How to Upgrade Your Routines to Rituals that Improve Your Wellbeing

Our brain loves a routine. Even more so a habit. It means it can check out and conserve energy. After all, our brain consumes around 20% of our energy each day. Anything it can do to leave a little for our body to function is appreciated. So what if we could turn the energy it does consume into an opportunity for brain growth and better wellbeing? Turns out we can – by upgrading routines to rituals that improve wellbeing.

Being conscious of each moment, in and present with the moment, is something that most of us don’t often do. Even those of us who take time for meditation or mindfulness may find that large parts of the day are traversed without much thought about what we’re actually engaged in. Habits take over. Routines let us know the next step without thinking. So much of our waking hours can be spent on auto-pilot. Routines can easily be upgraded to rituals. Rituals can help us to step back into the moment.

The difference between routine and ritual

There is a marked difference between routine and ritual. A routine has a definite purpose – an outcome it is meant to achieve. Brushing teeth in the morning is done for the desire to prevent tooth decay and promote fresh breath. Rituals on the other hand have no specifically desired or associated outcome. Offerings made at Samhain are simply made to honour the ancestors.

There is more meaning and purpose behind a ritual than the direct outcome of its actions.

Not all rituals are religious and they don't have to be for us to benefit from them. Both ritual and routine are universal aspects of human behaviour. Each requires repetitive actions that are taken in a specific order. Both are found pretty much everywhere – in families, sports groups, businesses, and larger social groups and institutions.

However, rituals also create a sense of connection and can significantly reduce anxiety. What’s more simple rituals can improve our motivation and performance, adjusting brain activity so we can achieve a flow state for whatever task we’re about to do.

It’s not just our mental wellbeing that is enhanced with rituals. Andrew Newberg’s research into the neurobiological correlations with spiritual practices found that rituals can lower cortisol levels in our bodies, in turn lowering heart rate and blood pressure while boosting immune system function.

Routines, on the other hand, can make our brains lazy or lead to compulsive behaviour. Breaking routines can raise anxiety and cause distress, particularly in novel situations or unexpected circumstances. We may find it hard to figure out what to do as we’ve become too reliant on a routine.

There is a fine line between routine and ritual. It’s called intention, meaning and attitude. Switching from routine to ritual is relatively simple, it just takes a little focus in the right areas.

Building personal rituals

Upgrading some of your daily routines into brief rituals that are scattered through your day doesn’t take oodles of time, nor a huge amount of effort. Yet the benefits are clear – improved motivation, performance, mental and physical wellbeing. While you may think of rituals as too much work, or fairly meaningless, you’ve more to gain than lose by giving them a try.

Choosing which routines should be upgraded to rituals is a personal choice. Think about the routines you already have. For example, in the morning getting up, showering, making breakfast and getting to work. Ask yourself, which element of that series of events gives you the most joy. Is it standing in the shower letting the warm water coax you awake? The strong flavour of your coffee that you savour most? Maybe it’s the journey to work, the downtime it provides to simply notice your surroundings.

When you’ve identified the element that brings the most joy already and cannot comfortably be replaced you’ve hit upon the small routine that’s ripe for ritualising.

The next step is to tinker with the elements to bring more significance, meaning and pleasure. If showering is the most joyful part of your morning routine, think about how you could enhance it further. Maybe adding a particularly fine soap and silky shower puff. Or a super-soft bath sheet.

There is no single right answer, you need to experiment, observe and retain the elements that enhance this part of your routine.

When tinkering with your routine to elevate it to a ritual, consider the location and atmosphere, the objects you use, the timing of the ritual and the mindset you value most about the existing routine. The more of these that you enhance, the more rewarding the new ritual will become.

Enjoying your rituals

There is something uniquely satisfying about personal rituals. They speak to you in the way that no other ritual could. Their bespoke nature helps these seemingly mundane aspects of your day become something more, a chance to connect within, be present right now and savour this moment. By connecting within, you become more able and ready, to connect with others.

Through the elevation of routine to ritual, we increase the moments we are present. Simply being ‘present in the moment’ through mindfulness increases the concentration of our brain’s grey matter in the areas associated with learning, memory and emotional regulation.

Rituals can bring us closer to ourselves and each other. They are simple and enjoyable to create. They don’t need to be associated with religion or spirituality for us to benefit. Isn’t it time to upgrade some of your routines?