The way we start our morning provides the momentum for the rest of our day. If we are sluggish from lack of sleep or disrupted sleep, our morning momentum is lacking and we can experience that low energy extending into the day – making the rest of our day a long haul that is just dragging until we can find ourselves again at the temple of sleep. However, we can also experience low momentum after a night of good, solid sleep. If we wake up past our optimal sleep time, we can also experience a slow, sluggish start to the day. But there are ways to counter both scenarios, and one of them is by creating a morning routine.
Now some folks claim that they are just not “morning people” and that there is nothing that will get them up and running with energy in the morning. These folks wake up slowly and you don’t talk to them until they’ve had their morning coffee or until they speak first. Others fall into the opposite camp – the “bright eyed and bushy tailed, happy morning people”. You know them, they wake up and bounce into activity. They smile, sing, laugh, and talk themselves awake in the morning. I admit, I am one of those latter people – I also admit that it can be pretty annoying to those around me who are NOT morning people, so I have modified my activity to accommodate the rest of my household. But I believe that creating routine can help even the most diehard “not-morning person”. So let me share a little of my own experience – welcome to my morning.
The day starts a little before 6AM, perfect alignment with the Ayurvedic clock though I must confess it is my one dog’s epileptic medication schedule that keeps me tight to that timeline! I wake to the sound of birdsong accompanied by the moans and grumbles of three dogs who just want to go outside. I throw on a robe or warm sweater and take the dogs downstairs and open the door to release the hounds. While they are having their morning romp, I prepare their breakfast. While they are eating breakfast, I bring laundry downstairs and get that started, or set up for my breakfast. When the dogs have finished their breakfast, they go outside and I head back upstairs to make the bed and complete my oral care (brush, floss, scrape, oil pulling, rinse) and wash my face. We have one cat, so I tend to his food, water, and litter box. When all of that is complete, I throw on some comfy clothes that I can wear to do some light yoga and meditation. Back down the stairs, bring the dogs in, and the laundry is ready to turn over. Thankfully the dogs usually go back to sleep and the house returns to quiet. I prepare a warm cup of ginger tea and settle in for about 30 mins of quiet. This is time for meditation, centering, and morning stretch. When that is done, I have breakfast and grab a shower … Ready for the day!
Sounds like a lot, right? But it only takes about 90 minutes, and during that time I am running on autopilot. I say “autopilot” because I am simply moving from activity to activity. There is no negativity about the task, no cause to be grumpy, there is just being in that moment and doing that one thing … and then the next, and the next. The creation of this morning ritual has allowed me to keep my house orderly, my pets cared for, my laundry under control, my mind calm and ready for the day. And the best part of it all … over time it’s become easy.
Rituals like this can help you kick start the day with a level of momentum and productivity that – when practiced consistently – gathers up energy that you can bring into the rest of your waking hours. All it takes is starting with one thing you know is important and must happen, and then you begin tacking on other activities to it, like cars on a train. The engine (that first activity) becomes the activation energy that can pull along the rest of the cars on your “train of morning activity”. For me, this ritual started with brushing my teeth (thanks to my parents that habit has been entrained for years!). I began to build it up from there. One car (or habit) at a time, the morning ritual was assembled. And even now, I am finding ways to add to it every now and then. And the longer your engine continues pulling the cars of your habit train, you find that they, too, begin to add momentum. Imagine the train each morning at the top of a hill. Your activation habit, your engine, starts moving the cars. But as the train travels over the hill, it picks up speed and momentum, increasing because of the weight of those other cars. Building and stringing habits is just like that!
Sure, it takes time to get into the groove. Give yourself some grace if you have a morning that doesn’t seem to come together, and rest in the knowledge that there will be another morning to start over the next day. Research published in the European Journal of Social Psychology suggests it takes an average of 66 days before any activity becomes a habit and a part of your lifestyle. If you want to try to create a morning momentum ritual, set yourself up for success for two to three months while building this new habit – make checklists and acknowledge each step with a grateful heart, celebrate each day you achieve your goal. After that time, the actions no longer need your lists or little celebrations, but you will find real inner satisfaction with your productive start and a momentum that is yours to harness for your day.
What habit(s) do you want to build? Why not start with a morning wellbeing and productivity ritual?
Morning Ritual
