Take Time for Sacred Connection in the Morning to Fuel Your Day

I’d like you to ask yourself – how do your mornings look, feel, and sound?

Are you so exhausted from busy schedules that you need every ounce of sleep you can get?  Do you hit the snooze on the alarm endlessly until you realize you have to get up NOW?  Are you racing around trying to get your kids out the door to school and you out the door to work all the while yelling the time of the clock?

What describes your current morning scene – harried, frustrated, chaotic, or maybe, on occasion, pandemonium?

What if you took a moment to press pause?

What if I told you one change could set the tone for the rest of the day?

What if I told you your current morning scene could exude calm, peace, gratitude, and wonder?

Speaking from experience, my mornings were always chaos.  I was a night owl.  When my son finally went to bed, that was my time to “get caught up”.  At times, I was still awake and revved at midnight.  By the time I was able to fall asleep, it felt like the alarm was going off moments later.  I would cram in any final moments of sleep I could get.  But, that would make me late.  It would make me crazed running around the house watching that clock and pressuring my son to get out the door.  By the time I got to work, I was exhausted.  Without a moment to breathe, it was time to dive right into the day’s activities.

So what changed?

A friend recommended a book about morning routines.  She had been following the program for about 60 days and was raving how calm her mornings were.  She was more productive in her work than ever before. I watched amazed as her typically harried mornings became peaceful.  The caveat – she was getting up at 5am!

I resisted.

I plowed through another couple of weeks, but her social media posts were constant reminders of how my mornings were the opposite of hers.

I relented.

I started my morning routine and committed to 60 days.  Faithfully I went through the process.  It was life changing.

Getting up at 5am was no picnic, but it meant that I had to plan on going to bed early – like 10pm early.  I also had to plan to start my wind down routine at 9pm giving my body enough time to relax.

At the end of the 60 days, what I realized was that my morning routine needed a change.  Performing the same tasks over the hour and ½ wasn’t working for me.  I had other things I wanted to accomplish.

I put some serious thought into what would work for me.

That’s when it hit me.  We are all very different.  We are unique, great, quirky, and brilliant.  A standard routine may not work for everyone.  Yet, I strongly believed a morning routine is crucial to starting the day off creating a sense of calm, space, and presence.  The benefits of a morning routine include helping us gain clarity, create energy, develop a mindset for gratitude, and allow for a productive day.

What if this morning routine became a sacred ritual?  What if it became a way to nurture you and allow you to cherish your mornings?  What if you could choose from a variety of self-care practices to achieve that impactful presence?

Here are the 8 self-care practices I chose that have made a difference.  You can pick one, two, or all of them!  Choose whatever resonates with you the most in your heart, mind, and soul.

1. Be Still Dearest One
   1. In other words, meditate! Just Be!  This is time for you and you only!
2. Visualize
   1. How do you want your day to unfold? Visualizing is a strong motivator and powerful tool because it allows you to expand your thoughts.  Go ahead engage all your senses!
3. Reflect
   1. Ask yourself thought-provoking questions. Take time to invest in your emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental state of mind.  Your life revolves around you.  You are the center!
4. Journal
   1. Journaling creates space in the mind for new. It’s a collection of thoughts, ideas, and experiences along our journey.  It’s indulgent, soothing, and sacred!
5. Exercise
   1. Get moving! Take 15 minutes and increase your level of activity.  Download an app for yoga, go for a brisk walk, do some strength training exercises.  Be positive!  You can do 15 minutes!
6. Read
   1. Expand your knowledge! Commit to 10 pages or 10 minutes.  Imagine having the time to read in quiet?
7. Spark a to-do list
   1. Get organized! Crossing items off lists can create a feeling of accomplishment.  Small successes motivate and can clear the way for a productive day by jump-starting your momentum.
8. Create
   1. Design a life you love! Find something that evokes joy.  Paint!  Knit! Cook!  Photograph!  Write!  It will increase your energy and fill you with intense appreciate for your life!

Whatever you chose, remember this is for you!  You will feel a shift in presence not previously experienced.  Your interactions with others and your relationships will benefit because you’ll have more to give knowing you have devoted time to you first.  Commit to 60 days!  Remember, progress is being in a new place from where you were yesterday and from when you started!  You deserve this time for you!  ENJOY!