How Morning Rituals Can Put A Positive Spin On The Rest Of Your Day
It's 6:30am and you are awoken by the shockingly loud and irritating sound of your alarm clock. You hit snooze. Five minutes later, it happens again. Snooze. Then again. Snooze. You grudgingly decide to peek at the clock (believing it's around 6:45) and you realize it's 7:15! You throw off the sheets in a panic and hit the ground running—shower, dress, get ready, get the kids ready, breakfasts, school drop offs, rush to work—all of which happens in a total frenzy. The rest of your day is a mess of frustrations with you running from one event to the next while you feel like your head is spinning. At the end of the day you are left questioning, why did nothing seem to go your way all day long?
We get it. We have been there. But we have learned over time that if you want to change the flow of your day, you need to change the way you begin your day. So, how can we do this? Morning rituals. Morning rituals instil a sense of purpose, peace, and routine into the day ahead so that the remainder of your day will be much more calm, productive and successful. Another perk of having a regular morning ritual? They give us a solid foundation for whatever the day throws at you. If you think about it, we all wake up with a blank slate—and by adding morning rituals to the beginning of our day, we greatly enhance the chance that we will have an awesome and productive day.
Morning rituals can be anything that you love to do, that you feel will help set you up for a calm and focused mindset to start the day. No one routine works for everyone as we are all different. So it's really up to you to experiment and find what works best for you! Once you start, we promise you will see (and feel!) the benefit. Keep reading for our top 5 favourite morning rituals.
Morning Yoga or stretching
By now, I'm sure you can gather that we are huge advocates of Yoga (or similar activities such as movement or stretching). This type of activity not only helps prepare our bodies for all of the life events that we face, but also our minds. Starting our day off with a Yoga practice (even if it's for only 10-15 minutes) helps our bodies and minds wake up and feel centered, grounded and energized. Yoga can help release all of those tight areas that feel restricted after a long night of sleeping and it helps to activate our core and postural muscles so that we look (and feel) tall, lean and strong. The other benefit of morning Yoga comes with breathing which, when we pair the two together (movement and breath), we become much more connected to our inner self and we feel more at peace. Ultimately we are then much more ready to face the stressors of the day ahead.
Guided meditation or breathing exercises
Another one of our fave morning rituals is to wake up and do a meditation or some simple breathing exercises. Similar to Yoga, meditation and breathing exercises help prepare us for the day ahead by calming our minds and calming our nervous system. This in turn balances our energy and helps us to connect to ourselves. If you don't know where to begin with breathing exercises, or, if you are weary about trying to meditate on your own, a great option is to try a guided meditation. All you need is a comfy place to sit, your smart phone or tablet and some earphones. Guided meditations can help us work on building focus and concentration as well as enabling us to visualize our future (even if it's just the day ahead). This in turn can help us have more focus and compassion throughout our day.
Prepare and enjoy a cup of tea, coffee or lemon water
A simple (but effective) way to start off your day is to create a ritual where, first thing in the morning you prepare your favourite cup of tea, coffee or even a hydrating glass of lemon water. (Really, this can be any drink that you love that helps you feel warm and happy first thing after waking up.) For example, I start off my morning by making a warm cup of lemon water, followed by a matcha latte. Both of these antioxidant-rice and health-boosting drinks help me feel connected to my body in the morning, which ultimately helps me feel prepared for my day.
Write a journal
Many people love to end their day by writing in a journal, letting go of everything that happened during their day. Equally effective is starting your day doing this. You can get into this habit by buying yourself a journal that speaks to you (maybe it's your favourite colour or it has your favourite quote written on it) and putting it on your bedside table, along with a pen. Then, first thing when you wake up try to write a few words that come to you. Don't think too much about it or judge your thoughts, simply let yourself be open and creative. Maybe you write a few words about how you feel, a morning intuition or what you are grateful for. Or, maybe you jot down what you dreamed about or a few things that you are hoping to achieve in the upcoming day. No matter what you choose to write about, the practice of writing a journal helps to focus our minds energy so we feel more centered and connected at the start of our day.
Make a list to organize your day
Another awesome morning ritual which can help jump-start your day is to write a short list (we recommend no more than three or four things) that you really need or want to accomplish throughout the upcoming day. I often wake up and, only moments later, have a zillion things circulating through my mind about what I need to do that day (think kids school lunches and activities, drop offs and pick ups, work commitments, cleaning, errands and groceries, just to name a few). Then, at the end of the day I realize that I have forgotten about, well, most of these, leading to frustration and more stress. But, by starting my day writing three or four things that I really need to accomplish, I have a much higher chance of getting them done. The result? I feel more organized, productive and successful.
If you enjoyed this article, try reading What Is Hygee & Why Should You Start It ASAP