Making time stretchy. My morning routine + 4 more for inspiration …

Inspired by Gail LoveSchock’s (when am I not?!) recent instalive on time … I got thinking about how I manage my time and the time when I feel time is most stretchy. For me, the magic happens during my morning routine. It is the time that I spend totally on me.

I came to early mornings before my life alcohol free – so it is more than possible sober or not I promise. 

I read (and listened to) The Miracle Morning: The 6 Habits That Will Transform Your Life Before 8AM by Hal Elmrod and was inspired to start my own morning practice. For a year or so I stuck rigidly to the practice of SAVERS that Hal sets out.

Silence

Affirmations

Visualisation

Exercise

Reading

Scribing

I’d spend 10 minutes on each, with exercise coming last when I’d do a yoga practice. This routine stuck with me as I first started to question a lot of things that where happening in my life and provided some much needed structure. Every morning at 5.30 I’d wake up and work through the SAVERS, by the time I got to work I’d feel accomplished and like I had set myself up for the day.

Over the last 18 months this morning practise has shifted for me, it still includes many elements of the SAVERS but I have a more go with the flow approach. My morning routine lets me stretch time & I head to work feeling grounded and present.

My routine looks something like this these days:

Yoga Day

Wake up at 6ish, light a candle (Neom are my current favourites), make a coffee, write 3 pages in my journal, meditate using Rebecca Campbell’s Light Sourcing meditation, get dressed and cycle to the yoga studio

Non-Yoga Day

Wake up at 6ish, light a candle, make a coffee, write 3 pages in my journal, meditate using Rebecca Campbell’s Light Sourcing meditation, read some of the book I’ve been reading, reflect and say my affirmations and work on this very blog a little bit

I don’t put pressure on myself to ‘perform’ my morning routine & on days when I need sleep I sleep in, but the practice and the process of mornings makes me feel like I have so much more time in my life …

I love reading about other people’s morning routines (total guilty pleasure!) so I asked around on Instagram, here are some of the answers. More morning routines to inspire you:

Sara: Miracle Morning routine with my amazing team .. . silence, affirmations, visualisation, exercise (we play music loud and move!,) reflection, scribe (jotting down our daily gratitudes) – starting each day with a bang!

RunBikeRide: I wake up and say my affirmations and thank the Universe for my blessings before I even get up. Then I make a cup of apple cider vinegar and hot water to drink while I check my social media/email. Then I grab my doggy and head to feed and love on my horses. Then after shower and make up, it’s coffee and phone calls to my family to catch up with the ones I love on my drive in to work. That is every morning before work. If not working, then I do all that and then read 😉

Rachel: Kiss my daughter and husband. Let out our dog and cat! Drink a litre of water, then 1 hour of asanas and meditation. Hot lemon water then coconut oil pulling as I sit down to write and plan my day.

Laura (The Wellbeing Feeling): Before I do anything I take 10 conscious breaths, inhaling deeply and exhaling completely. If I’m going to the gym before work I have a pint of water & a banana before I leave home. If it’s a rest day I grab myself a warm water and take some extra moments to reflect or set my intentions for the day. I try not to engage with my phone until I really need to, but as music is a huge love of mine I often find myself hitting the play button on my favourite album of the moment.

Skin care is a big part of my morning routine so wherever I am, home, gym or away, I always take time to look after my skin. Cleanse, tone and moisturise. Face and body. (L’s note: I WISH I had the discipline to do this, I give myself a pat on the back if I take my make up off at night, must get tips from Laura!)

I find mornings such a great time of day to really centre yourself and connect with how you’re feeling – mind, body and soul. Each morning we have a choice; a choice to bring yesterday’s stresses with us into this new day or to see every wake up as a fresh start.

Tell me about your morning routine, drop me a comment or let me know on Instagram. 

All my love, L xx

You can find this blog lovingly linked to #TriumphantTales