I have been out of sorts, in more ways than one. As I was committing more of my time to the renovation project, my spiritual practice slipped. And when that happens, trouble is usually soon to follow.

It's not always obvious though, when things start slipping. I have been very busy working away and feeling very tired in the evening. I've been keeping up a pretend daily meditation practice. Which means that I was pretending it was daily – while missing days for reasons of too busy, too tired, and too late in the evening. And I was pretending to meditate when I did get out there - while actually ruminating about the next step in the building project. My pretence was so convincing that it took me ages to work out what was wrong.

My ritual practice was suffering even worse. I found that the mornings, my favourite moments to fit these in, were exactly the times when Alex needed me working on the project. I tried combining ritual with my evening practice, but that wasn't really happening either, so I found myself going without ritual for several weeks.

With a very limited spiritual practice, I become much more vulnerable to stress and overwhelmed by emotions and events in the news. This has various symptoms, from doing work through gritted teeth (not pleasant) and tight muscles (sore) to tearful outbursts (embarrassing). So it's no surprise I was feeling out of balance.

There is one obvious cure though. I need to re-commit to my practice. And thankfully Alex and I have come to a compromise where I will help him get started earlier in the morning, and he will make me stop in the afternoon so I have time for other things.

Yesterday, at the Waning Moon, I did a small ritual out in the garden for the first time in ages. It had the same effect on me that rituals always have, since the first time I cast a circle. It instantly gives four sturdy corners to the house of my life and makes me feel steady. Just something simple can be very healing.

Next Tuesday, my online course Ritual Toolkit launches. Circle casting is one of the tools it teaches. Today, though, I would like to share with you a little taster video. It is a clip from one of the how-to videos in the course. It is a simple call for peace that is performed at the start of many Druid rituals. And it is just what I need to soothe my unsettled life, in this unsettled chapter of our human story.

More information about Ritual Toolkit is here.

People who have completed The Magic of Connection get an automatic 1/3 discount on Ritual Toolkit. Further discounts and payment plans available by agreement.