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Create Your Own Book of Hours

What is a Book of Hours? Traditionally they were miniature books, that could fit in a pocket, which were filled with[caption id="attachment_26332" align="aligncenter" width="200"]

Photo Credit: @ispydiy via Instagram[/caption][caption id="attachment_26333" align="aligncenter" width="200"]

Photo Credit: @suivez_le_fil via Instagram[/caption]The third and last brilliant piece of strategy our ancestors designed for us, is the practice of memorizing poems or songs, or beautiful words in any form. Some of us learned prayers or poems as children, that still resonate today. Maybe we have a favorite song, that always cheers us up. Perhaps it is a special message or quote, that is just very helpful.When you are worried and anxious, it can be hard to ignore the internal monologue of negative thinking that tends to arise. Maybe it happens when we are bored and there is nothing going on - maybe late at night or early in the morning. It can be helpful at times like these to have a few phrases, poems, lines of a song, maybe a familiar prayer or mantra, which we can repeat silently or out loud, to distract from negativity and re-set with creativity and positivity.If you do not have a mantra already, keep a small notebook handy (or you can use your phone! or a folded up piece of paper) where you can collect bits and pieces, words and phrases that have special meaning for you. Keep this notebook with you when you are sitting at home, or running errands, or taking the dog for a walk. Maybe look online for poems you half-remember, and then copy them into your notebook.Make a point to go to the notebook three times a day (maybe at mealtimes?) and read some of the special words you have collected. You can read them more often if you like. It can be especially helpful to tie it in to something you already do ~ like eating ~ so that you remember to do it.After a couple of days, try to remember some of the selections by heart - maybe in the dark before you go to sleep - or early in the morning as the sun is rising - and you might be surprised how much has stuck with you! Of course we can keep using the notebook, for reference and for collecting more word-treasures...but more importantly, we are furnishing our minds with beautiful thoughts, and repeating them to drown out negativity and replace it with deep calm.This way, with very simple materials, we can create a practice and form a habit of dipping into our spiritual center, for strength and renewal, throughout the day. While for some people this is already a habit, many of us are re-creating our own practice as we adapt to new routines and structures (or lack thereof!). Let's be sure to take extra care to feed our spirits, and nourish our souls with beautiful words, for the health of our minds, bodies, and hearts.We all thrive with a structure ~ whether it is the internal structure of our skeleton, the psychic structures of our mental formations, or the external structure of a routine. When creating a new routine, you may draw on these three steps to seed moments of peace and grounding throughout your day:1. Create a meditation scheduleLooking to history we see many examples where cultures around the world have used prayer and meditation not just for comfort, but as a structure for ordering their days and creating natural divisions from morning to night. Some religions have specific hours for prayer (In Catholic/ Christian monastic traditions: Prime ~ 6am, Terce ~ 9am, Sext ~ 12 noon, None ~ 3pm...) and in others, prayers are related to the sun (In Islamic traditions: pre-dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset and night). Whatever your practice may be, consider setting specific times throughout the entire day toiene with a meditative practice ~ act with love, not fear!This is a way of self-regulating, and offers moments throughout the day to re-ground and re-center. The second aspect of this is the practice of Ablutions - traditionally, the ritual washing of hands, feet, face before prayer. This can be seen as a metaphorical cleansing, in preparation for communing with the higher Self or Source. But it is also a piece of encoded wisdom from our ancestors, about the importance of hygiene and cleanliness for the physical body. Instead of washing from fear, it is an act of love ~ towards' ones Self, towards ones family and friends and larger community, and in relation to ones personal spiritual life.