How to seek balance in your life?

[Wildchildx11]

What are some relatively simple rituals that I can do and incorporate into my life and routine to help promote balance. I seem to have the tendency to go towards extremes and I think incorporating some simple rituals into my daily routine that help promote balance between two extremes, will help me get into that mindset.

I'm good with working with and dealing with extremes, what I need to work on is balancing them and incorporating them together and working with a more balanced mind. Maybe I'm sick of living in extremes, black and white, good and evil, light and dark, positive and negative. Things are way more complex than that.

I'm looking for simple rituals, meditations, things to incorporate into my day to day life which don't use a lot of preparation that take a few minutes or so, and bonus points if they are targeting balancing extremes. I need to incorporate balance into my day to day life.

 

[KjEno186]

I recommend The Sphere of Protection, which is the primary balancing/banishing ritual of the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose. The FHR documents are free and easily found online. They contain the instructions for the SoP. The FHR was prepared by Druid John Michael Greer based on work by his late mentor John Gilbert. It is highly adaptable to your belief system, so one may call upon the deities of one's choice. The SoP and basic meditation form the core of my daily practice through balance of Mind, Will, Heart, and Body.

Edited to add that the daily SoP takes only about ten minutes once one has memorized the entire ritual. Anyone can spare ten minutes for a ritual, and another ten minutes for meditation.

 

[Wildchildx11]

I recommend The Sphere of Protection, which is the primary balancing/banishing ritual of the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose. The FHR documents are free and easily found online. They contain the instructions for the SoP. The FHR was prepared by Druid John Michael Greer based on work by his late mentor John Gilbert. It is highly adaptable to your belief system, so one may call upon the deities of one's choice. The SoP and basic meditation form the core of my daily practice through balance of Mind, Will, Heart, and Body.

Edited to add that the daily SoP takes only about ten minutes once one has memorized the entire ritual. Anyone can spare ten minutes for a ritual, and another ten minutes for meditation.

Cool, one accomodation I'm going to make is add some deities associated with light and some deities associated with dark. I think I can just use the God name of Kether for the sky God, and probably Gaia for the Mother Goddess. I don't have much experience with Hellenistic religion but those are already opposites.

Thank you!

 

[IllusiveOwl]

This may sound simple, but that is because balance is, in itself, simple. A rock balanced on another does not move, because of this its balance is superb. For bringing balance into your life, I recommend more than anything to practice Zazen.

Zazen translates to "Just sitting". It is sitting without a goal, without intention or meditation object. Just sit. Stop your spiraling thought patterns, your desires, fears, goals. Take five minutes and just sit. Breathe.

That is it. Do not chase or silence thoughts, just sit for five minutes and if you practice this regularly, these five minutes of practice will be your favorite five minutes of the day.

 

[Taudefindi]

relatively simple rituals that I can do and incorporate into my life and routine to help promote balance

The easiest of all is also the most mundane, but one that might be difficult to do even so.
That is to set specific time or time periods through your day for different things.

For example: You will have lunch at 1200, you will have a break to eat and rest at 1630, you will sleep at 2100, etc.
If you have a timed lifestyle you can gradually start building some semblance of a routine and that can help you balance your life a little.

Other easy ones are: "I will drink one bottle/1L of water per day", "Everyday I will do at least ten push-ups", "Before I leave my house I will check all doors and windows are closed and I will pat myself to see I have the keys and cellphone".
Stuff like that that sounds simple but still takes some mindfulness in doing.

Aside the mundane stuff you could try to do some breathwork(we got books about it on the library) to learn to regulate yourself when emotions run high.Maybe use a mantra(and keep repeating it until you can focus or you calm yourself).

 

[Wildchildx11]

The easiest of all is also the most mundane, but one that might be difficult to do even so.
That is to set specific time or time periods through your day for different things.

For example: You will have lunch at 1200, you will have a break to eat and rest at 1630, you will sleep at 2100, etc.
If you have a timed lifestyle you can gradually start building some semblance of a routine and that can help you balance your life a little.

Other easy ones are: "I will drink one bottle/1L of water per day", "Everyday I will do at least ten push-ups", "Before I leave my house I will check all doors and windows are closed and I will pat myself to see I have the keys and cellphone".
Stuff like that that sounds simple but still takes some mindfulness in doing.

Aside the mundane stuff you could try to do some breathwork(we got books about it on the library) to learn to regulate yourself when emotions run high.Maybe use a mantra(and keep repeating it until you can focus or you calm yourself).

I've actually been going to bed early and waking up at 6am-7am, it does help.

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

What are some relatively simple rituals that I can do and incorporate into my life and routine to help promote balance. I seem to have the tendency to go towards extremes and I think incorporating some simple rituals into my daily routine that help promote balance between two extremes, will help me get into that mindset.

I'm good with working with and dealing with extremes, what I need to work on is balancing them and incorporating them together and working with a more balanced mind. Maybe I'm sick of living in extremes, black and white, good and evil, light and dark, positive and negative. Things are way more complex than that.

I'm looking for simple rituals, meditations, things to incorporate into my day to day life which don't use a lot of preparation that take a few minutes or so, and bonus points if they are targeting balancing extremes. I need to incorporate balance into my day to day life.

Perhaps for a year, do nothing magical except a Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, twice daily.
Then add Middle Pillar Ritual, LBRH, or whatnot.

 

[Wildchildx11]

Perhaps for a year, do nothing magical except a Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, twice daily.
Then add Middle Pillar Ritual, LBRH, or whatnot.

I'm not patient enough to go a whole year. At least I'm not making excuses. I should probably because I'm not, but who actually gets on the path and can go a whole year without dipping their toes into other rituals?

I can do a month or two, I like working with energy and experiencing the effects, and I'm going to need to do Magick for employment. My path seems to be working as it is. I just arranged a tour for an $800 a month 2-bedroom apartment in Madison where it's $1100 for a studio apartment, and I feel I'm less blocked than I was when I was homeless.

 

[Xenophon]

I'm not patient enough to go a whole year. At least I'm not making excuses. I should probably because I'm not, but who actually gets on the path and can go a whole year without dipping their toes into other rituals?

I can do a month or two, I like working with energy and experiencing the effects, and I'm going to need to do Magick for employment. My path seems to be working as it is. I just arranged a tour for an $800 a month 2-bedroom apartment in Madison where it's $1100 for a studio apartment, and I feel I'm less blocked than I was when I was homeless.

Better to say, "I am not yet patient enough to go a whole year." Magick, like all skills, is about progress. It's not about simply "being" this or that. It's like a mile run. For a spell you run a mile to the mountain. Then you work up to a mile to the mountain and a mile up the mountain. Eventually, your "mile run" is a mile to, up, down, and back.

For all it represents a deplorable tradition, Regardie's "One Year Manual" is excellent for its programmatic timetable. Without any real strain, you are forced to answer the question, "Am I gonna do magick, or just chat about it?"

 

[HoldAll]

I'd say scrap the occult stuff altogether and opt for real-life grounding instead. Without being firmly grounded, doing Shadow work or balancing 'light and dark energies' quickly becomes a never-ending chore where you first emphasize one side, then stress the other in order to offset any resulting excesses, only to have that shaky precious equilibrium upset by a minor real-life event and be back on square on.

You said it yourself, you're sick of living in extremes, and that's were grounding comes in because everyone knows that in real life things are rarely unambiguously black and white. Some occult ritual would only reinforce that artificial polarity, esp. when you use symbolic contentd like gods or the Qabalah that represent pure, unchanging and eternal concepts. Better do your grocery shopping, go for a walk if you live in a safe area, do the dishes, have a nap, cook yourself a meal (or learn how to) if you have the facilities, and establish a boring but wholesome routine you can cling to whenever mania comes calling, clamouring for chaotic excitement and ecstatic pleasure (easy for me to say now that I'm on heavy lithium doses myself), anything that helps to remind you that many problems can be solved by common sense and mundane efforts without having to resort to the occult.

 

[ByAMountainOfBooks]

I'd say scrap the occult stuff altogether and opt for real-life grounding instead. Without being firmly grounded, doing Shadow work or balancing 'light and dark energies' quickly becomes a never-ending chore where you first emphasize one side, then stress the other in order to offset any resulting excesses, only to have that shaky precious equilibrium upset by a minor real-life event and be back on square on.

You said it yourself, you're sick of living in extremes, and that's were grounding comes in because everyone knows that in real life things are rarely unambiguously black and white. Some occult ritual would only reinforce that artificial polarity, esp. when you use symbolic contentd like gods or the Qabalah that represent pure, unchanging and eternal concepts. Better do your grocery shopping, go for a walk if you live in a safe area, do the dishes, have a nap, cook yourself a meal (or learn how to) if you have the facilities, and establish a boring but wholesome routine you can cling to whenever mania comes calling, clamouring for chaotic excitement and ecstatic pleasure (easy for me to say now that I'm on heavy lithium doses myself), anything that helps to remind you that many problems can be solved by common sense and mundane efforts without having to resort to the occult.

Agreed.

I think bringing order to your daily and mundane life is fundamental in the pursuit of balance, and can bring lots of mental and physical benefits. Personally I think Sowa Rigpa (traditional tibetan medicine) is a great start. It works basically like Ayurveda but in my opinion is more suitable to magic practitioners as Sowa Rigpa and Vajrayana (tantric buddhism) are so intertwined. It works, however, like Ayurveda. You find out, what energies (the elements: wind, fire, earth and water) are dominant in you and you balance them by lifestyle (and spiritual therapies) to bring about balance in body and mind. Spoiler: The essence of both is having regular sleeping and eating times, a day time job, eating well, doing exercise, spending time in nature, cooking, eating, sleeping and spending time with friends and time alone.

 

[Wildchildx11]

Agreed.

I think bringing order to your daily and mundane life is fundamental in the pursuit of balance, and can bring lots of mental and physical benefits. Personally I think Sowa Rigpa (traditional tibetan medicine) is a great start. It works basically like Ayurveda but in my opinion is more suitable to magic practitioners as Sowa Rigpa and Vajrayana (tantric buddhism) are so intertwined. It works, however, like Ayurveda. You find out, what energies (the elements: wind, fire, earth and water) are dominant in you and you balance them by lifestyle (and spiritual therapies) to bring about balance in body and mind. Spoiler: The essence of both is having regular sleeping and eating times, a day time job, eating well, doing exercise, spending time in nature, cooking, eating, sleeping and spending time with friends and time alone.

Air is definately the most imbalanced, I'm so attuned to the mental plane that I have a hard time working on the material. It's hard for people to understand the concept of "living life inside your own head" it's like I'm constantly in a meditative state.

I would say definately Air and some aspects of Fire are the most imbalanced. I can come up with ideas, but actually putting them in place are really hard because I believe the meaning of life is to develop spirituality and therefore I focus a ton on the spiritual.I didn't say water because I'm not a very emotional person, a lot of the time, but I consider myself to be intuitive.

I've been trying to set and do at least one thing a day in regards to the material realm that I have to do.

Working on getting a part time job next. Disabled, I'm a student though. I can't really balance work and school without getting burned out.