Savor your rituals

When we step on our yoga mat, we enter space – both physical and mental – for sustained attention to ourselves. Often, I invite students to lie down at the beginning of yoga practice and simply notice. Sometimes the act of getting to the mat can leave them a little breathless, a bit distracted or fatigued.

The ritual of describing the quality of their breath can influence its spaciousness and tempo. So too does attention to sensations that arise. It could be as simple as feeling the air on your skin or firm ground beneath the body.

Initially, a skeptic of rituals, Michael Norton, behavioral economist and author of The Ritual Effect *, became a fervent believer when, as he put it, someone happened – the birth of his daughter. The elaborate bedtime ritual to get her asleep never deviated. It finally dawned on him that this ritual was as much to soothe his own anxiety as comfort his child. It was the ritual that sustained him.

Rituals tap into our deep emotional reservoir. 

Rituals create boundaries for sacred space to connect us with the present moment. Rituals entreat us to pull away from technology’s distractions and savor the immediate experience.

Scientific literature supports the benefits of savoring. Savoring, the quality of appreciating something with focused attention – a good wine, home baked bread, a beautiful sunset – extends to savoring other aspects of our lives.

We all could benefit from more savoring. Behavioral scientists identify four successful strategies to pursue:

• Appreciate and pay attention to positive moments.

• Enjoy savoring with others – celebrate!

• Convey our savoring with nonverbal language - smiling

• Engage in “positive mental time travel” remembering the past and anticipating the future in rich detail

Rituals evoke feelings. Legacy rituals come from the past - childhood memories, favorite Thanksgiving dishes, religious rites of passage. Bespoke rituals take shape as life unfolds. Top performers have their idiosyncratic rituals like Serena Williams bouncing the tennis ball five times before her first serve and two times before her second serve. All rituals – new and old – share the common ingredient of savoring.

I invite you to join me in the ritual of practicing yoga in community with plenty of smiles.

 *The Ritual Effect, from habit to ritual, harness the surprising power of everyday actions by Michael Norton