pbk1

What are rituals you've constructed to: deal with situations in your life? create motivation? *derive meaning from the world around you?

And why?

Couple examples: (1) When I get anxious, I fill a large bowl with ice and water then submerge my face (including nostrils!) for 30sec, usually 2x. This ritual gives me confidence to break out of an anxious thought or action loop. It also has a biological backing - flooding the nostrils with cold water activates what's called the dive response, which dampens your emotions. (2) If I've been having difficulty sleeping for the past couple days, I'll start a sleep ritual where I write CBT-I entries rationalizing my difficulty sleeping, followed by listening to body meditation scans to help relax any tension in my body before I sleep.