Have you ever tried a morning routine?
If you are interested in personal development you won’t have escaped the myriad of suggestions online about how to create a successful morning routine. There is no doubt that in today’s fast-paced world, that setting a daily rhythm settles your body and calms your mind.
However, one of the things I have noticed about these suggested routines if they often have an emphasis on creating ‘more’…
More time, contentment, success, efficiency, money, clarity, discipline, pace, output, peace, health, productivity, focus, energy, happiness, meaning, mental toughness – phew it sounds stressful and exhausting just writing it, but you get the picture! This position of ‘more’ suggests a ‘lack’, turning a valuable practice into another item to add to your already overflowing to-do list to make sure you’re not lacking and don’t miss out.
Being before doing
What would be more supportive, is to focus on the practice itself, which can be both simple and short. The intention of a morning routine is really to be more of who you are. Spending some quiet time with yourself each morning so that you can connect to yourself more deeply than perhaps you will again for the rest of the day, is a precious and grounding experience. To enable this is actually simple, all that is needed is to practice being before doing. That is all. How you go about this is entirely up to you, but I would suggest to keep it simple, as simplicity has a power to it.
Your morning Pause
So without a need to turn any of these simple suggestions into demands on your to-do list, why not choose one of the practices below and try it for 5 minutes in the morning. The practices are best done alone, in silence, with no other distractions, so save turning on your smartphone, television, emails, radio or computer until after the practice (sidenote: I recommend keeping your tech turned off for as long as you can in the mornings, it really helps to cultivate the experience of being before doing).
Try one practice for seven days, keep it simple and see what you notice.
Pause Practices
Write down
any dreams from the night before
Prepare a perfect cup of tea
Dance
Light a candle and gaze at the flame
Hydrate slowly with water and lemon
Sit with your eyes closed, focussing on your breath
Pray
Stand outside and zoom in on the tiny details
Journal your thoughts and feelings
Stand with your legs hip-width apart, inhale and raise your arms. Exhale and
drop your arms. Repeat
I’d love to hear how you get on, and any other suggestions you have for being before doing in the mornings!
