I became a huge fan of having a morning routine, starting the day in a good way determines your whole day.
Imagine a day when you wake up, you push the snooze button five times to get a bit more sleep, you check your phone and you read a not nice message from a friend. After checking out other people’s life on Instagram, you jump under the shower, you grab a quick bite and coffee while you realize you are already late to work. So your day continues, you rush out of the house, you are stuck in traffic and when you arrive at work, you are already in a bad mood.
Now imagine a day when you wake up before your alarm goes on, you leave your phone on flight mode, you sit down to do a conscious breathing exercise and you give yourself the time to feel your body, after a night of sleep. You go to the kitchen, put on your favorite music, make a coffee, get a notebook and write down some Intentions for the day. After Breakfast, you make yourself ready and go relax to work.
If you have the choice, which day would you choose? Probably the second wouldn't you?
Here is the thing, you do have the choice! Humans are creatures of habit, often we are stuck in a routine, that isn't serving us and we know it deep down. We want to change something, but we have an excuse to feel better: „I don't have time“. Which is not necessarily true, if you would get out of bed 20 minutes earlier, for example, you would have more time.
Yes, it is hard to change something in our routine, because we did the same routine for the last five years. Furthermore, we would need to step out of our comfort zone.
So why would you want to change something? Simply, because it is good for you and I can tell you from my experiences, it will have a huge positive impact on your life.
Five years ago, in the morning my first move was switching on the TV. I made Breakfast and ate it in bed, while it was hard for me to get up because my bed was warm and cozy (especially in Winter). Most of the time, I chilled too long in bed, watched some random TV Shows and had to rush to leave the house.
I felt restless, tired and wasn't really conscious of how my morning controlled my whole day.
Everything started to change when I got more into Yoga and started to increase my overall awareness. I became aware of how different i felt in my body and mind because of Yoga and Meditation. I started to listen to myself and saw how my unhealthy habits controlled me.
Furthermore, I began to read a variety of books, about self-awareness, self-improvement and spiritual books (for example The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle).
I just felt I want to change something, so step by step I started to integrate new things into my morning and day.
Nowadays I love my mornings and the time for myself, I feel more productive, content and happier throughout the day.
How does my morning routine look like?
I wake up early, most of the time I wake up before my alarm goes on. By waking up early I create more time to do the things that nurture me, so I can really dedicate my time to Meditation for example, without feeling pressured, that I have to leave the house soon.
I drink hot lemon water. Drinking hot lemon water in the morning has many benefits from improving digestion, hydration, better skin quality, and other things. Personally, I just enjoy drinking it first in the morning and I love the taste.
Journaling. I write down things I am grateful for and I set my Intentions for the day. I am guided by questions like which Qualities do I want to embody, what do I want to achieve in the next 24 hours or how do I want to feel?
I meditate every morning and I love it. Meditation sets the tone of my day. One of my favorite is a Guided Meditation by Deepak Chopra (you can find it on Youtube).
Yoga Flow. Yoga transformed my life in many positive ways. I became very passionate about it, that's why I recently started to do my Yoga Teacher Training. Yoga helps me to wake up my whole System and it feels great to move my Body, after sleeping.
Breakfast. I am a Breakfast person, it is actually my favorite meal of the day, that's why I always try to make enough time for it.
Since two months, I am actually taking an ice-cold shower every morning. Trust me, I never believed, that I would be able to do it when people suggested it to me. One day, I stepped out of my comfort zone, now I really enjoy it and it helps me to truly wake up.
The length of my morning routine depends on the time I have to leave the house. Even on days, where I have to leave earlier, I set my alarm early enough to start my day in a positive way.
My personal morning routine is supposed to be an example and Inspiration. Every person is different, so choose things that feel good for you! Furthermore, choose a ritual, that makes you feel excited to wake up in the morning.
If it is hard for you to meditate, just try to do something mindfully. Meditation is not just sitting on the floor with your eyes closed, even mindfully preparing food can be therapeutic and is a form of Meditation.
Think about your why? Why do you want to change something? Why do you want to start your day positive? Use your why as your driving force!
Try it out and transform your life.