Do you have a Morning Routine?
If you’re like most people (myself included), your morning routine has gone out of the window during this pandemic! Let’s face it. All of our lives have changed over the past few strange months.
Maybe you’re working from home and no longer have a long commute into the office. Perhaps you have children and have to wake up even earlier than you used to in order to fit homeschooling into your schedule. Maybe you have lost a job and your schedule is completely different and unpredictable.
Chances are, your routine has even shifted from the beginning of quarantine to now. This new “things are opening” time when a lot of us cautiously leave our homes a little more often but things still don’t feel “normal”.
I don’t know about you, but I can sometimes “forget” the times in which we are living when I am at home during the day. I busy myself with exercise, coaching, homeschooling, cooking and cleaning and it isn’t until I walk through the grocery store among other masked humans that I am reminded of our still altered reality.
It is highly possible that you had an effective morning routine at the beginning of the year. Maybe your routine got you energized and out of the door on time and at work with plenty of time to spare. Maybe you were able to have a health breakfast and time to yourself before getting the kids off to school on most days.
Maybe your routine wasn’t health promoting and didn’t involve any self-care but it seemed to work for you. You were rarely late to work. Your coffee seemed to give you all the energy you needed to “get through” your morning. Maybe you were one of those desperately trying to get more zzzz’s who snoozes your alarm (you know who you are!) at least five times before grumpily trudging off to the bathroom to get ready. But you still made it to your destination on time most days.
Regardless of what your previous patterns were and current habits are, I hope to inspire you to create something new. If you watched any of the Facebook Lives during the early pandemic times, you might remember me discussing this. We’ve all been stuck at home a little more and some of us were able to create new space, new creative ventures, new relationships. Let’s continue that energy to purposefully create a morning routine that works for you now.
If you were not one of these adventurous types during quarantine, that’s ok too. It’s never too late to create something new in your life. We are at a sort of crossroads- this slowing starting to branch out into life again. Now is a beautiful time to make some positive changes.
Before you begin to design your new routine, it’s so important to celebrate where you have been and where you are now. What you are currently doing is working for you on some level, or guess what? You wouldn’t be doing it!! (re-read that again-it’s the truth!) However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t make small changes to get you to where you ultimately want to be.
Ok, back to the celebrating! You may be celebrating figuring out working from home, celebrating that your children are still alive, celebrating that you still have your health. These times have been a challenge and we need to celebrate the fact that we have survived! Let’s not downplay that one.
Let’s start with baby steps. Think about one thing you can add to your morning. Something that might improve your life, your happiness, your health and wellbeing and therefore give you the energy, peace and joy to become your best, live your purpose and still have time and patience for your loved ones.
Sound like an impossible dream? I’m here to tell you that it CAN be done. But like any new thing, it takes some effort. Before we focus on the effort, let’s discuss all of the positives you will find when you devote time for yourself in creating your new morning routine.
Most importantly, you will carve out the time to focus on YOU in the morning before the craziness can begin. Trust me, this is worth the effort and is the single most important thing you can do to improve your morning, your career, your relationships, your life.
I’m going to share with you my morning routine but take it with a grain of salt. This morning routine creation is personal business. My routine has changed over the years and should not work for everyone. Maybe it will give you a few ideas so bear with me.
My morning routine starts with meditation. I learned my meditation practice by reading the book, Stress Less Accomplish More by Emily Fletcher. She teaches a 15 minute practice called the Ziva Technique which is designed for high performing individuals (that’s us!) who want to tap into their greatest potential. What I love most about this technique is that it can be done anywhere (no app, incense, Buddha statues needed). After my 15 minute meditation, I practice gratitude, pray and set an intention for my day. Just in these 20 minutes in the morning, I make the choice to live my purpose, find my happiness and appreciate life. Does it always leave me thrilled to make lunches for my kids, straighten up the house, call the bank or work on something for my business that I have been putting off? Of course not. But I do believe that starting my day with a calm practice sets me up for a productive day. Am I “good” at meditating? Nope! My mind wanders, my head bobs as I want to go back to sleep, but 90% of the time I make the time to meditate. As Emily Fletcher says in her book, you don’t meditate to get better at meditating. You meditate to get better at life! I love this. Zero pressure.
Alright, so we’ve taken care of the mind and spirit through meditation and gratitude practice. Maybe your routine is more about prayer or journaling- also amazing practices to tap into spirituality and awareness. Any great morning routine will also have some focus on the body. Let’s first talk about what to fuel your body with in the mornings.
Those of you who read my blog about the Liver Rescue Cleanse that I did know that I have all of the Medical Medium’s books. And I follow his routine most mornings. I start with 16 ounces of water with lemon. I have tried it warm and cold and I’m a fan of both. I’m sure you can read a lot of advice on either method but for me it kind of depends on the weather. During the Texas summer, I like my lemon water ice cold! I follow that up 20 minutes later with 16 ounces of celery juice on most mornings.
Anthony William has devoted an entire book to the amazing effects drinking 16 ounces of celery juice can have on the body. I’ll give you a quick summary. It can improve digestion (which in and of itself greatly improves so much), heal headaches, auto immune conditions (of which I have several), vertigo, clear your skin, sleep problems and so much more.
Now here is where my morning routine changes a little depending upon what is going on for me. If it’s a slower morning without clients, getting kids off to school, etc., I will sit and enjoy a cup of tea. Sometimes this looks like sitting on the couch with my husband while he drinks his coffee. Other times (especially if it’s cool), I sit outside and let the sun hit me on my face for 10-15 minutes.
This sun gazing can have major positive effects. Vitamin D for one. Another is that sitting in the sun in the morning can help to set your circadian rhythm. According to Psychology Today, circadian rhythms are the cycles that tell the body when to sleep, wake and eat-the biological and psychological processes that oscillate in predictable patterns each day. This clock is influenced by external cues, like sunlight and temperature, which help determine whether one feels energized or exhausted at different times of the day. By exposing oneself to sunlight at the same time each day you can support steady melatonin production which will help you sleep better at night. I don’t know about you, but I want to sleep well at night so that my body can rest, heal and repair itself as much as possible.
Continuing with the discussion about fueling your body, breakfast is essential for me. I know intermittent fasting is big right now and many people skip breakfast all together, but like I tell all of my clients, there is no one way of eating that is right for everyone. Most of the time, my body needs breakfast! This is usually a smoothie for me. I love it because it’s portable and delicious. I use Juice Plus Complete chocolate or vanilla protein powder, a handful of spinach, avocado or coconut oil, flax or chia seeds, whatever organic frozen fruit I have on hand (berries are the best!), and a little non-dairy milk and filtered water. Honestly, so delicious! I carry my smoothie with me as I post on social media, prep for clients, consult my “To Do List”, and get dressed for the day.
Another way to take care of your body is through movement. Exercise is a big part of my morning routine on most days. To be honest, when I first started exercising frequently, my main goal was to burn enough calories to be able to eat whatever I wanted during the day. As I have gotten older and wiser and realized that I need to eat the nutrients that my body can actually assimilate to fight disease, I now exercise because I know it’s good for me and I enjoy it. I feel better, have more energy, and feel stronger and healthier. I am lucky that I’ve found numerous ways to exercise that I love. If you haven’t found your love yet, I encourage you not to give up! Exercise looks different for me every day. Some days I walk, other days I take a spin class, do yoga, pilates, weight lifting or another cardio class. And some days I consciously choose to take a rest day. What I have discovered about myself is that if I don’t exercise in the morning, the likelihood of me doing so as the day goes on is minimal. And this has changed for me over the years. When I was a young, childless corporate accountant, I was able to go straight to the gym after work without fail. Times change and we have to change with the times. Exercise might not fit into your morning routine.
My hope for you is that you find a morning routine that works for you. A beautiful routine that improves your body, mind and spirit. Try implementing one new thing a week until you are reaping the benefits and ready to add one more thing. The goal is to create habits that last. A completely new schedule implemented all at once is typically not sustainable and won’t stick. Take gradual steps to get the peace, energy and self-love that you deserve in your morning!
If this blog resonated with you, please let me know! Comment or send me an email at bfitandwellcoaching@gmail.com. Schedule a 1 on 1 “Discover Your Path to Health or Healing” complimentary coaching session with me via email.
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I am on a mission to help others live their best lives. I have helped women lose weight, gain energy, find focus, live an authentic life, love themselves, transform limiting beliefs and become their best selves. My passion lies in helping women with auto immune disease or chronic illness who have lost faith in their body’s ability to heal. I help them rediscover their power to heal so they can have the health and life they deserve.
xoxo-Jennifer
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