Freedom of Choice & The Magic of Ritual

Freedom of Choice!  & the Magic of Ritual
Fun with Shifting Your habits
…slowly, as true change needs time, patience and compassion!

The foto above is a moment in time on the dunes in the desert.
I felt the wind on my skin, and the sun warming my body.
Out of an impulse of joy and freedom I raised my arms and my heart to open into the backbend that you see in the picture. (Thanks to my friend Mariette for capturing that moment just in time!)

Now, what enabled me to do that with such freedom and spontaneity is actually a series of many moments of repetition, of practicing backbends many times and learning how to do that in a healthy way.

It has become a healthy habit.
But most important:

I like to do it. It’s Freedom!
It gives me joy, it’s a turn on.
If someone had told me:
Look: that’s good for you, it’s healthy for you, You must do this…etc pp
I would have shown them the finger and stubbornly declined the “good advice”.

I do it because it makes me feel good, and I choose for it.
It’s inspiring.

How do you get inspired?
How do you get inspired to shift habits that inhibit you?
To be motivated, to build the path for a new, a supportive habit?
Most of us need a turn on, a pivotal point that is motivating.
A moment that makes you feel good – so you want more, you want to do it again
I took the example of a backbend,
but from a mind perspective you can pick any other example:

Now if you are a musician, or a policitian, a chef, a public speaker or a mother the same principle applies:

rehearsing for a performance, preparing a speech, experimenting with a new recepy or getting the kids ready for school with ease and flow asks for repetition, regularity…and awareness HOW to change 

What is the power of Repetition:

If we stick with the example of yoga, let’s take a sequence that is the same every time you practice it .
Repeat. Breathe. Sense – what is different than last time?

Repetition…
Gives you the chance to observe how you feel different,
Gives you the chance to notice change.
Gives the mind the option to rest – or to get bored because your brain whispers

ahh – I know that one  –  routine…yawn…

And here is where it becomes interesting:
You have the choice inside either to go onto – ah – I know it – boredom, dull routine

Or

to engage in a path where there is structure and safety in form
and therefore freedom in the mind to discover differences and notice change
it provides for steady progress because you repeat, you notice, you change, you repeat again
carving new pathways in your nervous system, making small steps for new connection inside of you.

So  – Repetition : Does it exist? No!
Repetition is rather a Ritual of Awareness and a Ticket to Freedom of Choice!

Now:
I invite you to choose one habit that you cherish and that supports you
& observe for a week what it gives you, how you feel and if you notice any changes.

I Hope you enjoy it!