Starting your mornings with beauty and efficiency...
Defining your mornings means setting a balance between the gentle energy morning brings and the accomplishment of a productive start. While there are endless ways to begin your morning, there is an importance to defining this time while acknowledging there are variables within each morning.
Your morning starts with identifying an ideal routine. We believe (and research shows) that with an established routine you’ll have the best start to take on the day. Routines are not one size fits all, they should be seen as a personalized structure, however loose or refined. It’s important to remember that some days we are motivated, but many times we are not. When developing a routine, it should be something you can follow without too much thought or need for motivation.
What are we looking for in a morning routine?
- Flexibility
- Warming Up Your Body
- Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Attention
Start with a List
When looking at your routine, we like to divide it into three parts: (1.) Functions we require every morning, (2.) Tasks that change depending on the morning, and (3.) Rituals we would love to do each morning but cannot always afford the time. While we all want to live in the perfect world where we wake up each morning with enough time to do our routine, we must acknowledge there will be some mornings where we wake up and are already behind (does hitting the snooze button one too many times sound familiar?). How do we find a system that accommodates all that we want in a morning routine? Let’s first write out a list of the activities we want to include in our morning. That checklist could look like this:
- Stretch
- Skincare
- Breathing exercise
- Short Meditation
- 10-15 min reading
- Morning green juice
- Go over daily planner/journal
NOTE: We do not include a workout in a morning routine, this is a large enough activity it is its own category within a day. Of course, some start their day with this and then will circle back to the morning routine. 
You have your list, now what?
From here we find it helpful to place our list above in order of importance, that could look like this:
- Morning meditation
- Skincare
- Green juice
- Stretching
- Go over daily planner/journal
- 10-15 min reading
- Breathing exercise
Be Realistic: Remember Consistency is Key
Next we consider what we can realistically do on most mornings. Start with a goal to accommodate no more than your top 3-5 activities, consistency will be key here in creating a sustainable habit around this routine. Remember, this should be fairly easily replicable on a daily basis. However if you miss a day, don’t get discouraged, each morning is a new opportunity. A week of success is not made void by an off day. Over time we may incorporate faster and slower versions of each step to further harmonize with each morning.
Within this regimen, we want to ensure the routine can breathe and remain flexible. One day we may need some more time on a certain stretch, another we may require extra time with our breathing exercises to cope with the day ahead. Over time we’ll begin to adapt to faster and slower versions of each step, and on slower mornings you can add in your extras or spend more time on your regular habits.
The Beauty of Flexibility within your Morning Routine
Occasionally we can find ourselves dragging through these activities, feeling like it is a burden. This is ideally the time we remind ourselves to appreciate this opportunity to prepare our body, mind, and soul for the day ahead, but sometimes that just doesn’t do it! From time to time parts of a routine become worn out and need refreshing with new techniques, revisions, or approaches. It is important to allow ourselves the flexibility to have variations within our morning. Reflecting on our routine can allow us to readjust and notice what needs refreshing. Mindfulness throughout these routines, particularly on slower mornings will help us to further define our mornings.
This may seem like a huge ask for some of us who are used to rolling out of bed with just enough time to get to work. If this is you, don’t feel like you need to jump into a 60 min morning routine. Try waking up five minutes earlier than usual and just breathe or journal and see how you feel from this. Start small, and if it feels right, work your way up. For others with a long-established routine, this can be a good moment to reflect and make sure the routine doesn’t become too large and begin to feel like a morning burden. For those with a tiresome routine, try shaking up activities, allowing yourself to rotate in and out some of the steps, or just letting yourself be okay with not doing the entire list every morning.
IN SHORT
Keep your goals in mind
Wherever your morning is, ensure it is working to set you up for a productive and enjoyable day. Hopefully, it is reminding us of our goals, and preparing our body, mind, and soul to fulfill those. As the sun rises with the promise of a new day and renewed energy, start with a routine that can easily motivate you on the groggy mornings, calm you on the chaotic ones, and lift you up to meet each day with the best version of yourself for that particular day!
