I travel—a lot.

Last year alone, I traveled every other month and as a creature of habit, Taurus-Moon, I-like-my-morning-routine yogini, nothing feeds my creative drive and simultaneously takes me away from my center more than being in a new space.

Between the hotel rooms and airports and the different work sites I was at, it became incredibly apparent to me that I needed to have a spiritual ritual that I could take with me on the road if I was going to keep my sanity intact.

It’s hard to show up to a speaking gig talking about things like Angels, meditation and self-care while running on no sleep because of a missed connecting flight.

I needed something that would fit in an overhead bin and be so ridiculously easy to follow that it wouldn’t end up on my to-do list.

In a nutshell, these three simple rituals became my saving grace.

When I did them, I felt alive and energized by the new place I was at.

When I didn’t do them, I felt exhausted and scattered.

Ritual #1: Pack one object to call your “sacred space.”

I have several altars in my home that I go to to rejuvenate and find new inspiration from.

Some are elaborate with statues and candles and specific crystals.

Others are simply a table with space.

I found that if I just took one simple object from any of my altars and literally said aloud, “I am now programming you with the energy of my sacred space” I instantly felt more calm and peaceful.

The objects varied depending on my trip, but a few things I used included: a crystal, a tea light, a fabric lotus flower and one time I even used a particularly fun purple pen as my sacred space.

Just holding it for a few minutes a day and especially when I felt my anxiety creep up did the trick.

Ritual #2: Choose your word-of-the-day.

Literally as soon as I opened my eyes and asked, “What’s a word that encapsulates how I intend to move through today?” something would come.

Calm.

Love.

Confidence.

Joy.

I just picked one.

And whenever I found myself ungrounded, I asked, “What would help me feel joy/calm/love right now?”

It centered me immediately and it also made it super easy to know what to say yes to and what to say no to during my various trips.

I did this every day—sometimes the word was the same and other times it was different.

But taking this first waking moment to pick my word helped me set the tone and energy for the rest of that day. I felt more in control, even when I didn’t know where the heck I was going or what train to get off on.

Ritual #3: Muse in the Morning.

I’ve kept a journal since I was little. Nothing brings me more grounding than starting my morning off with stream of consciousness writing.

I aim for three pages because I have Mercury in Virgo and I like to be consistent, but even one page of releasing my thoughts frees up so much creative and mental space. I find solutions to problems that stumped me. I find liberation from the crazy monkey-mind worries in my head. They all have a voice on that page.

So, even if I had to write my daily musing on a napkin, writing at least a page a day without looking back at what I write always brings me back to myself.

With these three rituals, I feel confident that wherever I go next, I’ll have an anchor to access “home.”

And really, isn’t that what traveling is all about?

Experiencing yourself fully in a new space but holding on to what makes you come alive?

Relephant: 

3 Weird but Effective Yogic Morning Rituals.

Author: Diana Dorell

Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: Author’s Own