Whether you want to create a morning routine for your health, mental health or better work habits, the benefits of a morning routine are immense. Rather than just getting up and bumbling through the day, if you get up an hour or two earlier and take care of all the stuff you mean to do – you’ll go slower, so achieve more. And you feel better spending time with those you love, rather than playing ‘catch-up’.
You probably hear people say that ‘everyone has the same 24 hours’. But it’s not true. Some people (like carers) don’t have much free time. A single parent is not going to have the same amount of free time as a retired couple. Other people have disabilities, meaning it takes them longer to do what we take for granted. But just planning an hour or two of the first part of the day, can usually make things easier for everyone. Even if you are a night owl, getting up an hour earlier (unless you work shifts) could bring big benefits to how you feel.
Ideas for Morning Rituals
- Quality time with pets/children
- Read a poem
- Enjoy a proper cup of tea!
- A long relaxing shower
- Drink hot water with lemon
- Meditate or do yoga
- A morning walk (with dogs!)
- A seaside stroll
- Exercise routine
- Morning smoothie
- Leisurely breakfast
- Prayer
- Read something inspiring
- Self-massage (avoid aromatherapy oils for pregnancy/nursing and medical conditions, keep away from pets & young children)
Books to Build a Morning Routine
- Sunrise Gratitude is a beautiful book of 365 guided meditations, with lush illustrations and photographs of nature, to guide your mind to a place of calm awareness and purpose. As the sun rises, wake with a peaceful mindset, and share something from your soul, to bring light to the world.
- My Morning Routine looks at how successful people start their day. How are you spending your most valuable hours? This book interviews 64 of today’s most successful people to offer an instruction manual alongside other people’s diaries. Some routes are about early morning exercise and others more leisurely. Whether you want to boost your productivity or meditation, here is something for you.
- The Routine Building Handbook shows how to build weekend, weekday, morning and night routines, plus tips for staying flexible, to create more balance and happiness in your life.
- The Ayurvedic Self-Care Handbook is packed with easy tips to make the most of your days. Not just about finding your dosha, Ayurveda (an Indian science of self-care) is about following a daily routine in line with your own dosha and the seasons. So practitioners recommend getting up early and making time for meditation, self-massage, yoga, meditation and a shower, all before you even have breakfast. Avoid essential oils for pregnancy/breastfeeding, and never burn near pets or young children.
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep. Rumi
