The Benefits of a Conscious Morning Ritual (and How to Create One)

How do you start your day? Do you hit the snooze button a few times? Roll out of bed and stumble around frazzled to get out the door or to your home office?

If this sounds like you, you are not alone. Many of us are constantly rushing around to take care of our endless lists of responsibilities before tending to ourselves. Add to that the state of the world lately, there is so much going on energetically! And when there is a lot going on, it is so incredibly important to start our days centered, grounded and living with intention.

So what can we do to get through our to-lists and responsibilities with more ease? Create a conscious morning ritual!

How we start our days sets the tone for the rest of our day. Those days when I wake up late and I am in a rush, nothing seems to flow until I stop, reset, and center myself. I have found that having a consistent morning ritual is key to showing up as my best self each day.

We all have rituals ~ especially morning rituals ~ but a lot of times these are unconscious versus conscious. We all participate in them! For example, my morning ritual used to be to wake up, check my email, look at social media, then get up, wash my face, make coffee and then jump into my day.

For me, this was an unconscious ritual and what I realized was that it was not serving me and not creating space for me to step into my best self. Rather, I was just going through the motions and not starting my day with any sort of intention either.

I invite you to take a few moments to think about how you start your day. Is your ritual conscious or unconscious? Is it intentional and is it allowing you to step into your best self? Do you feel like you begin your day aligned with your highest self?

If not, I invite you to create a conscious morning ritual. There are so many beautiful ways to create an intentional start to your day. Even things like taking a mindful shower to cleanse, reading for 15 minutes first thing in the morning, writing down gratitude in a journal when you wake up, meditating, making tea and sitting in silence, or taking a walk in nature can be really powerful ways to start your day out consciously.

If you need a little inspiration, check out my easy to follow 5-step process to create your own personal ritual

1. Create a sacred space.

This can be a small sacred space that is just for you and your morning ritual. You can create this anywhere in your home. The key is that you make it your sacred space. You can also create an altar in your sacred space. You can place a few items that you love or that remind you of the importance of taking time to align with your best self! Click HERE for a blog on how to create an altar.

2. Wake up 15 minutes earlier than you normally do.

Set an alarm 15 minutes before you normally wake up. When you hear your alarm, get up, splash your face with some water to wake you up and then go directly to your sacred space. You may need to tell your family this is your time, your personal 15 minutes. Let’s be honest, that extra 15 minutes of sleep is not going to make a huge difference.

3. Keep your ritual (routine) short.

Even 10 minutes is great. This way it is manageable, and you are more likely to stick with it. If you can create a longer one, go for it! The key is to create an amount of time that you know you can commit to.

I recommend that you first take time to tune inside and ask yourself what is the best way to align with yourself? What is most nurturing for you? How do you get grounded and centered?

Here are a few ideas:

a. A meditation practice. CLICK here for my next 21 day meditation challenge.

b. Journaling.

c. Yoga +/or Stretching.

d. Breathwork.

e. Drawing or Painting.

f. Invest in some special tea, Make tea for yourself and bring it to your sacred space to journal, draw or whatever makes your heart happy.

g. Maybe your sacred space is in nature and you start your day in nature on a peaceful walk and stop to meditate or journal.

4. Set an intention.

Take a few minutes to set an intention for your day by asking yourself the following the questions:

a. What am I grateful for in my life?

b. How do I want to show up for myself today?

b. How do I want to show up for my family, friends, community and/or coworkers today?

c. How do I want to show up for the global community and Mother Earth?

5. Be kind + thank yourself for showing up (+ practice forgiveness if you miss a day).

If you miss a day, do not immediately step into self judgement. Be kind to yourself first, forgive yourself and show up for yourself the next day!

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Photo by Julian Hochgesang on Unsplash