Christmas has always been a family celebration for me and though I´ve been more of a fan of Easter than Christmas because I´m more into spring than winter, the older I get the more I enjoy Christmas. So much for getting sentimental with age, ahem.
Christmas has also changed in these last years due to our family becoming more extended and me having a baby-niece… Well she´s almost 2 years now and I have been reading the same few books to her at least 5 times in a row and/or in consecutive days since I´m at my parents´place. That´s something that at the same time challenges and amazes me. She is already pretty good in her speech and language development and yet she doesn´t get bored of the same old story being repeated. It´s not that there weren´t more books to choose from, but she always picks the same ones (my parents and my brother confirmed…).
I think it´s amazing because it is the antidote to the dopamin-craving behaviour of youths and adults who are contantly on the lookout for new stimulation and have more and more trouble enduring the reading of a book (or anything much longer than an Instagram post). I mean I get that for a small child the world is full of wonder and new stimuli and there´s already a lot that the brain has to process. Nevertheless her shouting “Once more!” enthusiastically after I´ve finished the story (or after a round of hide-and-seek that always follows the same pattern) is an inspiration and a reminder for me that there is beauty in repetition and in rituals.
For me personally that´s not so much in the reading of a “Pixi-Book” anymore but in my regular (movement and meditation) practice. Repetition + presence is a way to go deeper and discover something new in the seemingly familiar or to discover it in greater detail, bring more refinement to the things we do.
And believe me: I`m curious by nature so I´m interested in exploring and learning new things, too (though, I have to confess, I was never that interested in trends or rather have deliberately resisted them for most of my life… same goes for technology, I´m definitely no early-adopter).
However, I´ve found a lot of joy and satisfaction in my regular Non-Linear Movement practice and my body is craving it when I have neglected this practice for a few days. I do not have to force myself onto the mat anymore I´m more like surrendering myself to it, indulging in it. Really.
Also most mornings in my regular environment I´m sitting in silence (with alternating meditation practices) at least for a few minutes before I start my day. I grew up with Catholic traditions and one thing I liked most in church was the striking of the gong and the chiming of the little bells which the altar boys were repeating in each Mass. I´m still a big fan of bells. I love the little bells on the Easter bunnies of a certain chocolate brand, I´ve a few bells from the fleamarket that used to sound around goats´ and sheep´s necks, I have a small Nepalese bell that my boyfriend gifted me and I also got two singing bowls.
To strike the singing bowl before I enter my sitting ritual and when I end it, to listen to the sound unfolding, to feel it vibrating, that´s always a little magical for me, even though it´s something incredibly simple.
I´ve tried many different meditation practices while recovering from some anxiety around 10 years ago. In that process I discovered that I love mantras. They had such a soothing effect on my body and brain even though the language was foreign. I´ve at least learned to read Sanskrit/Devanagari to be able to pronounce the sutras included in “The Radiance Sutras” by Lorin Roche (a very poetic, embodied interpretation of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra) more or less correctly. That reminds me: I should practice to read it again… it has been a while… (and while I can read/pronounce some of it, I can´t understand or translate it, don´t be silly!)
So, what is it I wanted to say? Oh yes, I love sound, including mantra and also in mantra singing repetition is an important aspect to practice focus, quiet the thoughts and find more inner calm. That brings me back to Bavaria, my family and Christmas.
My little niece loves music, she loves to dance, she loves listening to others singing, she loves to sing herself (like most kids probably). After some time my mum realized that of all the children´s songs she remembered she always only knew the first verse… So she ordered a book with children songs to be able to sing to my niece in a bit more variety (the question is, does that variety matter to her so much at that point…? ; ) … it certainly matters to my mum when singing though).
When the book was laying on the quilt where I was sitting with my niece some days ago, I was browsing through it to see which songs I would still remember. And I started to sing some of them to my niece, too. Little did I know how much joy that would spark in me and how soothing it felt for myself.
Even though the verses have some variation text-wise, the melody of course repeats and also a big part of many of the songs´ lyrics. It wasn´t so much the lyrics anyway but rather the melody that, in its repetition, felt quite relaxing to me. I also joined my mum´s singing for a bit and I have to confess that I thought what a gift that was for all of us: My niece attentively listening, my mum and me enjoying the singing. Call me pathetic (or nostalgic) but it felt a bit ancient, in a good way (anciently social).
Like the benefits of meditation or ritual, the benefits of singing are scientifically proven, too (it can help to lower stress levels and overall give us a sense of calm and happiness) and I definitely should sing more often and make that a ritual, too.
To me, in a time where all of us are so distracted and stressed by the constant noise that surrounds us, I value more and more the quiet, moments of analogue ritual/s.
And this text serves no other reason than to invite you to ponder about the rituals in your life and how you are benefitting from them. Or what rituals you would like to bring back?
Maybe it´s not always novelty we need, maybe it´s not always necessary to go higher, faster, further. Maybe some of the magic and awe, some discoveries are to be found in going deeper, in becoming more familiar with something through repetition and presence.
I hope that this is not only an ancient wish or fantasy but one with a contemporary dimension still. I dare say it´s definitely a suitable one for the poet within us ; )
Wishing you some relaxed, joyful Christmas Days and a beautiful, slow start into the new year!
Chrischa
I am Chrischa: Artist, Poet and Embodiment coach. I work at the intersection of Creativity, Embodiment (practices that work with and foster the body-mind-connection) and inner transformation.
Through my classes, workshops and 1:1 coaching, I help women to feel more at home in their body, more connected and alive, to give space to their creativity and to dare to be and express themselves in all their wonderful facets.
https://chrischavenus.de
The website is in German but I´ve offers for English speakers, too.
Just get in touch, I´d love to hear from you!
I´m also creating artist/poetry publications that you can find and purchase here
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