It is so important to start your day off right. That is why I want to share this morning routine of habits with you. Have you ever had one of those days where one thing goes wrong early on, and then everything seems to snowball out of control and your day becomes a disaster? We have ALL rolled out of bed on the wrong side once or twice. These 7 steps are designed to help you combat anything negative that the world throws at you by setting you up in a positive, cleansing and calm manner, so your day has the best chance to be successful, intentional and fulfilling.
This list is not exhaustive and is the IDEAL way to begin the day. Life happens and often there is time constraints on our mornings so take the pressure of yourself and do the best you can. Any small positive habit change can have a massive impact on the success of our day.
Let’s dive right in!
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“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra. ” -Jimmy Johnson
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Essential to a Morning Routine: say Thank You For Another Day
The best way to begin a morning routine is to say thank you. As soon as our eyes open, let us begin by expressing gratitude for being alive and healthy another day. Gratitude reduces any toxic emotions and instead creates a sense of fulfilment. Gratitude can help us be more resilient, feel more relaxed and it increases our overall happiness. Beginning the day by creating positive emotion and feeling content, we have started our day off well in the first 60 seconds.
To help you create a gratitude habit, why not invest in a gratitude journal that will prompt you. I love this one!
2. Drink Water
Water is life. The average human body is made up of 50-65% water, we lose this throughout the day in many forms and we need to replenish those losses. By beginning the day with a tall glass of water we are going to optimise our health and avoid the side effects of dehydration later in the day. Water gives us energy to get through our day and helps flush toxins out of the body. I personally enjoy a tall glass of lemon water, the added lemon aids the detoxing of our body and skin.
These environmentally friendly, reusable water bottles will remind you to drink more water all day long!
A year from now you may wish you had started today. -Karen Lamb
3. Make Your Bed
This is so important. It may seem a small thing, however, making your bed and tidying your sleeping space when you first get up, creates a sense of accomplishment. This small act of creating a clean space is a cleansing mechanism and creates clarity for your mind. The space will instantly look tidied and at the end of the day, you return home to the haven you created in those few minutes in the early hours. As you return to bed at night you revisit that sense of accomplishment from the morning and can then intentionally review what else you have accomplished that day.
4. When in Doubt, Workout
Start the day by getting your heart, pumping the blood through your veins, and into your brain. This helps us to wake up and feel energised. We are also cleansing the body by sweating. By working out in the morning, you can increase your mental clarity by up to 10 hours throughout the day. Our bodies also continue to burn calories throughout the day. We are also more likely to actually complete our workout if we do it in the morning, when we do not run the risk of being too tired from work.
Workouts do not need to be long, 20- 30 minutes is better than nothing and can still release the endorphins that will make you feel great! I have a morning yoga routine that I love, this allows my body to lengthen and become supple after a nights rest. If hitting the gym as the sun rises is a little daunting, create a calm space in your home and spend some time in downward dog to start your day off right.
5. Fuel Your Body
Whatever works for you, drink a smoothie, green juices, eat eggs and grain toast or intermittent fast. Do whatever is working for you in your life currently and is helping you achieve your goals. I personally find eating a breakfast of grains and fruit habitually, gives me my best start to the day. This is not the same for everyone and there is a ton of conflicting information out there. So listen to your body, experiment with what you eat, and when, then review what works and why. Find what gives you energy, clarity and makes you feel satisfied.
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. -Confucius
6. Cleanse Your Body
We have cleansed our space by making the bed, we will cleanse our mind in the next step, this time is for cleansing the physical body. There are many discussions about whether we should be showering in the morning or evening, however since ideally we are working out in the morning, it is important to wash the sweat off ourselves and feel fresh for our day. Bathe, shave, moisture and make yourself feel confident and clean for the day ahead. After a long day, it is nice to crawl into a ready made bed with a clean body, so if you are intentionally being planet friendly with your showers, I love one in the morning and one at night.
7. Meditate
The most important part of your morning routine should be to meditate, ideally for 10- 15 minutes. However, very few of us have that sort of time spare, and meditating seems to be the most overlooked. This is the time to cleanse your mind and soul. To set a very clear intention of what you want to achieve in the day ahead. It is the time to visualise how you want to look. How you will walk and your manner of speaking. Your energy towards others and your smile.
Become all those things during the visualisation. Create the calm space within you so that you are ready to take on whatever type of storm the day could bring. Visualise how you would like to react to things that don’t go to plan. Once you have centred yourself, bring energy back to your fingers and toes. Then open your eyes and begin your most important task of the day.
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Love and Light
Lauren x
