Do you have a morning routine?
If you don’t you should really consider starting one. A great morning routine sets you up for success for the rest of your day. And even if your day turns out to be a bad one, your morning routine will give you what you need to be able to take on whatever life throws your way. Morning routines help you manage your stress before your stress manages you.
A lot of morning routines have so many components that they can take you a few hours to complete. They can consist of things like thirty minutes of exercise, completing three or more morning pages, or twenty - thirty minutes of meditation.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t that kind of extra time in the morning. However, it’s possible to create a morning routine that only takes ten minutes but still puts you in the right mindset to conquer your day. Read on to learn a few quick practices you can incorporate into your morning.
Minute 1 – Drink the Water
If you’ve been around the Making Time blog, you know that I’m a big proponent of drinking water. link It’s one of the best things that you can do for your body and mind.
Start keeping a water carafe or a large glass of water beside your bed. Each morning, before you even get out of bed, drink your water.
Why?
Your body is dehydrated after a long night of repairing itself while you sleep, and you need to replenish any water lost during the night. Drinking water will also help reduce the morning fogginess and grogginess that follows so many of us into our workday despite multiple cups of coffee (or tea).
And because the human body is approximately 60% water, being fully hydrated is an important part of being able to function at your best.
Minutes 2-3 – Do the Breathing
After you’ve rehydrated your body, let’s get some extra oxygen flowing around in your brain. That’s easy to do with some simple breathing exercises.
One particularly easy exercise is to time your breaths by taking six to ten deep inhales and exhales through the course of a minute. Timing your breaths will force you to focus on your breathing and your body which helps with your alertness. You can also use this to calm yourself during the day.
If you have any difficulty focusing on your breathing, try using a breathing gif, website such as Breathe with Calm or app such as Stop, Breathe & Think to help you get centered and focused while going through a simple breathing routine.
Minutes 3-6 – Stretch the Body
Gentle stretching will get your blood flowing and helps your body wake up. Studies have shown that stretching has long term benefits as well including better circulation and flexibility overall.
There’s a great website that I love called DareBee that has a ton of exercises that only use your body weight. They’ve got a ton of different stretch workouts that you can incorporate into your morning routine.
Minutes 6-9 – Give the Thanks
Take a few moments to reflect on what you’re thankful for. Just take a few moments to single in on aspects of your life you are thankful for and why. This will put a positive spin on your day and keep you present through the difficult times in life.
While you don’t have to write your gratitude reflections down or keep a record on your phone, you’ll get more mileage out of them if you do. You can either write them in your regular journal, use a specially designed gratitude journal or use an app on your phone.
Minute 10 – Visualize the Success
Visualizing the success that you wish to have cements it in your mind which helps you to become more confident.
When it comes to this visualization, it can be for that particular day, such a successful meeting or it can be for long-term successes like finishing a half marathon or saving up a down payment on a house.
So, there you have it, an easy way to incorporate a morning routine into your day. You may not have hours to devote to morning routines, but more than likely you can spare ten minutes of your morning to starting off on the right foot (or breath 😊).
Let’s talk, what do you do each morning to get yourself started on the right foot? Let me know in the comments section.
Clouds photo by Gabriel Lamza on Unsplash
Breathe photo by Fabian Moller on Unsplash
Cassandra Martin-Himmons is a trainer, wellness coach and consultant who believes in empowering her clients and providing the tools that they need to make positive changes in their lives to manage their stress and increase their self-care. In her spare time, she enjoys papercrafting, volunteering and travel. Connect with her on Instagram or Linked/In