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RVK Ritual: Wellness with Attitude
Dagný Berglind Gísladóttir and Eva Dögg Rúnarsdóttir are the creative forces behind RVK Ritual, a wellness platform that strives to make everyday life more connected and meaningful through online classes, events, a journal and a web shop. The RVK Ritual idea was initially sparked by their desire to combine aesthetics and spirituality into one. Building on their past experiences and that learnings they gained on their own journeys, Dagný and Eva have created a unique platform that allows people to explore wellness in a new way.
“Our mission is to live in the world but not allow the world to live in you.”
What inspired you to start this journey?
We created RVK Ritual to serve as a platform that brings wellness with a bit of attitude. It’s a platform that allows us to intertwine all that we are and do. We are merging our worlds together – our creative, corporate and wellness backgrounds. We place focus on rituals which often bring mindfulness and beautiful aesthetics together. To us, rituals are simply a series of actions and practices filled with intention. They cultivate a deeper sense of connection and devotion towards one’s self. – many of us are missing this sacredness in our daily lives. We are also inspired by the concept of “householders yoga”. To strive to be a “yogi” (a person on a spiritual journey) without having to move to a cave in the mountains and renouncing all possessions. Rather, aiming to be a yogi that leads a life of making money and raising children.
Our mission is to “live in the world but not allow the world to live in you.” To live a complete life and to enjoy worldly pleasures. To view life as a great teacher and strive towards a spiritual life in the midst of worldly temptations and distractions. To use the experiences of everyday life to discover the divine.
“We always felt we had to leave a part of ourselves at the door in the wellness/spiritual world, like we couldn’t be fashionistas and yogis, that wanting beautiful things wasn’t spiritual or that you couldn’t be successful and teach something meaningful. This was the spark for RVK Ritual.”
What are your backgrounds and how do they influence your work?
We both have backgrounds in art and design. Eva is a fashion designer that used to work for big brands in Denmark like Samsøe & Samsøe and Shoe the Bear, and she also worked as a Marketing Director for several companies, and owns a non-toxic holistic beauty brand called EVA – holistic beauty. Dagný is a ceramic artist who studied art history, creative writing and publishing. Before starting RVK Ritual, she was the Editor-in-Chief at an Icelandic wellness magazine, and later the CEO of Gló, a health food restaurant in Iceland.
What brings us together is our passion for wellness and spiritual growth. We are both long time seekers and yoga teachers who have it in common to be constantly working towards improving ourselves, our mind and our “booty”. Throughout the years, we’ve always felt like we had to leave a part of ourselves at the door in the wellness/spiritual world. Like we couldn’t be fashionistas AND yogis, that wanting beautiful things wasn’t spiritual, or that you couldn’t be successful and teach something meaningful. This was the spark for RVK Ritual – we give ourselves the permission to mix our fashion and art aesthetics with our wellness and spiritual teachings, in order to let more people into this space, making it interesting for the modern human.
We don’t believe that everybody needs to quit their jobs and become a yoga teacher or a reiki healer to start working on themselves. We want people from all industries to incorporate simple tools in their lives to become better leaders, thinkers and doers. If more people meditate, we all elevate.
“On days where I’m feeling low, anxious or tired, I know that I have to keep up with my practice. No matter what life throws at me.”
What does your morning routine look like?
We both have two ways; our ideal self-practice and then we have our non-negotiables when the day is just a shitshow from minute one.
EVA: Life comes in waves of polarities and different periods. My morning routine flows with my life. My most important mantra is; “Keep up and you will be kept up.” On days where I’m feeling low, anxious or tired, I know that I have to keep up with my practice, no matter what life throws at me.
On the best of days, I wake up at 5:00, dry brush my skin, give myself a little almond oil massage and jump into a freezing cold shower. I always start by drinking loads of water and psyllium husk, have a cup of warm water with lemon and do my Sadhana practice that takes about two and a half hours. On other days I might wake up a little later, splash some cold water on my face, my thyroid and under my arms, do meditation and movement that can take anywhere from three minutes up to an hour. So, it depends a little bit on where I am in my life. However, I always show up for myself every single day and meditation is a non-negotiable. I love waking up before my kids and starting my day really present before all the fun begins.
DAGNÝ: I have a little 10-month-old boy, so most days he is my human alarm clock. If I wake up before him, I meditate. If he wakes me up, we do our routine together and I meditate and do breath work a little later. The day usually starts with us having a big glass of lemon water or me enjoying a herbal infusion. While he spends time playing, I squeeze in a little yoga pilates mix right next to him. Next I tongue scrape, brush my teeth, dry brush my body and jump in a shower that ends with cold water. When we’re dressed, we like to have breakfast together. At the moment, he is really into smoothies so I try to include as many nutrients as I can for the both of us. It usually consists of some greens, different seeds, banana, Icelandic berries and homemade almond milk. After breakfast I have my supplements that usually include multi-vitamins, B12 and liposomal vitamin C. When all this is done, it’s time for my matcha. On days where this routine is not realistic, I always make sure to take few deep breaths, breath in some peppermint essential oil and take a moment of meditation before running out the door with the baby in one hand and a bottle of chlorophyll mixed water in the other.
“We feel that creative individuals do not always get the support that they need in the typical adult life, especially in business and corporate environments. We want to change that.”
What is creativity to you and what role does it play in your life and work?
DAGNÝ: I think creativity is essential for the both of us. We both need it to thrive because we tend to feel really weird when we have no way of expressing it. To me, creativity is tapping into the universal consciousness and getting downloads of ideas. To do this, I have to reach the flow state. I go to the ceramic studio few days a week, put on some good music or a podcast, get in the flow and get my hands dirty. I love this state and I also experience it when creating the classes for RVK Ritual together with Eva. Now, when we get super busy with RVK Ritual, we really need to make sure we take space to do get into this flow state because it is the essence of our work.
EVA: To us, creativity is also a part of our spiritual practice. When we create something new, we forget about how we feel in our physical body. Our body disappears and our ego with it. Worries, pain, anxiety is forgotten, and it is such a healing process. Creativity is a big part of our human experience. We are all born insanely creative and then we are taught to be uncreative and “realistic” when we grow up and become adults. Creativity is a big part of both of us as well as our company. It’s a major part of who we are and it’s so important for us to embrace it and celebrate it in our work life. We feel that creative individuals do not always get the support that they need in the typical adult life, especially in business and corporate environments. We want to change that. Celebrating creativity, being in flow with life and allowing ourselves to be creative in all aspects of our lives is a non-negotiable to us and really a key to our happiness.
“We created this class for women that want something more, to elevate and find the motivation to put themselves first.”
Can you tell us about the ‘Ritual Class – Self Mastery’ and who it’s for?
In our search for an outlet to express and share ALL of the findings and best tools on our journeys so far, we started writing a book. Later, this book became the Self Mastery class. We wanted to create a community where we could be present with the students as they learn these lessons and apply them to their lives.
To better explain it, ‘Ritual Class – Self Mastery’ is a four-week interactive online course that teaches you how to master yourself and create goals for the next chapter. After these four weeks we want our students to have a solid meditation practice going, a better understanding of themselves and their soul’s and body’s needs. We want them to have established a deeper self-practice where they take better care of themselves in every way, having a vision and a set of goals for the future. We initially created this class for women (a few men have tried it and loved it) that want something more, to elevate and find the motivation to put themselves first.
What is your definition of self-mastery?
Self-mastery is learning how you work and utilizing that. Getting past self-sabotage, excuses and petty thoughts, in order to reach our true potential. We are all different and therefore, one approach doesn’t fit all. That’s why we teach different types of breath work, meditation, practices and rituals, so you can do trial and error on yourself and really find what works for YOU.
What has been the most rewarding moment since launching the Ritual Class?
There are so many good moments. It was a great feeling to finish the first 4-week class at the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown and seeing this little supportive community growing online. Also, witnessing the class having a positive impact on our students’ lives as they learn and change. Nothing beats that feeling!
“The journey is not from imperfect to perfect. It’s from imperfect to improving.”
What advice would you give your younger selves?
DAGNÝ: Remember that there is a grey area, not everything is so black and white, good or bad. There is a space in between. The journey is not from imperfect to perfect, it’s from imperfect to improving.
EVA: Well, my younger self needs a lot of good advice. You do not need to be perfect and not everybody has to like you. Follow your intuition and stop thinking about what other people think. Just do it, listen to your heart!
Looking to the future, what can we expect to see from RVK Ritual?
A lot! The next 4-week Self Mastery class starts October 16th and after that we have big plans where we want to walk the talk and reach our vision. We are for example creating an online class called ‘Radiant Beauty’ where we teach yogic ways to beauty (also redefining beauty) and ageing gracefully. Creating ritualistic products and expanding our webstore, as well as developing the ‘Ritual Method’, a form of spiritual movement. So, stay tuned!
Make sure to follow RVK Ritual on Instagram for inspiration and updates, and if you want to learn more about the Self Mastery class, head to their website!