One way to support our gratitude practice is through the smells and tastes that relax us. Right now, lavender, ginger and cinnamon all have aromas that evoke the holidays and celebrations. Inspirited Living’s cosmos flower essence, chicory flower essence, lavender essence and our small batch, hand-made Lavender chewing gum is super for supporting relaxation and a sense of well-being throughout the day.
We are uplifted this week by an in-depth look at the healing power of lavender in an Ayurvedic diet. Whether you follow an Ayurvedic diet in detail or use the principles to help support your system, Inspirited Living’s lavender can play a powerful role in pacifying overactive kappa and pitta doshas. The soothing and calming effect of lavender is recommended for helping with anxiety and restless minds.
As the seasons shift and the light changes, our schedules can shift, too. Perhaps the early morning sun through the curtains that prompted you awake at 5am has changed to 6am? Maybe you want a few extra minutes asleep because your days seemed filled? …And then, are scrambling all day to catch up and never quite feel like yourself?
We are thinking this week about how to make a morning ritual for the new season. Our mission at Inspirited Living is to build a community and life that inspires, uplifts, and supports. So, what’s the best way to design a morning ritual that supports you? What’s the kindest and most uplifting way to start your day?
Take a look at our post on being kind to yourself as the season changes and why the changing light can have such a profound effect on how we feel!
Inspired Rituals: Calming the Mind with Lavender Buds to Help Fall Asleep
We want to establish a morning ritual that works for us when the season changes. So what’s the best way to stick to our morning ritual? We start the night before…
When we have a few moments before settling in for the night, we can set the conditions for the morning ritual we need. At Inspirited Living we love using our own small batch lavender water to create a calming oasis before bedtime. Sprayed on pillowcases and bed-linens, it’s calming and relaxing. We love making some chamomile or our own lavender bud infusion tea to settle down a restless mind. By taking a moment to support ourselves we are practicing basic self-compassion.
Why is lavender good to help calm a racing mind? How does lavender help you sleep? Scientists have found that lavender’s main compounds, linalyl acetate and linalool actually block the uptake of stress hormones. So, lavender helps our systems slow down, calm down, and relax enough to help us fall asleep. Being rested and calm is the kindest gift of self-compassion we can give ourselves to start our day!
Inspired Rituals: Morning Rituals Help us Feel Calm all Day
Where to start with a morning ritual without firing your mind up about all the things on the schedule for day? It’s a balancing act! How can we be in the moment and fully present in our lives without feeling anxious about the next day?
Perhaps it is as simple as choosing your clothes for the day? Notice which fabrics feel good. Are you seeking out soft and cuddly textures? Are you drawn to more formal or structured clothes? Take a moment to ask yourself, why is that? Am I relaxed and comfortable about my day or anticipating that I need some amour?
The little rituals support our intentions in two ways. Morning rituals help you calm your mind NOW with repetition. Morning rituals for busy people also create new patterns of behavior that support us so we can make better choices ALL DAY. Morning rituals can also help you practice mindfulness about how you want to experience your day. You can set the intention to be calm and curious before you leap into the day.
Take a moment to listen to Inspirited Living’s founder, Lynne Bryan Phipps’ thoughts on shifting awareness as the seasons change.
How to Create a Morning Ritual: Grounding and Being Present
One of the easiest ways to start our day in a kind and self-compassionate way is to ground ourselves before we leap into action. How tempting is it to leap out of bed and throw ourselves into the busyness of the day? How many times have you launched into motion in the morning and never stopped until you collapse exhausted at the end of the day?
Did you know you can choose to experience life in a calm, inspiring, supportive, and uplifting way? From and Inspirited Living perspective, we can choose how we are present in our lives by making some deliberate choices…
One of the easiest ways to start our day in a kind and self-compassionate way is to ground ourselves before we leap into action. Perhaps you can do this from bed when you first start to wake up? Grounding is simply about settling your mind by bringing your awareness to each part of your body.
Morning Ritual: How to Ground?
Start with the visualization of your roots going down into the ground. It lets our minds drift towards the sturdy strength of trees. Tapping into the energy of the earth. Connecting ourselves with the living world and reminding us that we are part of something vast, powerful, and beautiful.
Some people like to name each part of their body to bring the touch of awareness to their conscious mind. Moving our awareness to our feet, legs, stomach, heart and lungs, arms, shoulders, head, face, ears and eyes. Some people bring awareness to the 7 chakras, finishing with the Sahasrara chakra, which connects us to all living things.
Naming each place or chakra can help us notice: where are we holding tension and where are we relaxed? Where does energy flow through us and where does it get a little stuck? Just noticing helps us settle down our nervous systems, relax our guard, and open our minds to noticing all the amazing things the day will bring.
In the Moment: Human Doing vs. Human Being
Why does a morning grounding ritual help with anxiety and stress? Calming your mind now allows you to drop out of the “doing” part of your mind. That’s the part that leaps into action to save the day. Think of it like a superhero part of your mind!
We like superheroes! We need that superhero part to leap in with adrenaline to save the day!
But the superhero isn’t meant to run the show all the time. Everyone’s super action hero gets to slip into something cosy and relax until they are needed again. When the doing part of our minds relaxes, it makes room for the creative part can take over.
Morning Rituals: Why does Awareness Matter?
It can feel counter-intuitive. We have a full day ahead of us. So shouldn’t we just leap up and get on with it? Why bother with grounding? Why spend time developing and practicing a morning ritual?
The gentle touch of awareness helps us experience the day from a different mindset. Grounding as a morning ritual is a way to shift our minds out of the fight or flight mode. We can trigger that reaction by the alarm sounding, by the first thoughts of “I’m late!” and by our anticipation of challenges to come.
When we take a moment to ground ourselves, we can shift perspectives. We can allow our nervous system to start from a calm place. We can give ourselves the gift of curiosity and creativity. Our intuition and imagination can start playing with the activities of the day. That sense of play can create new connections, new ideas, new options, and open our senses to the beauty of the day.
For many of us, the Christmas season is just as maddening as it is joyful.
From the rush to purchase the rights gifts, to the stress involved with making plans with loved ones, the hustle and bustle of the holidays can overwhelm us with negativity. A time for celebration, peace, and harmony, some years seems to be everything but.
Only you truly know how to best succeed at this incredibly difficult task, but we have a tool that can help. A tool that will provide you and your guests with a calming aura that will diffuse their tension. It is not a fancy spiritual device or a harsh artificial chemical, but rather a creation of nature itself. For thousands of years, peoples from all across the globe have used lavender to relieve mental and emotional tensions within their lives. Lavender has a natural energy that lends itself to beings around it, creating peaceful atmospheres and calming minds. Christmas is supposed to be about love and tranquility, and this is what lavender provides.
Hang dried lavender like mistletoe, spray lavender water to give your tree a fresh scent, bake edible lavender into your holiday meal, give lavender essence as a gift to a friend or family member, or as your personal gift from Santa. Let its brilliant scent, energy and color replace the hectic and aggressive side of your Christmas.
We have everything you need to get started. Here at Inspired Living’s very own Beachwood Center for Wellbeing, we grow our own beautiful lavender, and use it to create a variety of powerful homemade products. Click here to view our store page, and take a huge step forward in easing your Christmas woes!