Redefining Ritual

My personal morning ritual usually consists of waking up, brushing my teeth and tongue scraping, drinking water, making my bed, and sitting at my altar to do my morning practice, which is usually a blend of kundalini and meditation. Afterwards, I brew tea and set my timer for 11 minutes to free-write in my journal, or as I like to call it, the "subconscious purge." If I'm able to fully complete my morning ritual it usually takes about an hour, and on the days (which are often) when I don't have time to complete it all, I focus on taking at least one part of my ritual to bring into my day.

Even doing one of these things every day has absolutely transformed my life and helps me to set the tone for the rest of the day.

Skincare is part of my daily ritual as well. I'm a huge fan of oil cleansing, and I also use a moisturizer blended with grassfed beef tallow (weird, but incredible) to keep that glowy look. I love the Haoma Temple Balm and the Gel Mask. I use the Temple Balm before bed, and I love to do the Gel Mask when I'm in the bath.

My dear friend Court and I founded FORMA - a place for community to gather in the art of daily practice and to learn rituals and tools from expert guides and elders. We have two different seasonal cohorts where we create healthy, life- changing habits together through daily practice and accountability, while cultivating a safe space of compassionate self-inquiry and play. Creative Practice: 21 days of generating and sustaining a personal creative practice guided by diverse artists and creators. And Collective Practice: 40 day guided seasonal journeys of daily morning practices sharing lineages from around the world.

40 DAY JOURNEYS HAVE APPEARED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS IN ANCIENT TEXTS AND YOGIC PHILOSOPHY, OFTEN SIGNIFYING PERIODS OF GREAT TRANSFORMATION. IT IS SAID THAT AFTER 40 DAYS, YOU HAVE ENFORCED NEW SIGNALING ON A CELLULAR LEVEL THAT CAN ALLOW NEW HABITS TO BEGIN SOLIDIFYING.

The path I have chosen to walk is one that doesn't see myself as separate from the natural world. The earth, and all of the elements within it, make up the essence of our life. Without water, sun, moon, the trees - we are nothing. We don't exist. The billions of us living on this planet today are faced with the reality of the harm we have caused to our waters, our soils, the animals, the air. My prayer is that through communities like what is growing at FORMA, we can return back to right relationship with all of creation. As within - so without. If we can cleanse and clear our internal waters through what we consume, how we speak, and through daily practice - the waters of our oceans and rivers and springs will heal too.

I see the #1 trait in doing anything authentically is integrity and respect. If we move from that place in our companies, our friendships, and with ourselves, authenticity comes naturally and will be recognized by those around us.

Singing is probably one of the most vulnerable acts we can do. For most of my life I was afraid of letting my voice out. I discovered my voice in a Temezcal (a sweat lodge) in Mexico, when I was asked to sing. It was dark, and no one could see me, so I let my voice fly and I felt the most powerful force moving through my body after that. It wasn't perfect, but it felt so incredibly liberating. Since then, I have been slowly exploring my relationship to my voice and pushing myself to sing in front of others as much as possible to move through the fear and to help myself remember that it is always ok, even when it's not "perfect."

After hosting Collective Practice for a year and a half and going through countless trainings in breathwork, meditation, kundalini, and more I STILL struggle with showing up to my practice every day.

The most important thing here I've learned is to have compassion. If I don't do my practice one day, it's ok, just start again tomorrow.

The thread that ties all the things I do together is connection. Whether I'm building a company, facilitating, or DJing - everything I do is woven together by the thread of building connection - to self, to others, and to the planet. My work is dedicated to creating meaningful initiatives that are conduits for connection and inspiration.

Modern innovations and technology, as helpful as they are, have in many ways disconnected us from our biological connection to the cycles of the earth. For thousands of years our ancestors were deeply connected to the change in seasons and the cycles of life as a way to survive (and thrive), and those impulses still reside within us.

Follow Casea’s offerings and learn more about her work at www.formaforma.co

Ritual can bring us back
to the remembrance
of what really matters.