Symbolically, the first 12 days of the year set the intention for the remaining 11 months. Numerically, the coming year, 2015, adds up to 8, the number that represents success. So get off to a good start and let 2015 be your best year ever! The key is to set clear intentions and prime yourself for wild success. Try the…
Everyone does it: from the Burmese and Balinese to the Inuit and Icelanders. In the United States, almost half of us do it, making it one of the most common of our shared rituals. We give thanks for our food with prayer, with rituals and dance, before meals, after eating, and in praise of a bountiful harvest. We thank someone,…
I just read the most wonderful quote from Pema Chodron’s The Wisdom of No Escape and the Path of Loving-Kindness: Ritual, when it’s heartfelt, is like a time capsule. It’s as if thousands of years ago somebody had a clear, unobstructed view of magic, power, and sacredness, and realized that if he went out each morning and greeted the sun…
Summer is synonymous with love, romance, and joy. We celebrate the abundance of Mother Earth. This is a time to reach high and aim high. The summer solstice is a celebration of the longest day of the year and marks the height of the waxing season: a time of fertility of nature. Think of this as a time of being…
Valentine’s Day has always been about rituals. The holiday has its roots in an ancient Roman fertility festival called Lupercalia, which celebrated early spring, fertility, ancestors, and love. Single girls would write their names and place them into an urn. Each bachelor would pick a name out of the urn and then spend the year with that girl—thus ensuring fertility…
When I was a long jumper on my college track team, I always counted to five before starting my run to the takeoff board. Counting helped me block out distractions around the track and get focused on the jump. But it had to be five. Why? Because I started counting to five at the beginning of the season and had…
Michelle Jenneke, hurdler, performs an exuberant dance routine right before starting a race. Jason Terry, NBA basketball player, sleeps in the opposing team’s official uniform shorts the night before games. Wade Boggs, Hall of Fame baseball player, always drew “chai” (Hebrew word for life) in the dirt before coming up to bat. Bruce Gardiner, NHL hockey player, dipped his hockey…
