Daily rituals can loosen anxiety’s grip on our lives.
The cardinal by my window knows it.
Every summer morning, cardinals sing a melody before starting the day.
What a great ritual for good mental health!
- Sing
- Plan
- Build
See how three rituals bring peace to every day.
Rituals Reduce Anxiety Through Purpose
Steve Jobs spoke often about his morning ritual.
He knew he was on the right track by answering one question.
Looking in the mirror, he’d lock eyes and reflect.
“If today were the last day of my life, would I be happy with what I’m about to do today?”
— Steve Jobs
If he thought, “no,” several days in a row, he’d change.
Rituals Reduce Anxiety Through Faith
Nothing starts the day like a glorious sip of coffee.
Add meditation, and you add ritual to the sips.
For me, it’s coffee and one verse.
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.” Lam 3:22-23
Doesn’t matter if the ritual is song, meditation, or silence, only that you do it consistently.
Coffee is a routine, but a pause is a ritual.
The difference?
Rituals are something we do with a higher purpose in mind.
Rituals Reduce Anxiety Through Rest
My energy hits a brick wall after lunch.
The 2 PM siesta brings me back.
Doesn’t matter if I’m . . .
- in the office
- out of town
- at a convention
I set aside fifteen minutes to lie down and relax.
This brief indulgence is a stop sign for worries.
Naps don’t work? Do your own reset.
Readers tell me a great formula is…
- a little pleasure like coffee or reading
- a little bit of prioritizing
- a little bit of exercise, like walking
Rituals Reduce Anxiety Through Friendships
A big part of staying out of the weeds is choir support.
Maria Sirois, an advocate of Positive Psychology, thinks everyone should join a choir, folks who sing with you.
It doesn’t have to be a big choir.
Just dependable folks who know and care about you.
Great choirs work in . . .
- breakfast groups
- lunch groups
- supper groups
“While friendship has been by far the chief source of my happiness, acquaintance or general society has always meant little to me, and I cannot quite understand why a man should wish to know more people than he can make real friends of.”
— C. S. Lewis
Is someone in your choir singing out of tune?
Thin the choir.
With coffee in the morning, rest along the way, and my faithful choir of friends beside me, anxiety fades into the background noise.
In these small daily rhythms, anxiety loosens its grip.
What are your favorite rituals?
Stories like this are part of the reflections I write about life, resilience, and purpose explored on my About Stephen Blaising page.
Coffee. Quiet water. Four miles per hour.