A Ritual for Returning to Yourself

We forget ourselves all the time.

In the noise. The scroll. The ache. The expectation.

In our care for others. In our fear. In our longing to be enough.

Sometimes it happens slowly. a drifting.

Sometimes all at once. like we slammed the door shut on our own softness.

But the sacred has never needed pefection.

Only presence.

And presence doesn't require a ceremonial robe of candlelight or moon phase.

It just asks that you come back to where you are.

That you step back into your own breath and say: "I am still here."

This is a ritual for those moments.

A ritual for when you've forgotten yourself

and are ready to remember again.

The Ritual

1. Pause

Find a moment that belongs only to you.

Let the phone rest. Let the thoughts be leaves on a river.

Let the world spin without you for just a moment.

You are not abandoning it. You are re-entering you.

2. Touch your body.

Place your hand on your heart.

Or on your womb. Your belly. Your Throat.

Anywhere that needs remembering.

Say (silently or aloud):

"I am here."

3. Breathe

Take three slow, honest breaths.

Let them be imperfect.

Let them rise and fall like waves that have always known their way home.

Feel what is inside them. not to fix it, just to know it.

4. Name one truth

Say it out aloud. Write it down. Whisper it into your hand.

It doesn't need to be poetic. It only needs to be yours.

Some truths sound like:

"I am tired."

"I'm holding too much."

"I want to be held."

"I am sacred, even in this."

"I don't know yet and that's okay."

5. Choose a closing gesture.

Every ritual deserves a seal.

• You can kiss your own hand.

• drink a sip of water slowly.

• light a candle and leave it burning.

• or simply whisper:

"I have returned."

You don't need to be calm to begin.

You don't need to feel "spiritual" or know what you're doing.

You just need to arrive honestly.

Because ritual isn't about performance.

It's about presence.

The temple is not somewhere you go.

It is the moment you say: "I will meet myself here."

Want to deepen the practice?

If you'd like to build on this ritual:

• Light a candle or place an item on your altar

• Pull a single oracle card and journal the message

• use cacao, tea, or warm water as a heart-offering

• Breathe for five more minutes in silence

• Add your truth to a "returning journal" you keep by your altar

But even if you do none of this

you have already done enough.

You are not lost.

You are only waiting to be met.

And you have just remembered how.

Shared from the Keeper's Journal For the ones who forgot, and chose to return anyway.