6 Sacred Rituals To Craft A Beautiful Day

Hello and welcome to another week of the podcast and today I am happy to share with you six of my favorite rituals.

Let's call them sacred rituals to craft a beautiful day.

And when you hear me say six rituals,

How am I going to do that in the morning Meg?

I had a friend once say to me,

Meg,

How do you even get out of the house in the morning?

You have all these rituals.

Well,

I promise you these rituals are quick and easy and they are a surefire way to set yourself off for a really,

Really lovely and calm day where you can be more present with those you love,

With those you work with,

And to be more present with yourself and find the simple pleasures and the joy in the day rather than the overwhelm.

So let's get started.

Welcome to the Tranquility Talk podcast.

My name is Meg Daly.

I'm so glad you're here.

I love chatting about interviewing people about everything to do with cultivating more contentment in your mind,

Your body and your home.

That's why I created this podcast and that's why I created the 30 day reset,

Which you can check out at MegKayDaily.

Com.

So whether you are out on a walk or just hanging around the house,

I'm so honored that you invited me into your world.

So let's get started with this week's episode.

Hello,

Hello.

Thanks again for welcoming me into your world.

I love doing this podcast for you.

I want to remind you that we have a new challenge starting on Monday and it is a three day free take a break challenge.

Take a break from alcohol.

So if you're feeling a little frazzled and overwhelmed,

Maybe just taking a break might help you reexamine your relationship with alcohol and maybe calm the nervous system down a bit.

Now,

If you're listening to this podcast weeks from now,

Make sure you check out.

I typically do the three free day challenges once or twice a month.

So you can check out the upcoming one at MegKayDaily.

Com.

OK,

So let's dive into the fun stuff today.

Let's talk about these sacred rituals that allow you to craft a beautiful day.

And so how did I come up with these?

They've just layered on over the years.

It's kind of like when you start a new habit and that feels good.

And so you get used to the habit.

It's an integral part of your day,

Kind of like brushing your teeth.

And then you're ready for the next one.

So I highly suggest if you're not doing any kind of set of rituals in the morning,

Well,

Let's face it,

We're always doing rituals.

We're either doing them unintentionally or intentionally.

We're either doing them consciously or unconsciously.

So believe it or not,

From the minute you wake up until the minute you go to sleep,

Your day is a set of habits or rituals.

And sometimes those habits can drain you.

And so I'm just asking you to explore this idea of perhaps making your morning a beautiful set of these divine rituals that gives meaning to your morning and in a way sets you up for a really great day.

And I remember reading Eckhart Tolle and how he talks about how he makes his entire day a ritual.

He makes his entire day a meditation.

And I don't know about you,

But for me,

The past year,

Well,

Gosh,

Over a year with everything,

With the quarantine has allowed me to just breathe and step back from the rat race of what my life used to be.

I was over scheduled,

Overwhelmed and just over it.

And so I said to my mother this morning,

Who needs to go travel?

You know,

They're simple pleasures.

Not that I have anything against traveling.

I love traveling.

But it's like I had come back from the grocery store and they had beautiful tulips on sale,

Just gorgeous tulips.

So I grabbed a few bunches of those and some pansies and some delicious cake to make with the strawberries for dinner tonight.

And I was like,

All excited,

All excited for the flowers and the chocolate covered pecans that I found.

And then the dessert and the dinner that I had planned for that evening.

And I laughed and I said to my mother,

Who needs to travel?

We've got pick and save.

And we laughed.

And yet it's kind of true if we look for the simple pleasures and the loveliness in the day,

We don't have to go very far other than from where we are.

So,

Yes,

Wouldn't it be cool to make our entire day just an ongoing ritual?

And if you get really intentional about how you're spending your time and you get into a rhythm,

Which you probably already are.

I just am really intrigued with this idea because for years I didn't have a rhythm to my day.

It was just kind of flying by the seat of my pants and getting pulled in different directions.

And I was never really in charge of my schedule or my day.

And what I found is that when I pause and really get intentional about how I want to feel,

I start creating these little mini rituals throughout the day.

One in particular is before dinner,

Taking the dogs for a walk in the woods.

That's a ritual and it just gives meaning to your day.

And,

You know,

Just little children,

You know,

Even dogs,

You know,

Think about it.

When you were little,

You loved that routine.

It made you feel safe and secure.

Dogs are pets,

Are animals.

They feel safe and secure.

They're very routine orientated.

So,

However,

I'm going to go back to my original.

I'm getting a little on a segue here.

I'm going to invite you.

If you were now,

If you are now like I was a few years ago and just kind of scattered and didn't have any rituals,

Please just dip your toe in this.

Just try out one ritual in the morning and then just build on that.

Just take baby steps.

These six rituals that I do,

I don't do all of them every day,

And I certainly just didn't wake up one day and decide I'm going to do these because that would create stress.

And that's the last thing we want to do.

And I will be honest that for a long time when I would do these rituals,

I put so much pressure on myself to get them done.

It was like a check the box kind of thing.

And we don't want that either.

So the goal here is to feel better.

And so just pick and choose what feels right and go from there.

So let's get started.

So the first one is well,

Actually,

Let's start it this way.

I came up with an acronym.

I had to move a couple of the change a couple of the words to make it easy.

But I find that when I have an acronym,

It's so much easier to remember.

Remember.

So the acronym.

Are you ready for it?

It's smiles.

Smiles.

However,

It's got two eyes.

So S M I I L E S.

Smiles.

You can like drag those two eyes out.

OK,

The first one is stillness.

So I feel like the word meditation,

Some people are like,

Oh,

My gosh,

It's like such a chore.

I'm a horrible meditator.

It's too hard.

I can't stand it.

My mind races.

So just lighten up on yourself and think of the word stillness.

Just allowing for some stillness in the morning before you begin your day,

Before you turn on your phone,

Before you do anything,

Just allowing some stillness.

Now,

These are not in the order that I do them.

I'll share that at the end.

But I couldn't make a proper acronym.

Using the order that I use them.

So I'm just going to go through these as they follow the acronym.

But stillness and stillness can be three deep breaths.

Stillness can be one breath.

Stillness can be 10 minutes.

I recently.

Well,

Not so recently,

Actually.

It was a while ago I met because it was pre COVID.

I met someone at a New Year's Eve party and this person informed me that they meditated every morning for an hour.

They got up at 5 a.

M.

And they meditated.

Now,

I have never done that.

I don't know if I'll ever get to that.

However,

I will tell you,

This person was the most chill,

Calm.

Person who was really living the life that they wanted to live.

And they were very successful in their work.

They had a lovely relationship.

Of course,

Nothing is ever perfect.

And yet this person seemed very content,

Very content.

So that first one is stillness.

And so just dipping your toe into it,

It could be even in the shower,

Just having a moment of stillness where your mind isn't racing,

Where you focus on the water hitting your face.

And so that is a really,

Really key.

The second one is movement.

And again,

I don't like to use exercise because sometimes exercise,

Again,

Is this check the box kind of thing that we have to do.

No,

We want these to be things that we get to do.

These are not things we have to do.

These are things we get to do.

And so movement can be anything from a couple minutes of stretching or yoga with Adrian on YouTube,

Who I love,

Or going on a walk with a dog or going to the gym or weight training or anything,

Just moving your body and just getting the blood flowing,

Getting the energy going.

I don't know about you.

That is one of the rituals that I am focusing on because I don't know what's been going on.

But for the past so pre-COVID,

I was going to hot yoga like three or four times a week.

I felt amazing.

I didn't have a ache or pain or anything in any muscle or joint.

I felt awesome.

And then it's almost like and I've been talking to other people over the past year.

It's like we've all gone into our cocoons like literally and figuratively.

And I feel like my body has kind of like,

You know,

Almost like shrunk in because I haven't been stretching.

I haven't been doing my yoga.

I had some tendinitis in my knee.

So I wasn't walking for a couple of months.

And actually,

I am sitting here recording this podcast right before I go to a walk,

Go out on a walk,

Because I realize I miss that.

I miss that so much.

And so it doesn't have to be some huge thing.

I,

You know,

I once listened to I attended.

Oh,

What's her name?

She wrote the book French Women Don't Get Fat.

Oh,

I can't remember her name.

Anyway,

She when I was living up in the suburb of Milwaukee,

She came to the bookstore and she did a talk.

And I just found her just beautiful on the inside and out and just so chic.

And and she talked about that.

She's like,

I don't go to the gym,

But I walk a lot.

I walk and walk and walk.

And so,

You know,

You have to make it what you what what works for you.

You are the guru of you.

And so,

You know,

If going to a spin class really energizes you,

Then do it.

You also know if just going on a walk feeds your soul and makes you feel like you're moving just as your body needs it.

So just,

Again,

Listening to your body and creating movement.

OK,

Number three,

And this is a big one.

This is what I do when I open my eyes in the morning.

Intention.

What is your intention for the day?

If we want to live with more intention,

It's imperative that we set an intention for how we want to feel that day.

So every day I swing my feet and before they hit the carpet,

I say,

All right,

How do I want to feel today?

Today,

I'm going to feel patient.

Today,

I'm going to feel energized.

Today,

I'm going to feel that I am today.

I'm going to feel successful or,

You know,

Today I'm going to feel like I've achieved what I want to achieve.

Today,

I'm going to feel loving.

Today,

I'm going to feel calm.

And so it's amazing of just planting that seed in your conscious mind.

Your subconscious mind is like,

OK,

Let's get to work.

Let's support them,

Her or him on being more patient or be more calm.

OK,

So just setting that intention for the day.

And again,

As we talk about creating eventually your day into just a set of ongoing rituals where you're,

You know,

Your 24 hours is a set of these beautiful just one after the other.

It's like a relay race.

You know,

You pass off the baton to the next ritual.

You can take that ritual of intention making into everything.

When you sit down for breakfast,

You know,

How do I want to feel when I'm done eating so that in the net will get you really intentional about what you eat.

How do I want to feel when I get off this zoom call?

And so you're not going to perhaps react when you're triggered by a colleague.

How do I want to feel with my family this evening?

And that's probably going to set you up where,

Again,

You don't react when maybe there's dirty dishes in the sink when you go to bed.

It's like,

No,

I want to be here and be present with my family and calm and I'm not going to let the little stuff get in the way.

So intention is everything is everything.

OK,

Number four,

The second I in the acronym smiles is inspiration.

How do you get inspired when you wake up in the morning?

For me,

I like to listen to a podcast while I'm getting ready or when I'm out on my walk.

I like to batch these and I'll talk about that in a little bit.

I like to batch these different rituals together so it doesn't take hours to go through.

But how are you getting inspired?

Perhaps it could be a quote.

That you read from a book on your bedside table.

Perhaps you could get inspired by your kids.

Maybe a podcast like I do.

If you like to turn on the news,

I don't really like to turn on the TV early in the morning,

But maybe that inspires you on the morning news shows.

Whatever it is,

Maybe it's reading a chapter in a book,

Cuddling with your dog,

Whatever it is that inspires you and makes you feel good.

Go into it.

OK,

Two more.

Number five.

Now,

Again,

I have to come up with an acronym so we remember.

So this this fifth one is love.

Now,

I'm using the word love in place of gratitude or thankfulness,

Because to me,

When we're grateful for the gifts that we have in our life and we're grateful for other people and just everything in our life.

To me,

That is an act of love that is loving what we have,

Loving life,

Loving what is loving other people.

And so I remember someone told me Mr.

Rogers in the morning when he would do his swimming laps for exercise,

Every stroke that he took with the arm,

Like in the breaststroke,

For example,

He would send love to someone.

That he knew.

And to me,

That's like a gratitude practice.

It's like I'm so grateful for this person in my life.

I send them love.

And so Elle is,

You know,

Really for gratitude,

For thankfulness of what you have right here.

It's so important to show gratitude and love for what you have right here,

Right now,

And then open your mind to what else do you want to create?

And then start believing that it's already there.

And yet we can't manifest.

We can't bring in and do actually what the last ritual is that I'll get to in a second.

We can't do that until we first really love what is and love what is in front of us.

We have so much to be grateful for.

Like I said earlier,

The tulips on sale at Pick and Save,

They made my morning.

And so just look,

Look for the loveliness today.

Look for the beauty and look for everything to be grateful for in the moments.

But in the morning,

If you can just send love and gratitude and thankfulness to everyone and everything that really showers you with grace,

I guess,

In your life.

And most importantly,

Don't forget to show love towards yourself in the form of gratefulness for your gifts,

Thankfulness for who you are.

So often we focus on the negative in other people and the negative in ourselves.

And so today,

If you have a negative thought about someone,

Just stop.

I tried this this morning,

By the way,

And just stop and say,

OK,

Yes,

They have this quality,

But I'm really thankful for.

And I really love all of these other qualities they possess.

And then you can do it for yourself,

Too.

So if you say,

Gosh,

I hate it when I overreact like that,

I just hate that part of myself.

And then catch yourself and say,

However,

I'm really grateful for it.

And I love the part of me that is full of humor.

I love the part of me that is offers a helping hand to whoever needs it.

So focus on the positive by extending love and gratefulness and thankfulness towards yourself and others.

OK,

The final one is one of my favorites,

And this is embody.

What do I mean by embody?

You want to embody the kind of day that you want to have.

You want to embody the kind of life you want to have.

And like I said,

We don't want to jump into embodiment.

I always do embodiment like after I meditate,

After the stillness.

And I'll share with you shortly the flow that I do and typically how long it takes me.

And so embodiment comes at the end when when you've been thankful,

When you looked around and are happy and content right here,

Right now with what is.

And then you open up the door to possibilities.

And you want to embody those.

Embodiment is different from visualization.

And this is the way I explain it.

Visualization is imagine a vision board on your wall with quotes and pictures and images.

And embodiment is literally scooping off all of those images energetically and those words and like energetically,

Just absorbing them into your body and becoming that person right here,

Right now.

It's a play on with it's playing with your imagination.

It's daydreaming.

It's your magical superpower.

And so right now,

Think about what kind of day you want to experience.

And you can literally embody.

And I do this.

I quick zip through my day and I'll and I'll embody the kind of person I'm going to be.

And the different meetings that I'm in,

I'll embody the person that is spending time with friends and how I want to feel after I leave being with them.

So literally say,

Oh,

My gosh,

I'm going to do this and then I'm going to do that.

And I'm going to feel this way and I'm going to feel that way.

And so you just want to embody joy.

You want to embody contentment.

You want to embody the words of how you want to feel.

So do you see right now how embodiment is tied to your intention?

So if your intention is I want to feel calm today,

You will embody your day.

You will run through it in your mind.

The meetings that you have,

The lunches,

The time with friends,

The time with family,

With colleagues.

And you will use your imagination to embody in those moments.

And you will make believe like it's happening now in your mind.

And in those moments,

You are calm and you can use embodiment for even a broader scope of how you really want to feel overall in your life.

These larger term goals and be there.

If one of your goals is to get a new job at a specific company,

I want you to embody what clothes will you be wearing on your first day?

What will your office look like?

How will you feel at work?

Run through interactions with colleagues during the day.

Embody and literally just take yourself on a quick like fast forward through the day.

And then when you're leaving and how you're feeling,

It's so much fun.

It's so much fun.

So I'm going to share with you because you're probably thinking,

Well,

This is going to take me forever.

How am I even going to get out of the house or get on my Zoom calls or take care of my family if I'm doing this,

Meg?

And I will tell you that you can do this very quickly.

And this is the way I roll.

So number one,

In the morning,

Like I said,

I wake up and it takes me five seconds to have an intention before my feet hit the floor.

Number two,

That is when I practice a little stillness.

I just sit there maybe for a few minutes,

Maybe for five minutes.

OK,

At the end of the meditation,

I state what I am thankful for.

So that's the love I send the love out and I'm grateful for what already is in my life.

And then I move into embodiment and I embody the day.

This is all you can do this all before your feet literally hit the floor.

Set your intention.

Grab a little stillness.

Show a little love to yourself and other people in terms of gratitude and then embody how the day is going to roll.

And then your bigger goals that can literally happen in two minutes.

OK.

And then what I do is I get up,

Do what I need to do.

The dog and and I go out on a walk,

I get some movement and on that walk,

I listen to a podcast and that's my inspiration.

So that's pretty much how I do it.

So between the walk and that,

It's like 35 minutes max.

And it sets me up for a day where I realize the power of these rituals.

And it just makes me want to build on that throughout the day,

Creating more of a structured work schedule,

Creating more of a structured evening.

And again,

When I say structured,

I don't mean confining.

I mean safe and secure,

Cozy and calm.

And so I'd love to hear from you on the rituals that you put in place,

The ones that work for you and any comments on how you liked this podcast.

And I would love for you to share this podcast with friends,

Family,

Colleagues of yours who you feel would be interested in this,

Who maybe are one of those other highly sensitive,

Empathic souls who likes to talk about things like simple pleasures and cozy and calm and loveliness.

So please share this podcast with friends.

And as always,

I am so happy to be with you today.

And I can't wait to create another podcast episode for you next week.

So go ahead,

Make today a ritual.

And I am sending thankfulness to you right now.

Thank you,

My friends.

I'll see you soon.

Bye bye.

If you'd like today's episode,

Feel free to share with a friend.

And as always,

You can check out my free three day challenge if you're interested in taking a break from the habit of alcohol.

You can check out the details at MegKDaily.

Com as well as my 30 day reset.

And as always,

You can join my private group over on Facebook called Tranquility Talk.

I'd love to see you there.

So until next time,

Have a wonderful day.