.

After all, rituals are there to give us confidence and self-reliance.

I must admit there are some very odd occasions, usually when it's pouring down with rain, dark and cold. I look down at my beloved dog and ask myself, "what's in this for me today?". Oh, course, this is not the most open-minded of questions to ask yourself, but the answer always comes back to - to keep me focused on my goals and to achieve great things today. Cos at the end of the day, all I have as I walk through the complicated windy road of life is my; body, ambition, passion, creativity, goals, memories, distractions, and, of course, fear of the unknown.

So what morning rituals will you / can you do each morning that will help you replace self-doubt for confidence and self-reliance that you will have a productive, creative, stress-free day giving you the freedom to be present in all the positive things your day will bring?