Self-care rituals for peace and tranquility

I wanted to offer you something really accessible today. I’m offering a few simple but beautiful rituals for specific moments in life. A little prompt to support your wellness in easy to apply ways that can have a huge impact.

Read on to find out how to alleviate mental exhaustion, anger, anxiety and more.

Here are some somatic practices to help you in specific situations when overwhelm may be making itself known.

If you are feeling…

Mentally exhausted - walk in nature. It’s tempting to sleep, or put the TV on when we are tired. But I encourage you to explore if you are physically tired or mentally tired. If it’s mental tiredness, I will always recommend going out in nature for a minimum of 10 minutes and see what effect this has on you. Chances are, you’ll feel instantly better.

Nature, birdsong, the smell of fresh air, being amongst the trees has a profound effect on our nervous system. Not only does walking help us due to the bilateral stimulative effect of walking itself, but there is a natural resonance, or vibration, that brings about a peaceful, nourishment, activating our parasympathetic state.

Turn it into a ritual… by walking more slowly, noticing the breeze, listening to the birds.

Physical tired - read a book. Physical tiredness is different to mental exhaustion. When we are physically tired, there are different physiological effects at play. While we may still feel mentally tired, that bone weary feeling we get when we’ve been active all day is a different kind of tiredness. It’s more dorsal vagal / parasympathetic meaning that we are more relaxed. Whereas mental exhaustion is often related more to being highly stimulated or stressed.

If you are physically tired, you need to rest. So grab a book, or watch a good movie or TV show that makes you laugh. A short nap is also good to reset the body.

Turn it into a ritual… by snuggling under a favourite blanket with a cup of fragrant tea.

Anxious - practice mindfulness. As we’ve explored in other articles, anxiety is a nervous system response to stress, overstimulation, bodily sensation (interoceptive cues) or trauma. It can be helpful to use mindfulness when you’re anxious.

This isn’t about fighting your anxiety. Nor are you simply giving into it. Mindfulness encourages us to notice, non judgementally, that we are experiencing anxiety. It invites you to pay attention to how you’re feeling with kindness and compassion. To be curious. Practiced regularly, this approach has been shown to reduce anxiety.

Turn it into a ritual… by holding a precious object or crystal, smelling incense or essential oils, or lighting a candle and looking deep into its light before you begin your mindfulness practice.

Stressed - move to music. You can do yoga, Pilates, mindful walking, ballet or dance of any kind, intuitive movement is also great. This is just a moment of tapping into our endorphins through movement. It can be fast, slow, deliberate, wild, contained, choreographed, spontaneous. There are no rules to dancing with the heart.

Turn it into a ritual… by turning up the volume and moving with joy throughout your home.

Uncertain or lacking clarity - practice curiosity. I talk about curiosity a lot. Because I genuinely believe that you can’t be judgemental about yourself, meaning that harsh inner critic can finally find some peace, when we are openly curious.

Being curious invites exploration. A wondering in the purest sense. We can ask ourselves questions: why? when? who with? what for? who for? And see what comes up. With open curiosity, we can gently find answers to things we didn’t even know we wanted answering.

Turn it into a ritual… by buying a beautiful journal and a pen that writes really well and spending a few minutes writing down your thoughts and ideas.

Ungrounded and stuck in your head - body scan. A body scan is a great way to reconnect with your body and feel more grounded. If you are stuck with swirling thoughts and over thinking, then this could really help.

To do a body scan, sit comfortably ideally with your feet flat on the floor. Close your eyes or lower your gaze and let your attention focus inwards. Starting at the top of your head, slowly sense how each of your body parts is feeling and note any sensations you experience. This is a noticing exercise, think of yourself as an observer.

Turn it into a ritual… by lighting a scented candle, burning incense, or diffusing essential oils.

Activated and angry - exhale for longer. A longer exhalation encourages the autonomic nervous system to relax and become less guarded and hyper vigilant. When we feel on edge, angry, or irritable it can be sign our nervous system is activated into the sympathetic or fight/flight state.

Find somewhere quiet to be by yourself for a moment. Breathe in for 4 counts and out for 6 or 8 counts. Repeat until you feel calmer and more grounded. Can also be done with one of my recommended hand gestures for calm.

Turn it into a ritual… by getting out your yoga mat and putting on some music you love. Combine with a cat cow pose with the 4-8 count breath to move the angry energy through the body.

For every emotion and sensation we experience that feels uncomfortable or difficult, there is a somatic practice that helps us reconnect, recentre and restore our energy. Try these out next time you are feeling out of sorts and see if it helps.

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Have a beautiful day

Claire x