I wrote a couple of blog posts about morning routines in the past. But since morning routines are constantly changing as you grow and evolve, I felt like sharing a more current schedule.
Another reason that I felt inspired to write this post is that when sharing with a woman who I met recently that I meditate each morning, her reply was: “You meditate?!”
Plus, I shared with her that I keep my phone on airplane mode throughout the night and even when I wake up – until I’m feeling centered and ready to leave my place or face the day.
What I noticed People Do
I had a friend who would check her phone first thing when she woke up and start with planning and responding to people. I think most people follow this habit and just thinking about it, makes me upset.
Apart from checking the phone the first thing when you wake up, another mistake is to not even put it on silent, do not disturb or airplane mode while you sleep. I know the woman who I met lately was doing this too.
She was visiting Dubai and was keeping in touch with her family in Australia. Plus, she was working from Dubai on an Australian timezone. On the last day we met, she looked sleep-deprived and we had to cut our night out short because she was too tired and sleepy.
The funny part is that she wanted to go dancing and I even researched places where we could go. Of course, with her lack of sleep and overall daily schedule, we didn’t end up going anywhere to dance or stay out till late.
A Morning Routine for You
I don’t share this routine to show that I’m better than others or to judge you. Each person has their own circumstances in life, and I understand that not everyone can follow this routine to the T.
I’m asking you to try to personalize a routine that fits your lifestyle and schedule. So if you can’t do a twenty-minute meditation, do a five-minute one.
There are also ways to work around your family’s schedule or life situation to carve out the best morning routine for your lifestyle.
So when there’s a will, there’s a way. I’ll share with you my routine and you can tailor it to fit your lifestyle and family situation.
I set my alarm to 6:00 and 6:30 am (so two alarms).
I tend to wake up at 6:00 but I don’t get out of bed straight away. Some days I do. But most days I stay until around 6:20 or 6:30 am.
Because there’s always construction noise in Dubai, if I don’t meditate early, the sound will disturb my meditation, and they generally start at around 7:00 am each day.
I aim for a twenty-minute silent meditation. I keep the windows open and I listen to the sound of the birds. So it’s all about being mindful and focusing on the sounds instead of the mind. Of course, thoughts come and go and that’s completely normal.
Sometimes, I can get 40 minutes of meditation in. Other days only ten minutes. It all depends on the time that I get out of bed and how early I can start meditating before the construction noise starts!
Clean Eating
Once I’m done with my meditation, I wash my face and brush my teeth. All of this time, my phone is still on airplane mode. I don’t switch that mode off until after I’ve had breakfast and decided on my to-do-list for the day.
My breakfast is usually a smoothie or a granola and non-dairy yogurt fruit bowl. I sometimes make avocados on toast. And I mostly make egg dishes on the weekend only. I also eat a muffin at least once a week when I go to work from a cafe.
Create a To-do-list for Each Day
Once I’ve had my clean breakfast, I either get dressed and head out to run errands or work from a cafe. Or if I’m staying at home, then I simply write down a to-do-list for the day.
Tune into your intuition to decide on what to do each day. Try and add at least one self-care ritual to the list. Trust me on this.
Don’t aim to do too many things that you know you can’t fit in. And even if you do, keep them for the next day to avoid overwhelming yourself.
Create a structure for the day with different tasks assigned into time slots. For example, checking emails, writing blog posts, creating social media content, cooking, washing dishes, doing laundry. These are all different categories and it’s easier to keep them in separate time slots.
Try adding some type of activity into the schedule. Make sure it’s something that you enjoy so you can commit to it. I write about this topic in this Wellness Wednesday blog post. You can read it here.
Evenings are also spent winding down. So make sure that you include something fun in your schedule for the end of your day.
How you Should Feel Post your Morning Routine
Let me share with you the main reason for creating a morning ritual that fits your lifestyle and schedule.
If you don’t center yourself in the morning, you will find that you will react to everything negative that happens around you. You can easily be triggered and irritated at the smallest things.
But when you take time to ground yourself and your energy at the start of each day, nothing can shake you.
You will also attract more aligned and positive experiences and people. And even when you attract negativity, you won’t react to it as you would without feeling centered and grounded.
I honestly feel so grateful that I have the time and space to invest in a daily morning ritual. But I can reassure you that even if I get into a relationship or have a child one day, I will try my best to integrate meditation and all the other points into my day. It might not be as lengthy or extensive as it is now. But I’m sure I will still make time for some kind of meditation and clean eating.
Do you have a daily morning routine? If not, what’s stopping you from creating one? Let me know in the comments!
Morning rituals
