My Morning Routine

Is this you??

“Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up, I noticed I was late

Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat” 

The Beatles, A Day In The Life

 

photo by Martin Adams 

This is me: 

Wake Up, Stretch, Arch My Back, Roll My Ankles, Hug My Knees To My Chest, Get Up.

Have A Wee, Brush My Teeth, Take My Probiotic, Brew My Coffee, Do a Little Lymph Drainage, Drink My Coffee & listen to a Daily Motivation, Journal, Get Dressed.

Get in the Truck, Drive to the Gym, Hum on the Way, Workout, i.e. Move & Sweat, Drive Home, Make another Coffee, Grab Brekkie, Make my To-Do List, Take my Supplements, Hug the Hubby, & Start My Day...

Okay, realistically I usually only tick off around 80% of those tasks at the beginning of my day and only Monday - Friday. (on the weekend, all bets are off because unstructured time is the gift I give myself)

Sometimes my time management skills let me down especially if I get distracted with my email inbox or, for example this month, if I click on my online interactive Advent Calendar.

But even if I only accomplish 80% of my list, that’s a fair amount of stuff - let’s admit it - that’s a heap of s**t and there’s even more items I’d add if I could squeeze them in!

On the days when I miss that 20%, I try really hard to do them later that day. Interestingly they’re usually the same things:  Listening to a Daily Motivation, Journaling, and the Hubby Hug.

photo by Marco Bianchetti 

So, as you can see, even when I don't get everything done that I want to do,

I have a pretty strong Morning Routine 

According to little ole Me

The 7 Benefits of my Morning Routine are:

1. I wake up with intention and the tone is set for my entire day: I have a clear pathway of how my day will begin, setting me up for what I want to accomplish with the rest of it.
2. Having a set schedule reduces my stress & worry. Do you ever have days with nothing planned and find out that you get overwhelmed with having too much choice about what to do with your free time? On those days do you generally get nothing done? I do and it makes me cranky!
3. The routine provides mental clarity: Because I don’t have to think about my list I actually have more brain space to noodle and be creative. (I went to primary school with a girl who every morning picked the very first thing in her closet to wear. When her laundry came back she just hung it at the back of the rack - no daily decision & overwhelm for her - I guess she must have used all that extra brain space for studying cause she was at the top of our class!)
4. It’s easier to wake up and get up: Even though my alarm is set for later, I wake up when the sun peeks through my blackout curtains, usually around 5:00AM. 
5. My wellbeing and health are front and centre: What’s that saying? You can’t draw water from an empty well. My Morning Routine fills my well.
6. I’m more productive: For me getting things done feeds on itself and I look for that reward in other areas of my day. I’m a huge list maker and love ticking things off.
7. The ritual and ceremony is meditative: One of the benefits while I’m in the midst of my routine is that I’m more present and I can find some gratitude. There are also a couple of items in my Morning Routine that are inherently ritualistic which I really enjoy.

Here’s something that’s probably not surprising at all

The biggest benefits that I see by having a Morning Routine, and that numbers one through seven all circle back to, are:

Better Mental and Physical Health!  

YES!!

photo by Jen Theodore

Wake Up, Stretch, Arch My Back, Roll My Ankles, Hug My Knees To My Chest, Get Up.

Have A Wee, Brush My Teeth, Take My Probiotic, Brew My Coffee, Do a Little Lymph Drainage, Drink My Coffee & listen to a Daily Motivation, Journal, Get Dressed.

Get in the Truck, Drive to the Gym, Hum on the Way, Workout, i.e. Move & Sweat, Drive Home, Make another Coffee, Grab Brekkie, Make my To-Do List, Take my Supplements, Hug the Hubby, & Start My Day

What’s non negotiable in those run-on sentences?

What things on my list do I treasure?

Movement!!

My ‘bed’ routine, if you can even call it that, is a way to begin to lubricate my joints and get some blood flow to my brain.

I joined a gym last year and not only do I feel soooo much better at the end of my sessions, it’s a social outlet for me as well - win win.

I also practice Pilates. (not as much as I should or would like to)

Humming!

I know it’s kindov’ weird but see my blog post >> HERE << about the benefits of humming for your health. 

My Coffee!

This is a ritual I cannot do without. We use an Aeropress at our house which I would describe as a French Press that uses a vacuum seal of air to push the water through the grounds.

• I have a triple shot (2 decaf, 1 regular) brewed at 80 degrees C.
• Then I re-heat the kettle to 95 degrees and top up my cup (so technically an Americano?)
• Finally I add a healthy splash of full cream milk.

It’s the best and as you can see the making of it has a few steps and I have to take my time. Also, the anticipation of how great it’s going to taste brings me great joy!!!

While the coffee’s brewing I do a short Lymph system stimulation. This post from Kinesis Pilates  is why. I met the writer, Pilates teacher, Sophia Briegleb, at a conference a couple of months ago when I did her workshop on Pilates and Lymph - she knows her stuff (& is inspiring, smart, and also super nice) 

Brekkie. 

I’ve gone back and forth over the years of having breakfast or skipping it and, for me, I feel better when I have it  (most mornings it's a bowl of full fat greek yoghurt, some fresh or frozen berries, nuts, coconut flakes and cacao nibs - I guess it’s another ritual)

Supplements:

I take Vitamin B3 (I’ve had a skin cancer cut out and the research shows that Nicotinamide can both treat and help prevent cancers. The B3/Nicotinamide was recommended by my surgeon)

A generic decongestant for my ever present hay fever: I'm allergic to animal dander, pollens of all types, dust, & mould - the list is long but luckily no foods. 

A couple of cellular activators. Cellular Activators sounds so wanky but one tablet helps with oxidative stress and the other with mitochondrial health. I’ve taken them for years and even if it’s the placebo effect, as far as I’m concerned, they’ve helped me stay healthier.

A Do List:

This just gives me a guidepost of what I want to accomplish during the day. I use timeblocking to organise my day as well.

These things are not on my Morning Routine checklist but I do them at some point in my day or during my week

A Breathing Practice:

Sometimes this happens at the beginning of a gym session but it always happens when I practice Pilates!

When I have a lot of desk time, I set a timer and stand up every 1/2 hour and throw in some breathing - usually some dragon breathing - to get me fired up and re-energised.

Getting Outside: 

• Breathing fresh air
• Scanning the horizon
• Soaking up the sun

Walking Barefoot: Inside and Outside

Reading For Pleasure

Skin Brushing (again for the lymph system)

Do you want a Morning Routine?

If you do, what’s the easiest way to set one up?

Habit Stacking connects a new habit or behaviour to something that you already do:

My examples:

• Taking my probiotic is connected to going into the kitchen to start my coffee and I do my lymph stimulation while my my coffee is brewing.
• Humming and driving to the gym. It’s so connected that no when I get in the car, even if my hubby is driving and we’re going to the shops or out running errands, I want to hum.
• Sometimes I need some external motivation and accountability: My gym membership isn’t cheap and I don’t like to waste moola. At first I was motivated to go to “get my money’s worth” but now I go because I really want to.

And, That’s what I’ve found with my Morning Routine, I now do these things BECAUSE I WANT TO

The habits I’ve created, the Morning Routine that’s now second nature, is easy to do because I want to do the tasks that set me up for the rest of my day.

It's a nicely sustainable and supporting cycle: when I do them I feel better so I want to keep doing them and because I keep doing them they’re ingrained in my morning which also makes doing them every morning second nature. 

Finally that hug that sometimes the hubby has to wait for? Here’s why that’s a good thing (the hugging, not the waiting!) Hugging Benefits

Thanks for reading.

xBec

The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this blog are not intended to amount to advice and Rebecca Forde disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this post

cover and social photo by Rebecca Keene Forde