Are routines a backbone to our day?

We all have some kind of a routine. Some of these are helpful and supportive of our health and vitality, some unhelpful, to the extent of being harmful. On a path of conscious living and working many of us strive towards more helpful, more live giving routines. I explore ways to attain this below.

What is a routine?

Routines are sets of behaviours that follow a sequence and may be to limited to time of the day, night, week and situation (home, work, family)… This may look like a cup of tea on rising followed by a shower, breakfast, brushing teeth before leaving for work.

Routines can be helpful as they:

• provide a structure to our day, week, month… remember, structures give us a sense of safety. Structure is a boundary of a kind, they provide us with parameters within which we can operate with a degree of predictability and expectation of what may happen. Our nervous systems likes that. Without a structure or parameter of this kind, there is nothing for us to bounce off and we may become disorientated feeling confused or ‘lost’ even.

• provide a repetitive set of behaviours. Repetitions create a rhythm and these act like a soothing, calming balm to our nervous systems.

• save us time and headspace, conserve our energy as we don’t have to suss out what to do next. This may be particular true when we don’t have commitments and attachments to external demands such as places to be, appointments to attend etc. The issue is greater when we give ourselves too much choice. This may be the case for those of us who are self employed, stay at home mums. In such situations it can feel like we are ‘reinvention’ something that a routine would give outright.

• they can also be super supportive of our body clock and bodily functions, such as timely bowel opening, sleep etc.

• can help us instil helpful habits around work or other important areas of life

• help us transition between work, family life, play, self care, sleep activities more effectively

  Disadvantages of having a routine:

• Routine can feel rigid and interrupt flow and creativity, particularly when this has its own rhythm or cycle (menstrual cycle, seasons etc.)

• Routines can feel like RULES. Routine often come about to help us function at the level that allows us to fit in with those of systems around us: family units, schools, work places... This can feel like a pressure, it can feel like a restriction, depravation of freedom. We may feel trapped, oppressed or stuck. There may be an innate urge to escape and these can result in avoidance, delaying, procrastinating. We may even describe ourselves as rebels, warriors or fighters. Others may see us as awkward, brave, suborn, defiant or stuck. I see these patterns as survival patterns that we have established when we had to follow a routine imposed to us by a rigid, overpowering, non negotiating authority of some kind during our childhood and which we now project on routines and time restrictions.

Things we can do to establish helpful routines:

Juggling with routines can create a lot of inner conflict. When working with my clients I may support them by helping them consider the following questions:

• Is you routine helpful or unhelpful?

• Is you routine still relevant and appropriate?

• Note any ‘disruptions’ to your helpful routine/s ie weekends, holiday, periods of sickness…. reinstate the routine/s as soon as you can.

• Connect to the values to create roots that can attach themselves to something solid. You may need to redefine your perception of ‘freedom’ here.

• Approach routines with ‘consent’. You will find that in most situations no one is making you do anything. Drop the fight. Do what is helpful for you. Keep brining yourself to a place of choice.

• Observe your language: ‘just a minute’, ‘I’ll just finish this…’. Who are you fooling?. Try this: ‘This was great, I now choose to…. ‘ to reinforce your consent, your sense of choice and freedom.

• Attend to the inner fight. I teach my clients to look at different parts of self that come into play here.

• Visualise yourself following the routine in your minds eye.

• Set alarm clock to remind you what you are doing when. Label your alarm with the task.

• Break down the routine into sequence of actions as a way to help you remember and connect with the process.

• Vary your routines according to menstrual or creative cycles, travel commitments or similar.

• Note distractions that interrupt your routine: phone, tendency to hyper focusing, addictive tendencies will take you away from the flow.

• Create a routine that matches your pace.

• Practice Mindfulness.

Homeopathy and routines

When we are chaotic, overburdened, disconnected from time or space, homeopathy can be of great help in helping us establish a routine. Here is a flavour of some homeopathic remedies:

1. Helium has a feeling boundless.. the sensation is ‘I am floating’. One of my clients who benefited from this remedy felt as she was lifting away from the earth towards the sky. There was a disconnect the ‘earthy’ matters including timing, there were many sensory issues as well. The remedy helped her feel more grounded and able to connect to daily routines. This enabled her to function better, to be more productive.

2. If we consider those that experience routines as if imposed by someone else, we entertain the rubric: ‘Mind, Authority, refusal to accept some one’s’ which presents some more ‘anarchist’ remedies: Apeira syringari (Lilac beauty butterfly), Capsicum, Causticum, Medorrhinum, Plumbum, Tarantula, among many others. It’s not surprising to see some insect remedies here: the Lilac beauty butterfly and Tarantula. Insects in homoeopathy are know for restlessness and if you are restless sticking to routine may be a challenge. Here, we’d exclude remedies such as Apis - remedy made from a bee. they are as well as being industrious and purposeful, they obey order. There is always a POLARITY in these qualities (and with that remedies).

Over to you:

Do you have a helpful routine?

Does this evolve around your work? Day, week? You cycle?