The Ritual: Planting the Self

Total Time: 30 minutes
No perfection required. Just honesty. Just soul.

A Ritual of Rebirth

Once you solidify behavior and thought changes and reclaim that connection to your soul, life might throw darts at you to distract you from the journey and the spark you discovered within you. This ritual anchors the changes within you and symbolizes in a tangible, memorable way the connection you have made to your soul and the rebirth of your authentic self.

This ritual is for naming and letting go of who you were, and honoring the you that is ready to rise.

When to Use This

Use this ritual when:

  • You sense you’ve outgrown who you were, but haven’t paused to honor and accept the new version of you

  • You’ve reclaimed boundaries or rituals and want to anchor them in your body

  • You’re feeling a bit emotional and confused as you are integrating your authentic Self and want a strong memory of this change in order to lean into it, since life may distract your soul reclamation journey at times

Why It Matters

Because internal change needs an external anchor.
Because transformation isn’t just a thought—it’s somatic, sacred, and slow.

Research confirms that symbolic actions—especially in nature—activate neural pathways linked to integration and healing (Norton & Gino, Journal of Experimental Psychology).
In depth psychology, this is known as transitional symbolism—a way to honor the death of one identity and the quiet birth of another.

The Ritual: Planting the Self

Total Time: 20–30 minutes
Minimal materials. Maximum meaning. Deep roots.

1. Set the Scene / Choose Your Seed (5 minutes)

Go somewhere that feels safe and sacred—a park, a quiet trail, your backyard, even a balcony pot.

Bring with you:

  • A flower bulb, a cutting, or a seed that feels symbolic to you

Hold it in your hand. Say softly:

“This represents me now. I am ready to root and rise.”

2. Set the Ground (3–5 minutes)

Touch the dirt. Breathe.
Let this moment be real, not rushed.

Whisper:

“This ground receives the new version of me.”
“I no longer fit in what once held me.”

3. Speak the Truth (5 minutes)

Dig with your bare hands. Feel the resistance, the readiness.

Out loud or in a whisper, say:

  • “I release the guilt I’ve held for needing time alone.”

  • “I shed the belief that my value lies in sacrifice.”

  • “I let go of the version of me that played small to stay safe.”

  • “I thank the one who carried this. But I am no longer her.”

Then say what you are reclaiming:

“I reclaim my mornings.”
“I reclaim my joy.”
“I reclaim the right to grow.”

4. Plant or Bury With Intention (5–10 minutes)

Place your seed or object into the earth.

Say aloud:

“This is me. Rooted. Returning. Rising.”
“This grief has shaped me, but it does not define me.”

Cover it slowly. Gently. As if sealing a vow.

5. Anchor the Transformation (5 minutes)

Sit in silence. Place a hand on your heart.
Feel the space that’s opened.

Whisper:

“I am not the same. I am still becoming.”
“I make space now for what is real and true.”
“This is my threshold. I will not abandon myself again.”

✨ A Real Moment — The Day I Planted the Tulip

It was a regular weekday. I’d been doing deep inner work, shifting routines, holding new boundaries—but I still felt haunted by old patterns. Resentment. Overwhelm. Guilt. Rage.

And then I saw this tulip in my kitchen—its bulb poking out of a too-small vase, begging for space. That tulip was me. I had outgrown the life that once held me.

So I took it to the park. Dug my hands into the dirt. Planted it with tears in my eyes. And whispered:

“This time, I belong to myself.”

I didn’t walk away healed.
I walked away anchored.
Grounded in a truth too long ignored.
Rooted in who I was becoming.

What the Research Says

  • Symbolic rituals externalize emotional transitions and strengthen self-awareness

  • Embodied grief rituals like burying or planting support closure and transformation (Boss, Ambiguous Loss)

  • Nature-based acts regulate the nervous system and reduce anxiety and emotional overload (Capaldi et al., Frontiers in Psychology, 2015)

Closing Reflection

You don’t need permission to begin again.
You don’t need to earn rest.
You don’t need to fix yourself first.

You just need a quiet moment. A small act. A willingness to say:

“This part of me has served its purpose.
I’m ready to evolve.”

Let this ritual meet you there.
Simple. Soulful. Sacred.