Conscious Morning Routine
Developing my morning routine, like anything else consisted of a lot of trial and error.
I still think I am developing it in little ways now, tweaking it here and there, but I wanted to share what creating a morning routine that I actually really enjoyed looks like.
I tried so many things, from waking up really early, to working out first thing in the morning. Some things I noticed I really liked even though they were challenging, and some things just didn't feel as good as others, or they didn't work with the flow of the rest of my day.
Currently my morning routine looks like this:
-Wake-up at 6:30am
-Meditate for 15-20 minutes
-Brush my teeth and wash my face
-Feed my cat
-Stretch for 10-15 minutes
-Have a glass of water and make a cup of coffee.
-Light a candle or Incense
-Write in my journal & enjoy my coffee
-Read for 10-15 minutes
(Up until this point I am not using my phone, it is not even near me, I am very focused on myself.)
Once I am done reading, I finish getting ready (hair, makeup, outfit of the day) and usually turn on a podcast while I get ready. Some of my favourite podcasters are The Life Coach School, Tonya Leigh, Words are Vibrations (formally homesick alien club), and Infinite Intelligence.
That's it!
When I read that back it feels pretty simple, but I absolutely love my morning routine, which is part of what I think makes it easy to be so consistent with it.
One of the biggest things that isn't included in my morning routine that I see people saying you should do a lot of the time is working out. I have a goal to work out through yoga, dance, or walking 5x a week, but most mornings I have absolutely no interest in doing that.
The biggest reason I don't work out in the morning though is not my lack of interest, it is because I shower at night and I would rather not shower twice a day. It is so much easier for me to work out in the evenings and then shower and follow a night time routine. I did try to work-out in the mornings for a long time because I thought that's what really healthy people do and that it would make my days better... But I could not bring myself to add the extra steps, that take me an extra hour to do, into my morning routine (showering, and blow drying my hair, which I never do).
Could I change this in the future? Absolutely, if I felt like working out in morning would align with my life better. For now I love the way my morning routine works so well for me. I love having relaxing showers at night, and I love never blow drying my hair. I also really love that at the end of almost everyday I can go reset my mind by taking a walk or dancing it out.
My point is, I see all these tips, and videos on what a perfect morning routine consists of and they are all fairly similar. They give great ideas for how you can improve your life, but not all of those things are for everyone, and not everyone can get all of those things done before they go to work. There is no such thing as one size fits all morning routine, this is not "Sisterhood of the Travelling Morning Routine". Your morning routine needs to work for you, and you should be excited to wake up and do it, which means it needs to be tailored to who you are and who you want to become.
If you want to create a morning routine that makes you feel alive and excited for your day, while also giving you a sense of peace because the first thing you did in the morning was spend time on yourself? Then this is how:
Write out all of the ways and all of things you love to spend time doing for yourself.
It could be reading, working out, painting your nails, cuddling your pet, making a full breakfast spread for yourself. It can be anything that you love.
Pick as many of those things as you'd like and can incorporate into your morning routine, whenever it is that you want to wake-up in the morning.
When should you wake up in the morning? Whenever you think your highest self would, but also at a time that will allow you to do all of these things and get ready for all of the other commitments in your day. Whether thats taking care of your kids, or going to your corporate job.
When I wrote out my list I realized I really like quiet mornings and I LOVE watching the sun rise. So I am currently getting up at 6:30am. I like my mornings quiet and I really like connecting with my mind, body, and soul, so I chose meditation, stretching, journalling and reading to be the things that were all for me in the first hour of my day.
Because I focus on myself first when I wake up, I fill my cup, as the saying goes, and so I can easily offer more of myself to others without feeling empty throughout the day.
You'll probably end up trying a lot of things, which is great! You'll notice what really works for you and sets you up for an amazing day and what doesn't.
You may love meditating, but you may not want to get out of bed in the morning to do it all of the time. That's why your morning routine has to be filled with things you love, because if you cannot get into a mindset of loving it, you absolutely will not want to do it at 6am on a Monday. If you can wake up and remember that you are doing it because you love the way it feels, and you love what it does for you it will be a lot easier to consistently do it.
Once you have a solid morning routine you can start making it extra special by adding things like burning a candle you love, or having your favourite music play in the background.
The most important thing when it comes to having a morning routine is that it is for you - it's a way for you to connect with yourself and give love to yourself, so make it exactly how you want it to be, not how you think it should be.
Love & Trust Yourself