Why + How I Implemented A Morning Ritual
If you’re a freelancer who works from home, or just someone stuck in the house during quarantine, you may find that it can be a little difficult to start your day off on the right foot when there is much inconsistency and uncertainty in our world right now.
Additionally, if you’re someone who struggles with anxiety, these feelings can easily take over and multiply, leaving you feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and/or helpless.
Because of all of the above — I took time over the past few months to reimplement a morning ritual that helps me feel centered. I had found a lot of peace and joy in doing so in the past, but due to the constant demands of life, I let this one consistently grounding activity that I cherished in my day fade away. Why do we let ourselves do these things? Ahhh, to be human.
When assessing what actions consistently made me feel better, more confident, and better equipped to handle whatever each day had to throw at me, I discovered that though my morning ritual was one that I definitely had lost sight of. It was also the one I wanted to reimplement immediately and could do easily with what I already had at my fingertips.
That’s one thing I love about a morning ritual. It costs you nothing as long as you’re at liberty to set apart a little chunk of time — preferably 30 minutes — in your day. The tips I’ll give you can be used no matter who you are, or what items you have at your disposal.
Tip #1 — Get Enough Sleep
The first part of a morning ritual that people typically forget about is setting a time to go to bed. This makes ALL the difference. If you’re someone who naturally can fall asleep the minute your head hits the pillow, then you can set an alarm to remind you to hop into bed ten minutes before the time you’d like to be snoozing. However, if you’re someone who takes 30 minutes just for your nightly skincare routine, then plan accordingly.
To get myself ready for bed, I typically turn on my candle warmer and mood lighting in my room before I go to take a shower or do my skincare. This way, when I re-enter my room, the scene is set for me to slumber.
Tip #2 —Create Your Schedule for the Next Day
If you’re someone who wakes up with anxiety, writing out your schedule for the following day the night before can be a gamechanger. Once I’m in bed, I’ll typically write out my schedule for the next day on my phone or in my journal. This not only helps keep me accountable but also allows me to operate with purpose when I wake up instead of feeling overwhelmed and all over the place. When time has been allotted for every part of my day, it alleviates stress and anxiety and also allows me to take my time when enjoying my morning ritual.
Tip #3 — Start Your Day with A Surefire Success
Upon waking up, I instantly go to a motivational email I get every morning to get my mind moving positively. I have screen time turned on, yet allow notifications from this source so I can see them on my lock screen. If waking up/getting out of bed can be difficult for you, you might be drawn to social media first thing. I find that having a morning email to read that’s encouraging and helps set me off on the right foot, accomplishes the goal of helping my mind become more alert, and also getting me in the right frame of thought. Afterward, I try to sit up, stretch a bit, and then attempt to get my feet to touch the ground as quickly as possible. Following that, I immediately make my bed. I’ve noticed that accomplishing this little feat first thing when I wake up helps me tackle increasingly bigger ones as the day goes on.
Tip #4 — Remind Yourself of What You Deserve
Once the bed is made, I’ll typically turn on my candle warmer, go wash my face and brush my teeth, and then go straight to the kitchen to make a hot cup of tea (typically an earl grey latte) and get a big glass of infused water I’ll try to down as much as possible of. I’m not someone who really enjoys water, but infusing it makes it a lot more exciting.
I love being able to enjoy an earl grey latte in the morning and it makes me excited to get up and get moving. For most people, this is probably the idea of getting their first cup of coffee. Setting the ambiance in my room and making my morning latte is a reminder to be kind to myself and also to treat me with love and respect. These little steps are reminders of the good in this world that I deserve to experience and carve out time for.
Tip #5 — Do What Brings You Peace & Clarity
My room is my safe space and is also one of inspiration for me. I’ve found that during quarantine, spending time in a space I’ve intentionally cultivated to be comforting has been so soothing for my soul, and also makes it the perfect landscape for my ritual.
To invite peace & clarity into my morning ritual, I use a gratitude journal — to center myself in thankfulness, a devotional & my Bible — to soothe my woes and also remind myself that the world is a lot bigger than me, a journal — to write down my thoughts & prayers, and also a book of affirmations — to speak over myself & build up my confidence for the day.
And after all of that is said and done — the ritual is complete. I feel grateful, seen, empowered, and ready to c’est la vie! Depending on the day, I might get up, change into workout clothes, and do a Youtube workout, hop on a teletherapy call, or dive into work!
My morning ritual is specific to me, my preferences, my faith, and the things I battle with, so please feel free to amend this to fit you. Above all, I believe the most important part of creating a morning ritual is listening to your mind, body, soul & spirit. Follow where your intuition is leading you and feed it whatever it is that it’s crying out for. It’s funny how much knowledge we intuitively hold, even if it’s difficult for us to tap into it. The more you practice your morning ritual, the more of it you’ll start to unveil.
Have you tried a morning ritual before? Has this inspired you to do so? Let us know. I hope you find the rhythm that works best for you!
xx,
Sey
