What if we thought about routine as a homecoming rather than a chore?

We often say we “need to get back into a routine” especially after summer & holidays. Whether we feel this as a seasonal shift, circumstances changing, or a feeling that things have been scattered, there’s a sense of “I need to get it together.” But I find that the language we use around “routine” often implies a sense of obligation. The dreaded “daily grind,” and in the same vein, an internal chastising of ourselves for “falling off.”

One of the questions the New Moon in Virgo poses today is: What if we reframed routine & ritual as the small ways we show up for ourselves everyday? Rhythms that support us in our daily lives, that help to ground us rather than bind us? What if we thought of routine as a familiar & supportive place to land?

I’ve noticed that how I feel about coming back to my daily life when I’m returning from a trip away can be very revealing; it can illuminate the parts I’ve missed of my “normal” routines, and, at different points in my life, it’s also revealed the aspects of my life that felt hard or even incongruent.

Some of the most mundane things that I typically take for granted are on the list of misses. I look forward to returning to my own bed and pillows. Depending on the trip, sometimes I’m excited to return home to a car that I can just get in and go where I need to go. And almost always, even if just a weekend away, I look forward to making my own meals again, with fresh foods, after eating out so much.

I don’t know that we necessarily think of it this way (unless you’re a somatic educator like me 😅), but routines are actually very grounding and regulating for us. The predictability, the familiarity, the ease of going through the motions without thinking. What may seem mundane on the surface is actually incredibly supportive over time, and shapes how content (or not) we feel day-to-day.

There have also been times in my life when I’ve dreaded returning home from a trip. The change in scenery and perspective has helped me to realize that I needed to leave the job I was in. That I was simply tolerating what I thought I needed to do. And then there have been times when it’s been more subtle details; new habits that I could bring home with me.

After a trip to Europe this last April, I was especially impacted by how much healthier it felt there (physically, emotionally, spiritually). I really admired the lifestyle it seemed a lot of the people were leading. And I realized that while, no, I couldn’t move to Europe (at least in this season), that there were pieces of that vacation that I could implement in my daily life here.

One small thing I liked was how much we walked and how rejuvenated I felt after being outside in the mornings. Since then, I’ve been more conscious of my step count and being sure to get outside daily. Not to reach a goal or optimize my health, but because I know it makes me feel better internally. And even if I can’t walk right away in the morning, I know that if have my morning coffee or tea on the porch where I can breathe fresh air and see the trees, I feel much better than I would doing the same routine while sitting inside and looking at my phone.

These are subtle shifts that can make a huge difference overtime. Suddenly, you look back 60, 90, 365 days later… and realize you’ve built a life that you actually enjoy day-to-day. You’ve built habits that support your happiness. Routines that don’t cause you to override your system. Nothing big and flashy, but the seemingly mundane actions that tend to a sense of contentedness, steadiness, and a feeling of ease.

And this is what the Virgo archetype (and this time of year) is all about: Ritual is one way of bringing a sense of homeostasis to the system without it needing to be anything complicated or fancy or spiritual at all.

So I ask you now: What are some of the routines in your life, no matter how minor they may seem, that ground you & support you in feeling your best?

What are some of the pieces from summer, or this last season/trip/time away, that you want to bring forward with you?

And if you can’t bring the action itself with you, what’s the feeling behind it, and can you implement a little more of that in your daily life? (The example I gave above about having access to a car again is a good one—the feeling was freedom & agency that the car gave me, rather than needing to relay on public transport).

Happy New Moon in Virgo!

Coming back to your own rhythms is a core component of all of my offerings to women. Join me in circle here, explore my Astrology readings here, or be held in my 1:1 my coaching container, my deepest offering, here.