Happy new year! Whether your year has started happy or not I want to start this year off by giving you some tips and ideas for how to be a more powerful co-creator of your life. Namely, by starting your day right. I’ve been a huge fan of morning routines for many years now and I remember how it transformed my life when I first got started. I felt like a was moving from being a victim of my circumstances, rushing through my day, to being the creator of my life, by starting every new day with intention.
This doesn’t have to be elaborate or very time consuming or anything special really, the importance is your intention. You decide how you start your day. And of course, we all have morning routines whether they are intentional or not. Most people get up, eat something, brush their teeth and get dressed. That’s a routine too. But what I’m emphasizing now is making it a daily ritual aligned with the life you want to live, the person you want to be. Making conscious choices.
Every morning is a fresh start, where you get to set the tone for your day, which added together is your life. As consciousness floods your body when you wake, you want to start molding your life in a way that is conducive to what you want from it.
Whether you give it 5 minutes or 2 hours isn’t the main thing. The main thing is your intention, your conscious choice and you deciding to take the steering wheel of your life. Here’s a smorgasbord of practices that you could choose from and what the intention behind it may be.
Meditation if you want to start from your observer seat rather than being lost in your mind.
Gratitude if you want to set your focus onto what is working in your life as opposed to what’s not.
Exercise if you want to get into your body and start producing those good feeling hormones.
Reading if you want to fill your mind with positive or inspiring thoughts.
Nature if you want to ground and connect to the mother and clear your head.
Dancing if you want to spark joy and feel the pleasure of living in your body.
Praying if you want to connect to a power greater than you and ask for support in whatever you are going through.
Cold showers/bath if you want to wake the body, boost your immune system and feel alive.
Stretching if you want to listen into the body and what it longs for.
Drinking lots of water if you want to flush the system of toxins and hydrate.
Journaling if you want to empty your mind and gain clarity.
Emotional release if you want to feel into what’s alive and let the emotions move through to be released.
Breath work if you want to fill up with oxygen and release any tensions in your physical and energy body.
Extra sleep if you want to prioritize those extra minutes of rest. (And yes, with intention this could also be part of your morning routine.)
There are no right or wrong ways to have a morning routine. You do your thing according to what you need. Some people like to keep it fixed and just move through it in awareness while some people like to mix it up and listen to the specific needs of the new day.
If you already have a morning routine I recommend you review it and reflect on whether it is serving you in this specific season of your life. That’s what I’m doing right now. If you don’t have one yet, try out some different things and choose the practice/practices that are most aligned with your specific needs right now.
Your morning routine is for you. What do you need?