Your life begins each morning
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Do you normally wake up after hitting the snooze button about five times, jumping into a quick 2 minute shower, grabbing a protein bar to have on your way to work while you check your emails and catch up on your missed WhatsApp messages? Sounds familiar? Does it then also sound familiar that for the rest of the day, you feel like you are constantly running behind, rushed and not always as productive? Duh! Introducing a morning routine is one of the best ways to make your day more productive, organized and less stressed.
Most of us have busy lives, with so many responsibilities, obligations and activities planned each and every day. We feel constantly as if we haven’t got time for anything. A morning routine can help you start your day with confidence, direction, peace and a positive attitude. And that will allow you to effectively complete tasks and achieve goals without constantly feeling stressed or overwhelmed.
So what is a morning routine actually?
A morning routine is a set of activities that you go through every (or almost every) morning, without too much thinking and that will help you set up your body and mind for a productive day.
Obviously, a morning routine will look differently for everyone. We all have different things that we love and that make us calm. But, for most of us a morning routine will include at least a few of the following components:
Movement, like a short walk outside, some yoga or stretching or maybe a real workout
Stillness, like meditation
Fuel, like having breakfast or a cup of something
Goal setting, to get your activities for the day focused and organized
Learning, through reading or writing for example
Affirmations, for example around gratitude and what you would like to manifest into your life
That may sound like a lot! And yes, it most likely means that you need to wake up earlier than you do now in order to fit these things in, but I promise you, the results are so worth it! And to be honest, you can do a lot of this in just 30 minutes. Or even if you only have 15, use 15! Anything is better than nothing.
Why would I get up early if I could also enjoy my pillow for an hour longer?
Because the way you start your day will set the pace for the rest of your day. So if you start rushed and without presence, you will move through your day rushed and without presence. If you start slow and mindful, your day will be more slow paced and mindful and you will be more focused, patient and organized. Giving yourself time in the morning is one of the most precious gifts you can give yourself. A routine allows you to be acting on your day, not reacting. You are in control of your day instead of your day controlling you.
It’s about bringing in a moment into your day where you have only attention for YOU, to take care of yourself first, before you do anything else. That way, you will be so much better able to take care of the rest of the (your) world. Even if you have a family, get up before everyone else does and find some time dedicated just for you. It should allow you to just BE for a few moments.
Also, we human beings are naturally habitual creatures. Even the most adventurous, unorganized and flexible people do good with some sort of routine, repetition and steady ground. Having a routine supports our health and wellbeing greatly, through stress relief, improved sleep, increased productivity, better relationships, eating habits and physical condition.
Routine and repetitive movements get us out of our heads into our hearts. So consistency is key here, you want your morning routine almost to become an automatic pilot mode. When your first wake hour doesn’t vary too much and doesn’t require you to break your head on any decisions, it helps you to not get mentally fatigued straight away at the start of your day. Our energy is a finite daily resource after a night sleep, so you don’t want to use it all up in the first part of your day. A little tip here is to take out as much ‘guessing work’ as possible in your first hour, like deciding what you are going to wear the next day, what you will have for breakfast etc. Decide that the night before! So your morning is free of those thoughts and decisions. This may seem like a ridiculously small thing, but trust me (ok, especially women will recognize this), I can spend quite some time deciding whether it’s a black flower yoga pants day or a block color yoga pants day. And with Bali’s amazing café scene it is honestly one of the biggest daily challenges to decide what I’ll have for breakfast daily #firstworldproblems.
Before I tell you how a morning routine has helped me, let me run you through my personal routine first.
My personal morning routine
I have my alarm at 6AM, every single day, except for Saturdays and sometimes a random week day if I don’t have to teach in the morning. And yes, I do have to set that alarm, because I don’t wake up naturally at that time (yet, I hope I will at some point). My natural wake up time is more around 7.30am I would say. So why don’t I just wake up then? Because it wouldn’t allow me enough time to start my day slow, and mindful, which I need so badly. So yup, alarm it is. I always snooze a few times. I know that is a terrible habit, and I shouldn’t but it somehow makes me feel like I have time and like it’s the weekend.
Again, I need to start up pretty slow in the morning. Me jumping out of bed straight after my first alarm is just something that comes very unnatural to me. I’ve started sleeping with my curtains open. In Bali when I wake up at 6am for the first time, it’s still dark and then slowly in the 20 minutes after, the sun starts to come through, which I love. The sun light slowly coming in just puts a smile on my face and it makes me feel like I wake up with the world. Then, I get out of bed and go to the toilet for a quick pee. Next thing I scrape my tongue with a tongue scraper (an Ayurvedic habit, which is amazing!), I wash my face with cold water and make my bed. Funny fact, making your bed is in the top 10 things that create a happier life! Bet you didn’t know that 😉
Then I take my meditation pillow and I meditate for about 15 minutes, using guided meditations from the Insight Timer app or I just sit with myself in silence. Sometimes I do some kriyas and / or a pranayama practice, like nauli, kapalabati, nadi shodana or just breath awareness. I really love starting my day with just observing my breath and feeling how it flows through my body, whether it feels easy and soft that day or somehow restricted. When you can physically feel where your breath feels restricted, it tells you so much about what is going on for you at that moment in your life. By just bringing your awareness to that physical area of your body, and sometimes placing your hands on it, you already release some of the tension around that area. Try it!
Often I add in a few yoga poses and stretches as well, depending on how much time I have. Then I make myself a cup of hot water with lemon (great to get your digestion going, and it makes my tummy feel detoxed and ready for food). After that, I normally prepare my class, which starts at 8.30am or on the days I don’t teach I take out my journal and write for a bit. I have a look at my schedule for the day, and decide on the most important actions for that day, the things I really need to get done. And then I’m off to teach.
My routine takes me about an hour or so, and during that time I try to leave my phone for what is as long as possible. I don’t look at my WhatsApp messages, Instagram or email yet. I will only do that once I’ve gone through most of my steps. And that allows me to be more in the moment and not worry about anything yet.
As you probably picked up, I don’t have breakfast yet. I don’t intermittent fast consciously, but it happens almost naturally. I love to teach or workout on an empty stomach. I feel lighter, more energized and sharper when I haven’t eaten yet. Having food before movement just makes me feel nauseous and I wouldn’t want my yummy avocado on toast to end up on my yoga mat while hanging upside down in a downward facing dog. Neither would my students, lol! I don’t need food really until like 10.30/11am and that works perfectly for me so after class I go straight for a big breakfast.
How it has helped me and why you should get one too
So that’s my routine! It has helped me a lot in so many ways:
I feel more grounded;
I feel like as if there is always time for ME in a day, even in a busy day;
I can start my day slow and mindfully, which I need so much;
It gives me time to enjoy the little things: the blue sky, my cup of tea, the birds singing outside…
It helps me to not just start running without thinking: it sets the right direction for my day;
It gives me time to reflect. And that is maybe even the biggest advantage for me. Because so often we just keep running without reflecting, digesting and processing. I need reflection in order to stay on my path, to stay focused and connected with myself. And I can only do that with time. If I keep running I lose the connection with myself very easily. It’s one of my weaknesses. So for me, a routine helps me to stay connected to myself.
It took me a while to get to where it is today and it isn’t perfect like this every day. And that’s ok! It shouldn’t become another thing on your to-do list, it has nothing to do with ticking off more boxes.
So whenever I feel like I am doing one of the things I mentioned above with force, I leave it. I’ll pick it up again the next day. I try to wake up and let my body tell me what it wants. Sometimes it wants to move and flow a little on my mat, sometimes it wants me to just sit still. Some days I feel inspired to write, some days I don’t and then I leave my journal for what it is. And that’s ok.
So you see, a morning routine can help you in so many ways. If you can start your day with practicing some healthy habits, it may actually flow over into other areas of your life! It will help you to work smarter, not harder. And isn’t that what we want as busy, ambitious professionals?
How do I start?
Start small! Begin with one or two activities every morning for a week and see how you go. Then add one more, and one more…play around, try different things. Until you find your best morning routine that nourishes you deeply. Do those things that make you feel good and that you can perform without thinking too much. And tap into that bit of discipline you have deep down in you, to just do it every single day. Be consistent. It may be hard in the beginning, but once you start seeing the benefits it won’t feel like a ‘have-to’ anymore and it will become a ‘want-to’. But at the same time allow yourself to be flexible and to check in with yourself every morning what would benefit you the most on that particular day. Because every day is different.
I know how hard it is to actually get started with a morning routine, and to find the right set up for YOU and your life. I’ve been there myself. So if you need some help with this, get in touch and book your first 30-minute FREE coaching session with me now.
Love, Myrthe
