What’d you do this morning? First thing.
Before you ate breakfast. Before you took a shower.
Before you fed every person/furry friend in your house. Before you hit the yoga mat or laced up your running shoes for a run.
Before you packed up your laptop to head to the office?
I know you’re busy – and sometimes not entirely in control of your mornings – but what if I told you that making one small choice every morning could make the rest of your day run more smoothly (and with less stress)?
The idea of having a “morning ritual” comes up often in my conversations with other busy women, especially those whose days seem to speed up as the minutes tick by.
Everyone swears that a consistent morning practice does more for their sense of wellbeing than almost any other health-related choice they make.
So, being a “don’t knock it ’til you try it” believer, I started experimenting – adding little things to my morning in those moments of relative calm before the rest of the world gets moving – just to see what would happen.
All of these take about 10-15 minutes – or less (it’s kind of up to you) – and don’t require a ton of planning. And since exercise is already a regular part of my days, I focused on adding non-movement rituals (although yoga, running, and cycling are often my “rituals” of choice).
(Quick side note: One thing I’ve been religious about for some time is drinking a glass of water as soon as I wake up. If you’re not already doing it, make this your morning ritual ASAP, even if you do nothing else. It’s the best way I know to wake up and start your day fully hydrated. You’d be amazed how many unpleasant body issues – like headaches and low energy – disappear when you front load your day with water and keep it flowing until evening.)
- Warm water with lemon. I’d heard of drinking a mug of warm water with lemon as part of Ayurvedic morning practices, so I decided to give it a try. (Ayurveda is sort of the Indian subcontinent equivalent to Chinese medicine, an ancient system of traditional medicine that’s still popular today.) There’s something inherently calming about heating water in a kettle and wrapping your hands around a mug of warm liquid. The clean and tangy flavor of the lemon juice was just bracing enough to wake me up without the jolt of caffeine (and subsequent crash). And the few minutes it took to prepare it gave me a chance to think about what I wanted from my day and to calmly begin it. During the weeks that I practiced this ritual, I noticed an increase in energy and clarity in the mornings that often carried into the rest of my day.
- Reading something low-key. I’ll be honest – this one didn’t last very long for me, probably because the books I was reading at the time were on my iPad and the last thing I want to do first thing in the morning is stare at a screen…since I’ll be staring at one all day long. But I did enjoy the practice of reading something other than the news (that was my rule) first thing in the morning. It allowed my mind to open a little – either with the escapism of a novel or with the stimulation of psychology, food, or health-related non-fiction (my non-fiction defaults) – before diving into the obligatory reading I do as part of my work day (which I love, but still carries the weight of “I have to,” you know?).
- Mindfulness meditation. I’ve written about movement as meditation in the past, but I wanted to make a meditation practice separate from my exercise routine (which already includes plenty of “meditating” on endurance and getting my butt kicked via my rides at Flywheel and vinyasa yoga classes ;). I like to keep it simple: 15 minutes of “dropping into” the present moment by focusing on sounds around me, sensations in my body, and the rhythm of my breath. I especially love this “Affectionate Breathing” meditation from Dr. Kristin Neff. If you’re new to meditation, it’s helpful to start with guided meditations like Dr. Neff’s or these from Deepak Chopra’s The Chopra Center. You can also work up to it with some of the suggestions in this overview.
Of these rituals, the one I’m still doing every day is meditation. It changes the trajectory of my day like nothing else, so I always find at least 10 minutes to do it. (I shoot for 15, but sometimes that’s just not possible. 10 minutes is better than nothing…and it’s a good practice to let myself off the hook for not “doing it right.”)
My perception of stress and my ability to move through it – and stay focused on what I need to do instead – is completely different on days that I meditate versus days that I don’t. And, believe it or not, meditation tutorials are quickly becoming one of the things most requested by my private coaching clients. There must be something to it. (Actually, there’s definitely something to it. Here’s some of the research on the many mental and physical benefits of meditation, including managing cravings.)
I know some people like to journal or write down three things they’re grateful for…both really great ways to create a little space for yourself to get grounded first thing in the morning.
What about you? What’s your morning ritual? Tell me in the comments how you start your day and how it helps set you up for the kind of day you want to have.
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Love,
