a new morning routine

   I am the type of person that needs structure, a schedule, and stability. I just can't function doing everything on a whim, it's super stressful for me! ! But jokes aside, one of the things that has been most important to my growth, my "glow up" , my spiritual enlightenment, and honestly my anxiety, is to have a health daily routine , especially a morning one. I wanted to take this time to give you all some tips on how to develop a new and more healthy morning routine for your mental and spiritual health   during your awakening process.  Now although, I do admire people who can pack one simple backpack and travel across the globe, I am just not one of those people. Nor do I want to be honestly. I have found that I am my most efficient when my life is structured. I know some things happen out of the blue and leave us feeling chaotic at times, but IF I can schedule, I will. I like to write daily to-do lists, I like to keep myself in check and hold myself accountable for my own healing process and I believe developing a structure is very helpful . If you haven't read my most recent blog about Accountability, feel free to check that out as well. 

 First, let's get into why morning routines are so helpful. The short and sweet answer is : It sets the tone for the rest of your day. I know you've had those days where you wake up rushing to get ready for work, and while making your coffee to go, you accidentally spill some on the floor, now you're rushing to clean that up so the dog doesn't eat it when you're already running late. You get out the door, rush to your car, start hauling ass and then get stuck in traffic. You're sitting there thinking "fuck this day" .
What we fail to realize is that if we simply adjust one thing in this scenario, the entire day could have been different. If we had set our alarms to just 20 minutes earlier, we wouldn't have jumped out of bed yelling "I'm going to be late !" (which triggers anxiety ), we wouldn't have spilled the coffee because we wouldn't be in such a rush, and we wouldn't have caught that different "I'm late" traffic. We also and most importantly wouldn't be sitting in traffic fighting with ourselves for making a simple mistake and letting it take over our day. But it's not as simple as waking up earlier, because let's be real. Most of us hit the snooze a few times before we allow our feet to touch the ground. 

Now here is the "long " answer as to why morning routines are helpful. Setting the tone for the day better allows us to control our schedules rather than our schedule controlling us. As we start each day fresh, we can better focus on what is in front of us in the present moment, where to prioritize our time, which will ultimately, increase our productivity. I know we all have responsibilities, priorities, obligations, and we always feel the pressure of time being against us, so it's all about organization and time management. Where there is a will , there is a way ! And you WILL make time for the things that are most important to you, the goals you want to achieve, and the lifestyle you'd like to create. Feeling good physically impacts how we feel emotionally. So if we spent the entire morning rushing, making coffee and hauling ass, we're going to bring on a sense of anxiousness that can very well linger on throughout the rest of the day. Once you get home from work, you're tired, still anxious, drained, and now you realized you forgot to defrost chicken for dinner because of this mornings rush. Now you're stressed about dinner too ! See how it all ties in ? 


​  For those who enjoy sleeping in until the last minute , I'm sorry to break it to ya but if you want to develop a healthier routine, or a spiritual morning routine, you're going to have to be dedicated and disciplined enough to wake up even a little earlier for this to work. Honestly, going through our entire lives without a morning routine is simply a lack of self care. This is all FOR YOU. You're here, NOW, in this body, and you have no clue until when, so why not treat yourself as the divine being you are? You can spend the morning scrolling through instagram, stressed or rushing , or you can choose to treat yourself to a relaxing , and enlightening way to start your day. You have free will here, so do what you'd like but hear me out. 

I want you all to wake up 20 minutes earlier, sit up in your bed, shut your alarm off, play some meditation music and sit there for at least 5 minutes taking big deep breaths. Make sure you do this sitting up so you don't fall back asleep, my trick is getting out of bed and sitting on the floor, because honestly, I love sleeping. This is going to allow you a sense of inner peace before doing anything else . Do this before you check your phone, do this before you wake the kids for school, before you start breakfast, before ANYTHING. ..unless you really gotta pee, then you're excused. 

Gratitude journaling is another excellent way to start the day. You can do this right after your 5 min meditation, take another 5 minutes on this and just write down what you're grateful for. You can write 5 things, or 10, or 20. Its totally up to you. If you choose 5, it's OK. Don't stress trying to think of more things to write down. There are no right or wrong answers when writing a gratitude list , the point of this is to shift your mind into a positive mindset. 

After your journaling, move your body for 5-10 minutes , get out of bed, stretch, dance a little, do a couple yoga stretches, take deep breaths, roll your spine. Get your body in tune, Step into your body , feel your body, feel every breath, every stretch, feel your heart pump, tap in and thank your body !  Even going for a walk will help . However you choose to move is completely up to you. 

 This next tip sounds silly but it'll make an impact, and our mothers have been telling us this since we were kids but MAKE YOUR BED! When your external world is clean, your mind experiences ease. Think of how we get stressed when our houses are a mess, or how we clean when we are experiencing stress. This is because cleaning is a form of therapy. It is no mystery that your space has an impact on your mind, so make your space look beautiful ! 

By this time , 20 minutes should be up , and you can start your morning full of gratitude, peace, and a sense of calm. Remember its the small habits we do daily , that transform your life .Things that are so simple, and easy to do, and take barely any time at all , can have long term affects on your overall well being. The only thing you have to do is start, so why not? 

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