If you’re reading this, you brush your teeth and shower as part of your daily hygiene. I imagine you may even have some spiritual practices in place. Maybe you go to yoga a couple times a week, meditate on a semi-regular basis, have attended a retreat or two, and regularly shun single-use plastic like a pro. Having a semi-regular practice works pretty well—until it doesn't.
During times of overwhelm and stress, the first practices we jettison are those we consider the extras. We maintain we don’t have time because of—that’s right—overwhelm and stress. After some trial and error, by that I mean, I tried and failed to find the time in my days to commit to longer spiritual practices. I thought that to make it really count, spiritual practice had to be minimum half hour or more, and I just didn’t have that kind of time as a working mom. I also tried up-leveling my practice on those days when I had hit an emergency point—as the flight attendants say, the point where I needed to put on my oxygen mask—before assisting others. This didn’t work either because I was already in an emergent state and even the up-leveled practice did little more than get me back to just about baseline normal.
I really craved more consistent results, and began searching for answers. I wanted to maintain a state of equanimity, and so I wondered how I could weave sacred self care into my life without committing to extra hours I didn’t feel I had. That wondering and searching is what led me to my simple and essential practice of daily spiritual hygiene.
Daily spiritual hygiene is what I share with the women in my live and online classes now. It is the practice of layering in daily spiritual hygiene to decrease stress before you need the proverbial oxygen mask. The practice is a simple one, and all you need do is open your creative right brain to find what works best for you, and your daily living.
The art of Making Simple Moments Sacred, is all about using the daily rituals you already have in place, like brushing your teeth and showering, then layering them with your love and your intention to make them part of your sacred self care. Doing this doesn’t add one minute to your day. Here’s how it can work—as you brush your teeth in the morning, rather than worrying about the day ahead, you use that time to create a sacred intention for yourself. This intention could be anything your own genius can create like; sending gratitude to your teeth, or, any other body part for how wonderfully it’s working for you. You might want to focus on a relationship you are in, and spend your teeth brushing moments clearing and releasing any stagnant energy there, then showering that person with forgiveness. Speaking of showering, I could list another 15 ideas for sacred practice to do in your bath or shower. In fact, I’ve created some free downloadable cards, Making Simple Moments Sacred, you are welcome to use until you get your own ideas flowing.
In my own experience, and that of my clients, the result of layering your intention and your love into moments throughout your day is that gradually you really want to weave more and more of these moments into your day—simply because it brings you so much joy. You begin to naturally maintain your equanimity. You tend to notice when you’re under stress, before you need the oxygen mask, therefore course correcting is easier. As you open to your power to choose to practice daily spiritual hygiene, and move with more ease in the world, you also open to claiming more time for your sacred self care—because you are definitely worth it.
Bio: Christine Pensa is the face behind Art That Moves, where Ceremony is practiced as ART. Journeying with Christine is an invitation to make sacred your art of daily living through co-created ritual, bespoke ceremony, creative and shamanic practice. Christine holds the space for the masterpiece of you to thrive by helping you align with the sovereign divine feminine voice that wants to be expressed through you and as you. In addition to being a visual artist, Christine is a trained Shamanic Practitioner, a Creative Way Shower, and a Creatively Fit Certified Coach, who weaves the wisdom of ancient practice into your embodied modern life. Christine is also the co-creator, and illustrator of the Soul Discovery Coloring Book published by Conari Press, as well as the co-host of the weekly podcast, Awakened Woman Self Care. (www.artthatmoves.ca)
