Our Philosophy
Our work and the content we choose to include in our Rituals for Wellbeing Library are guided by the following principles:
Interdependent
We believe the individual cannot thrive in isolation from the wider community and environment. Humans flourish when they have strong relationships, feel a sense of community, and live in a thriving natural environment. Given our interdependence, self care is community care, and community care is self care.
Honoring
We see Rituals for Wellbeing as a way to both share modern practices and to celebrate and support the continuation of long-standing traditions. Ancestral and cultural traditions shared in the Ritual Library will never be monetized, and we will do our best to ensure that they are accurately and appropriately represented.
Universal
The Rituals for Wellbeing Library includes habits, practices and rituals that foster what we believe to be universally positive experiences, like love, compassion, connection, meaning, and joy. We aim to share secular practices that may be useful to people of all beliefs, including those who do not practice religion.
Wholistic
We believe in replacing the drive for self-optimization with the acceptance of our whole human-ness-- including moments of anger, anxiety, paralysis, and sadness that may be appropriate reactions to life’s challenges. Wellbeing does not require nor aspire to a goal of 100% elimination of uncomfortable emotions.
Science-based
We acknowledge that our current understanding of the universe is limited and that practices once considered new age or alternative (like meditation and yoga) have come to be understood and supported by science. We have chosen to include only those practices that can be supported by what science can currently explain.
Making the Most of Ritual
To reap the most benefit from practices in the Rituals for Wellbeing Library, ritual should be approached with the following guidelines in mind:
Action-Oriented
Putting “do laundry” on your to-do list is not the same as doing laundry. Reading a book about mountain climbing is not the same as climbing a mountain. To experience the benefits of these practices, you have to do them. Habits, practices and rituals are actions that are intended to be put to use in whatever way feels most fitting for you.
Habitual
One drop of water does not make a river. We are most impacted by those practices which become habits in our lives, just as a steady stream of water down the side of a mountain will eventually carve an effortlessly flowing river bed. Rituals are intended to be repeated. Habits are meant to become automatic.
Intentional
The way that you do something matters more than what you do. Everyday actions like drinking a cup of tea or taking a walk in the morning can become a ritual if done with intention and awareness. To reap the benefits of the practices in this library, we recommend setting an intention and capturing its spirit as you perform the practice.
Personalized
We hope and expect users of this collection to adapt practices to fit their own needs and desires. Information is provided for inspiration, but the content is intended to be personalized. Take what is useful to you, leave what is not.