I Swapped My Morning Routine to Be Just Self-Care Practices—Here’s What Happened
I Swapped My Morning Routine to Be Just Self-Care Practices—Here’s What Happened
It’s officially that time of year where I hate mornings. I hate waking up when it’s dark, and the thought of my feet hitting the cold floor is actually giving me chills right now. No. Thank you.
Not sure about you, but rather than waking up refreshed and ready to start my day, I usually hit snooze three times, which leads to a headache, which leads to me rushing around just trying to get myself pretty before starting my work day. I start off my day feeling about three steps behind and with my adrenaline up to here.
So much of my morning routine had become just that — routine — and with the added ugh of darkness, something needed to change. Rather than making my morning more productive or doing all those things CEOs swear by (if that’s your jam, awesome!), I decided to put all of my favorite make-me-smile self-care practices into my morning.
It’s now just an hour and a half of me-time that’s literally only about making me feel good. Nothing that serves me professionally (social media and emails are banned), nothing that will make me look better to anyone (looking at you, Instagram stories), but just the good stuff I really love doing. Here’s what lots of my mornings look like now:
Actually Get Up When My Alarm Goes Off
You knew this was coming — when you felt as rushed as I did, waking up a few minutes earlier was a necessity. My alarm goes off at 5:30am and I used to hit snooze a few times, but that would just leave me lying in my (super warm) bed dreading getting up when I heard the alarm a mere nine minutes later. So now I just sit up, take five deep breaths, and count 54321 and BAM Im up!
Meditation and Yoga
Even though I am a Mental Health Therapist and Coach, I have often found it difficult to meditate so I never did it but I’ve finally gotten on the train. My mind races all the time, I’m super sensitive to sounds and illness, and I often find my thoughts to be out of control — and while meditation isn’t a cure-all, it does give me an awareness of myself that allows me to take control again. If you haven’t tried it, give it a shot! I use the Calm app for 15 minutes while sitting on my yoga mat.
When it comes to fitness, I am a very active person. My workouts consist of Pilates twice a week, TRX lifting, interval running and stair stepper (it is love/hate relationship with that thing). Although my workouts can be difficult, it gives me a mental and physical refresh that sets my day off right. I carry lots of tension in my body, so it’s really nice to stretch out first thing in the morning and get new blood and oxygen circulating.
Drink a Ton of Water
A person should drink half their body weight in ounces every day in water — for me, that’s 10 cups of water! I fill up my water bottle right when I get out of bed and make sure it’s empty by the time I get back from the gym then I fill it up again and again!
Tend to My Love Language
Okay, you’ve definitely heard of love languages by now, but as a quick refresh, most people feel most cared for and appreciated in one of five ways: words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, acts of service, or physical touch. While these are important in relationships so you can make sure you’re loving your partner the way they receive love, it’s also so important to know your own and keep a good check of how often you’re receiving love that way!
Words of affirmation are the way I feel most loved, so to fill up my cup in the mornings, A good conversation with someone I know loves me does wonders to lift my spirit and remind me of the support I’m lucky to have.
Bonus — as great as receiving love feels, giving love has just as deep an impact on us. Give someone some extra love in the morning. Roommate a quality-time person? Plan to eat breakfast with her just to talk for 20 minutes. Live with your physical touch-loving partner? They might love some early morning cuddles. You are caring for yourself when you care for others, especially if those “others” are people you love.
Check out my Ebook: “The Power of Positive Affirmations for Success and Happiness” which includes 365 days of positive affirmations to transform your life. Simple click here: http://v39.0cb.myftpupload.com/ebooks
Actually Get Ready for the Day
I work mainly work from home so it is so much easier to stay in my PJs and throw my hair up and go days without washing it (thank goodness for dry shampoo!) and makeup….forget about it but now that my routine has changed I have begun to do my five-minute makeup, brush out my hair, and toss on the outfit I laid out the night before. Are there days when I need to spend more time straightening my hair or putting on a full face of makeup? For sure, but I try to keep it minimal, which also minimizes my time to stress over how others are perceiving me.
I do some combination of these things every morning, and it’s made such a difference in how I feel and behave throughout the day! Is it magical every time? Nope, there are still some headaches and rushed days. But it’s pretty cool watching how the simple act of choosing to care for myself before attending to anything else has affected me. Most mornings, I feel rested, cared for, filled up, and ready to give the best of myself to the day ahead.
What does your morning routine look like? Will you add any of these to your day? Tell us in the comments!
