November 1, 2015

As you read this, I am leading a two-week yoga retreat at the fabulous Samata Holistic Retreat Centre in Goa, India (www.samatagoa.com). Throughout the two weeks of the retreat, we are reading the Bhagavad Gita, a classic India text, and exploring the rich themes found in the recounting of a conversation between a young warrior, Arjuna and his wise chariot driver, Krishna. At its heart, the Gita is a tale of devotion as Krishna, who is a god in human form, lays out a path of practice (yoga) to address Arjuna’s confusion and doubt. Krishna suggests that selfless acts of devotion directed toward an ever-deepening understanding of our truest Self allays our fears and concerns. He goes on to suggest we make every act an offering of love.

Devotion is defied by the Google dictionary as love for a particular cause or person, rituals or observances often religious in nature and prayer. Interestingly, the use of word has been significantly declining over the last hundred years.

Just before leaving for India, my spouse emailed me a link to a Flipboard article from Time Magazine on ritual (http://time.com/4086909/daily-ritual/). The article suggests that the number one ritual to increase overall happiness is more ritual. Rituals, as the article notes, increase our presence or mindfulness and as a result, our enjoyment in an experience. Our ability to savour each moment increases and that has a direct correlation with our levels of happiness.

I love ritual. I love the way it unites a group, generates a collective experience and channels or amasses energy. I love the grounding and the presence within myself ritual can create. I have experienced how specific acts done with intent, devotion and love have impacted me and those around me. And I also understand how difficult it is to maintain.

Returning from Bali several months ago, I made a decision to pause and say grace before eating. Even more recently, I have set a few moments aside as I settle for sleep to pray. I have watched how both rituals brought me into presence when I honoured them … and I have observed how quickly and easily they are forgotten. Many times, I have fallen asleep without a thought of prayer and I have unconsciously been partway through a meal before remembering to think of those who energy went into what I am eating. These moments of inattentive action remind me of a yoga teacher’s suggestion, “Don’t make yoga your life. Make your life yoga.” This is similar to what Krishna says to Arjuna in the Gita. Conscious, selfless, devoted action brings us closer to ourselves, into presence and as the article says impacts our happiness.

To this end, I offer you a time to contemplate the role of ritual in your daily life. Most of us have rituals around bigger moments (holidays, birthdays and new years), but what of the smaller daily rituals. Consider:

What does devotion mean to me? To what or whom am I devoted? How do I enact that devotion on a daily basis?

What is the role of ritual in my life?

What daily rituals bring me into a deepening connection with myself?