Lifestyle

Morning Routine – Starting the Day Off Right

Good Morning Sunshines!

Today is Sunday and I am going to go over my morning routine.

I love my mornings-and I also need my mornings. Which means that I need time to … get into the groove of my day.

I am not the type of person that is okay to just get up and go.

I need 20 minutes to lay in bed and scroll on my phone first lol- don’t hate.

But then I jump right into a morning routine.

My morning routine actually starts right before I am on my phone.. so I guess scrolling on my phone is part of my morning routine.

For me, having this routine sets me up to start my day off right- clear headed, positive, healthy and alive.

I will also post a video on my morning routine here when it is ready, so make sure to subscribe to get updates on my site.

First, I express gratitude.

As I start to feel myself wake up I am already thanking the world for my new day. Gratitude is something that I reinforce regularly.

So upon my wake up in my mind, I am thinking things such as….

“I am so grateful for my home… for where I live, for my comfortable bed and sheets, for this new beautiful day, for all my arms and legs, my health, etc”. Every little thing that can be easily overlooked I express gratitude.

I have trained my mind to do this each morning and I love it.

Secondly, I then wake up and spend time on my phone.

UM- If you were thinking that I was going to wake out and bust out a meditation you were wrong- through a bit of a curveball in here didn’t I?

Not really actually, because I already told you at the top of this post but yes, I am human too and one of the first things I do is to gravitate towards my phone to check any emails, messages, social feeds, etc.

My morning routine is yet to be perfected…

There are a couple things that I would like to reintroduce into my routine before I get on my phone:

First, is writing in my Dream Journal upon waking up- I used to do this but I have fallen off the wagon lately and I feel that it is important to get back on.

Secondly, I would like to do a meditation upon waking up instead of later in the morning. I will get into this in another post…

Okay, I’m up- time to move onto my glass of water.

So then I have a huge glass of water, sometimes 2. I will get into water quality in another post but I like alkaline water that is room temperature. If I am feeling super savvy I will put in a slice of lemon but often I do not because I am just too lazy. Having water first thing in the morning is really good to flush out your system after a night of sleeping. I see nothing but good things coming from starting my day hydrated.

Green Drink

Okay, so it’s green drink time. Just greens with water.  I love to do my greens because when I start my day off already with a glass filled with micronutrients that make my body and mind feel invigorated and alive.

Make My Bed

I make my bed every morning. I like to keep my entire home as tidy and organized as possible. You would know this by reading my minimalism and feng shui posts. Also, an unmade bed has a negative psychological impact on me. I could be slightly OCD….

Meditation/Mindfulness

A positive mental practice is important- you can get a free audio by visiting the Journey to Joy Project Page here and signing up for a 1 week free trial.

Stretch

I don’t always do this. Actually, I added this in because as I write this it seems like the right thing to do… for the sake of this post I did stretch this morning and I would really like to make this a consistent part of my morning routine. 20 minutes were good for me today.

Finally- Coffee Time!

I absolutely love my morning coffee. As I sip on my coffee I write in my gratitude journal, read passages from spiritual/self-development books and pull a daily guidance card…..basically, I feed myself with anything positive and inspiring. I have found that besides helping with motivation, this has helped me to become more of an observer in my life and less reactionary.

Workout/Breakfast

So.. after my coffee then it depends. I used to have oatmeal right away. (I will link to my new oat recipe when it is ready). Lately, I have been pushing breakfast back because I just do not feel hungry. I have been reading into intermittent fasting and eating windows. We have been told that we must eat breakfast upon first waking up.. but who told us this? Was it the breakfast industry? I think every body is different and different lifestyle habits work for different people so I just intuitively follow my body and listen to what it wants.

Each day can be slightly different… I let my body guide me

Some days I might have a piece of fruit and workout and then have oatmeal after, or I will have Oatmeal first and then work out. It depends on how I feel.

Today I worked out first (30 mins of lower body weight training/heavy) and had some healthy french toast after. Be sure to check out my healthy french toast recipe in the next post!

Current Workout Routine

For those of you wondering, right now I only work out 2-3 days per week. I only do weight lifting (heavy) and I eat quite clean overall. I will be adding in cardio in and once I do I should lean out incredibly quickly because I am already maintaining a pretty good physique without any cardio right now. I will be documenting the cutting transformation within my blog when I do this so stay tuned for that too!!

After my morning routine, I get on with my day.

At this point, I will either head off to work or because today is Sunday I will lounge around until I head out to do errands…. I am wanting to get a vlogging camera- any recommendations?

I find that this routine really helps me start the rhythm of my day off right, and sets me up for success. I am not suggesting that you do any of this, this is just what I do and it works for me.

What do you think of my morning routine?

What is your morning routine?

 

11 thoughts on “Morning Routine – Starting the Day Off Right”

  1. Hi Andrea,
    It is interesting to see your morning routine because it is quite similar to mine too! I think being grateful is one of the greatest part of the morning routine as I tried to wake up every morning now with gratefulness to God and little gratitude really goes a long way to bring a positive attitude in the day! Sometimes, it is the little things that count, even being alive and blessed with a bed to sleep with!
    I, however, find it hard to keep up with a workout routine! How do you keep yourself motivated to workout everyday?

    1. Hi Susan, so wonderful that we have similar morning routines! 🙂 I don’t workout every day right now, and I am happy with my physique from the 2x per week heavy weight training. I think eating properly is key. I am going to ramp things up in the fall though .. stay tuned for when I document it! Also, thank you for your comment and inspiration to create some content on motivation/workout motivation!

  2. I enjoyed your morning routine although mine is slightly different, your morning routine is quite interesting. It is always nice to here someone else’s daily routine, your routines give me some insights to put in my mental notebook. I also noticed that reading you recommended, “Ask and it is Given”. That is one of my favorite books, I actually listened to that book on audio, it was great! I think you will also like “E-squared”, by Pam Grout, that’s a great reading. Thanks for all the knowledge you share, really appreciate it!

    Best Regards,

    Oshea Bose

  3. Hahaha the phone part! That is definitely me too! Great article! I’ve been attempting to get into the flow of the morning routine too, along with meditation and journaling. I see it more as “bookending” my days as I like to finish my day relaxed as well. The meditation really helps me relax first thing in the morning and then I go straight into journaling. This kind of sets my mood for the day.

    I like to be in the flow of things from the start of the day. I used to workout in the mornings some time ago, and might get back to running in the morning. It makes me feel great for the rest of the day too. I’m on a similar lifting routine as yours – only 2-3 days high intensity.

    And coffee! Yes! Absolutely necessary lol. I read somewhere that meditation makes you more and more sensitive to coffee and alcohol the more you do it. I guess I’ll see how it goes within the next couple of weeks…

    1. Hi Edwin! Thanks for your comment 🙂 Let me know how it goes for you in the next couple of weeks- when you get into your flow routine I am interested in how you will be doing your morning routine. Hopefully, you found mine to be of inspiration!

      For me personally, I have become much more sensitive since doing meditation/hypnotherapy/mindfulness practice.

  4. I envy your morning routine. It sounds like bliss.
    Most my mornings start with my 3 year old twins jumping on my head at 5.30am.
    Like you I Practice gratitude and mindfulness practices after waking.

    For your vlogging camera try Sony RX100v

    1. haha well, I should enjoy this routine even more now before I start having kids I guess- thanks for the recommendation on the vlogging camera! I will look into it!

  5. My morning routine varies from day to day, but it almost always involves a protein shake with a bunch of fruit blended into it. I aim for something sort of green I guess because I usually put a big handful of spinach into my shakes.

    I also like your idea of stretching every day, but I normally get my stretching in before bed cause it usually helps me relax before I lay down and my muscles tighten up for the night. I’ll have to try it out in the morning sometime!

  6. Hi, Andrea!
    What a lovely post! I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for that! I smiled while reading your article, and my mood changed for the better. How can I say enough thank you for that? 🙂
    I love that you start your day by expressing gratitude. I am usually doing it later, but I think the morning is a great time for that. Sometimes I meditate in the morning, and it depends on my mood. But usually, I meditate before bed.
    I don’t drink coffee at all, and my body doesn’t like oatmeal. 🙂
    You gave my idea for my website because I think morning routine is very important if we want to reduce stress in our lives. Thanks!
    Thanks for this article! Have a great day!

    1. Hi Linda! Glad that you got a spark of inspiration from reading my post 🙂 Have a great day too and I look forward to reading about your morning routine on your stress reduction website!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.