A morning routine is something that can completely shift the way you feel, think, and function throughout your day. Whether you realize it or not, everything you do from the moment you wake up, places your mindset in a particular state. Most of us roll over and quickly pick up our phones to browse social media, giving us that quick boost of dopamine or maybe even our emails, where the stress of work could automatically shift our body into a cortisol overload. We hardly give ourselves a moment to properly wake up.

Instead, what we should be doing is utilizing these morning hours of peace and personal time to truly set up our days for success. Here are some tips to help you center yourself prior to starting your first obligation of the day.

1. Wake up 1-2 hours earlier. - Think of what time your first obligation is. Now, what would it take to wake up 1-2 hours earlier. Chances are it would take some adjusting to, but the benefits of what you would be able to accomplish would prove how much it is worth it. One of the main reasons people are not able to implement a solid morning routine is because they are always in a rush, waking up seconds before the need to shower. Everything is usually a sporadic blur with absolutely no time for themselves. When you rise early, you will immediately feel the peace and stillness of your environment. Being up before the texts start rolling in, the kids wake up, or your emails start going off, gives you the space for some true personal time.
2. Meditate - Mediation is a practice that the benefits gradually will flow into your life. When you first begin meditating you will feel as if it is too difficult, boring, or useless. But, once you get in a flow of meditating each day you will soon realize how amazing it is and you will get progressively better at it (hence the word 'practice'). Stilling your mind for even 10 minutes before your day allows you to welcome peace and silence prior to walking into any stressful or emotional situations. As you continue the practice of mediation you will gain the awareness that you are not your thoughts, giving you the power to quickly manage your emotions and stresses. The skills and tools that meditation equip you with will come in handy with every curveball that your day will throw at you. If you are new to mediation, look into the app “Head Space”. It has amazing guided meditations that are great for beginners.
3. Keep a Gratitude Journal - One of the most amazing things you can do in the morning is to write in a gratitude journal. This can just be any old journal that each day you write 10-15 things that you are thankful for. The list can be of ANYTHING you appreciate. Try not to overlook the obvious ones like the roof over your head or the shoes on your feet, while also thinking of some specific ones. When we are going through a hard time or even just dealing with life’s daily stresses, we sometimes forget about all the amazing things surrounding us. Reminding ourselves of some of these first thing in the morning allows you to put things in perspective. “While yes, I may have a difficult project due today, I am so thankful for the health of my family and the food that I am going to eat for breakfast.”
4. Drink Water - Instead of reaching for the caffeine, why not give your body something it is truly in need of when you rise, water. Try to drink one glass of water before anything. You will find that hydrating yourself with water will wake up your cells and body. If you are up for it, you can even try warm water with lemon. This has multiple benefits such as improved digestion and many others (see here: https://goglow.co/blog/15-benefits-of-drinking-lemon-water-in-the-morning-on-an-empty-stomach/)
5. Move Your Body (duh!!)- Of course if you have the time, another amazing thing you can do is to MOVE YOUR BODY! This one is a given. And like we have mentioned before, don’t stress over completing an intense workout…a simple 10 minute yoga flow or 20 minute walk is enough to allow you to reap the benefits of this one.

If doing all of these at once seems overwhelming, start with one or two and work your way up. As you begin to see the shift in your mindset with each day, you will understand how important this time is and you will never want to go back to your old ways. Try it out!! You will have 0 regrets!!