7 Morning ritual ideas
Having a morning ritual can set the tone for the day. It helps to re-energize, builds focus and eliminates stress caused by the chaotic morning rush. It can help you to start your day on a positive note. Scientific studies have shown we have 60,000 - 70,000 thoughts a day and 80% of those are negative. So imagine the amount of negative thoughts you can have that are negative when you first wake up! Before your brain has even had chance to get out of monkey mind and is ready to tackle the day ahead.
By giving yourself even just 5 minutes when you wake up to dedicate to a morning routine you can help to change yourself into having a positive mindset before you get on with your day. You will feel good before you even leave the house for practicing a little self care.
Here are 7 ideas for you to try, I would recommend choosing at least 2/3 that resonate with you and are the easiest for you to do:
Mindful appreciation - As you wake, before taking any other action, reflect on one thing you are happily anticipating in your day. Have a practice of starting your day with gratitude. You can start small by just being thankful for breathing and having a brand new day ahead. With practice your gratitude will deepen. You could even start a journal and note down two/three things you are grateful every morning.
Awaken your senses - Choose a product with a scent you love. It could be an essential oil, room spray, or gently apply some body lotion or hand cream. Pause and take a moment to enjoy the aroma. Relax as you breathe in your chosen scent. Notice how it makes you feel. Does it energize you? Relax you? Some scents can bring back memories so notice thoughts and feelings associated with the memories. Allow yourself to slow down and enjoy this moment.
One minute meditation - Take a minute to connect with the breath, noticing the rise and fall of the abdomen. Using the breath to ground you and as an anchor into the present moment. Knowing that you can always come back to breath at any time during day. The breath is something so simple and always available to us so we can enjoy a moment of calm before starting our day. You may want to set a timer for this, sit up or even stand up.
All you have to do is notice your natural rhythm of breath wherever it is at for you. You can notice where it feels the strongest, this can be the rise and fall of your abdomen or as the breath enters the nose or mouth. You can notice the inhale, pause, then the exhale then pause. You can say to yourself 'breathing in i am aware i am breathing in, breathing out i am aware i am breathing out.'
Connect with nature - Look out of the window, welcome the day and see what you notice. listen for the sounds of nature, tune into the dawn chorus. Nature has the gift of calming our mind. Think about those amazing people you want to send your warm good morning wishes too. Being present when we do simple tasks such as opening our curtains can really help us to notice the beauty of the world and help us to cultivate gratitude into our daily routine. This calms the mind and can make us feel happier.
Gentle movement - A few gentle stretches will help you prepare for the day ahead. Focus your attention on how it feels to be moving, keeping your mind anchored in the present moment. Tune into the energy it brings to your body. You could try a few minutes these of gentle stretches or do some yoga:
Mountain breaths -Stand upright with your feet hip width apart. As you breathe in raise your arms out to sides and reach them overhead, as you breathe out lower them. Repeat this six times.
Mountain side stretches - Begin with your feet hip width apart and hands down by your sides. Imagine there is pane of glass in front of you and behind you so you can't arch or round your spine, all you can do is elongate and side bend. As you breathe in raise your right arm, with your palm facing you, stretching all the way out to your finger tips. As you breathe out, reach your right arm up and over towards your left. making a banana shape with your body, until you feel a gentle stretch on the right hand side. As you breathe in bring your body back upright. As you breathe out float your right arm back down by your side. Repeat on the other side. Repeat three to six times each side moving slowly with your breath.
Notice how you feel once you have finished the exercises, Notice if you feel more peaceful and energized.
Remember it is important to move safely and within your own limits.
Choose a mantra - Choose a mantra that resonates for you. This could be a simple 'i am' statement paired with a quality you would like to invoke, or a positive statement to boost your confidence or self-esteem. Return to your mantra throughout the day for calm and clarity. Repeating a mantra throughout the day can have positive effect on the way you feel. You don't even have to feel that way at the time but you do have choice over what you think, so think a positive thought and the feelings will follow.
Examples could be 'I am calm', 'I am resilient', 'I am capable' or 'I appreciate me'.
You can always come back to it during the day when you need a boost.
Mindful eating - Eating your meals mindfully can help you to enjoy your food more and also help with weight management. Having a full, healthy, well-rounded breakfast is shown to help improve healthy food choices throughout the rest of the day. We can bring mindfulness to our meals by turning off distractions as we eat such as phones and the TV. We can engage our five senses as we eat. Noticing the texture, colours and smell of the food. Eating it slowly and really noticing the taste. Noticing when we start to feel full. We can express gratitude for the effort that went into making the food and where the food came from.
It can help to keep track of how you are feeling over a period of a few weeks in a journal or diary when you start your daily rituals. You could do this at the end of the day by rating how you feel on a scale of 1-10. This way you can see how you have progressed and the benefit it is having on your wellbeing.