Flow 03 - Inviting in Stability

Wellness culture has been thrown right in our faces more and more as social media has become a part of our everyday lives, but what really is wellness? The media has taken the desire for self-improvement and turned it into a trend, and with that comes a vast amount of misinformation, false advertising, and generally useless products. Wellness is not just one thing; it can’t be sold, taken as a class, or found instantaneously. If you’ve ever been interested in figuring out how to connect with and understand your own healing and wellness journey, Flow may be of assistance. Flow is my collection on holistic healing and how it works into my everyday life. In this collection, I will be looking into the psychology of wellness culture, where different practices and habits come from, my own personal outlook and opinions on how things have impacted my life, and other topics related to what wellbeing shows up as in today's world.

It’s no secret that each and every day contains unpredictability, and, most simply put, that can be jarring. More often than not, it is unsettling—it invites unwanted and unplanned anxiety, chaos, stress, and any other discordant feeling into your day. It’s evident that there is nothing we can do to control the future, so one of the most useful things we can invite into our everyday lives is things that do create stability. Stability can very obviously be created in different ways, and not all ways will work depending on your own set of emotional needs, but I find one of the most gratifying ways to be through ritual. The word ritual tends to evoke a ceremonial sensation, and that’s fair, as we have been relying on rituals for both large and small parts of the human experience throughout our history. Just because the word is heavily associated with the concept of ceremony, it doesn’t mean rituals can’t fall into your everyday life.

Culture, transition, and routine are three of the most commonly seen uses of ritual in our everyday lives. The concept of carrying something over a period of time gives it both meaning and function, which are given intention by you. Transitional rituals are known as “Rites of Passage”, which is a term created by a French ethnographer, Arnold Van Gennep, and was popularized by Victor Turner, an American anthropologist. These rituals are known as ones that move a participant from one state to another, such as a child to adult or student to graduate. These were described by Turner as separations, usually within social roles. Cultural rituals can overlap with transitional ones, and there are still many others that are unique to varying ethnicities, countries, and genders. Holidays are actually rituals; they are repeated to celebrate or emphasize a part of a certain culture. Routines are the most prosaic examples of rituals. They sneak into your everyday life: you brush your teeth, you pick out your outfit, and you move on with your day. A ritual can be that simple.

How do rituals actually improve your mental health, though? Rituals affect your brain and your body in three unique ways. Calm: they help to quiet your brain's threat-detecting system, specifically with your amygdala. When this system is composed, we tend to feel more grounded. This is why repeating specific actions and creating routines helps with the volatility found in our everyday lives. Clarity and predictability activate parts of the prefrontal cortex that involve planning. This helps with managing tasks and decision-making. Connection: bonding chemicals such as oxytocin and endogenous opioids are released when people move or speak in sync. This makes many social interactions feel less daunting, as it tends to feel trustworthy. Familiarity is comfortable. Routines can help minimize the countless and seemingly endless volatilities that cross our paths.

Inviting rituals into our lives may seem like an intimidating idea, as the word can carry an “exotic” connotation. It can be a very simple process, and you more likely than not already have several rituals incorporated into your day-to-day, so first try to recognize them for what they are. Observing the parts of your day that are often stressful or scattered is a sensible first step. You can think of ways to invite stability into these moments. What is making this moment so difficult? Sometimes sitting with a moment is all it needs to develop a solution. Experimenting is what follows the observation; try different things. It can be something small; in fact, it might be better if it is. Choosing something small enough to be consistent can help acclimate the concept. Reflection is the next step: see if this habit has improved anything, see if it's manageable, see if it comes naturally to you, and then adjust if necessary. Finding patterns that work for you and genuinely make you feel better is essential to making them last and actually be beneficial. Much like most wellness concepts, it’s personal.

Throughout my time in my wellness journey, I have tried a lot of things, and I’ve found that the things I’m most consistent with are the things that have actually benefited my life. If I said that I was absolutely perfect with my routines, I'd be lying; there are days where I forget a part or two, and there are days where I can’t find the motivation to finish a step of my routine. I’ve learned to give myself grace with this, and most, if not all, of my daily rituals are very forgiving. The process isn’t always going to be perfect, and that’s okay. Consistency over perfection is something I can not stress enough when it comes to routine building. Showing up for yourself and actively making an effort are two things that should not be overlooked when it comes to evaluating your habits. I love the rituals that I’ve invited into my life. I informally start and end my days with yoga; I make tea in the evening before I do my skincare; I walk after I wake up to clear my mind. These are practices that genuinely improve my days; it’s time I’m setting aside for myself, and I value that.

Lcsw, R. J. L. P. M. (2020, May 19). Marking life events in a socially distant world. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anthropology-in-mind/202005/the-importance-of-ritual

Le Cunff, A.-L. (2025, December 10). Why your brain needs everyday rituals. Big Think. Retrieved September 4, 2026, from https://bigthink.com/smart-skills/why-your-brain-needs-everyday-rituals/