I’ve heard it said that the way we start our morning sets the tone for the rest of the day, and in my experience this is very true. A morning routine is an intentional action that you take first thing in the morning. It can be as simple as doing some simple stretches and breathing exercises before you get out of bed, or taking a few moments to write in your journal while enjoying a hot cup of coffee. All that matters is that you find a special way to begin your day with an activity that brings you joy and nourishes you. Having a morning routine is the best way I’ve found for getting my day started in a way that leaves me feeling calm, centered, and ready to have a great day.
When I first became a mom, I started to notice that I was waking up every morning to the sounds of my baby crying. My daughter, June, had become my little alarm clock, and it felt like a very unpleasant way to start the day. I wanted to start my morning differently, but I told myself that I was too tired and needed every precious moment of sleep that I could get. However, I knew the importance of having a morning routine, so I started to implement one. When June was a newborn, we started a morning routine of waking up and immediately going for a walk every morning. We would go for a long walk by the beach first thing everyday. Since she was waking up very early at the time, we were often the only two people out, and it became a very nice and calm way to start the day. Some of my favorite memories as a new mom are of these early mornings out in nature with my babe.
As the weather started getting cooler, and my daughter started getting a little older, our morning routine started to shift, and instead of going for our morning walk, we started doing mommy & baby yoga every morning. This also became a special way for us to bond, and for me to get in a little movement to start my day. Yoga makes me feel more calm and centered, and doing just 10-15 minutes of movement in the morning started to help me carry these good feelings with me throughout the rest of my day. I also loved being able to share something that I love with my daughter, and incorporate it into our daily routine together.
Lately, I’ve noticed that this morning routine is no longer working for me. June is now 16 months old and she is very energetic. She is going through a stage where she is no longer content spending every morning on the yoga mat. Our beautiful morning practice started to turn into me trying to do yoga while June destroyed everything in her room or cried to get my attention while I was trying to do a headstand. I had really loved having our mommy and baby yoga practice as our morning routine, so I was reluctant to admit that this wasn’t working. But last week, I started realizing that I was no longer feeling peaceful while doing yoga in this way, and it wasn’t creating the feelings of centeredness that I was counting on to carry me through the day.
So, once again, I changed my morning routine. I started waking up before June does. For the first time in over a year, I’ve been getting out of bed on my own, without a baby’s cries waking me up. I go downstairs, roll out my yoga mat, and do a short yoga practice while the house is still quiet and still. Then, when June wakes up, we play a little bit and have breakfast together. I enjoy my time with her more because I know that I’ve already done something to take care of myself. These precious moments alone make my mornings feel more spacious. My new morning routine helps me feel more focused as I go about my day.
And that is the importance of a morning routine: it is something you do to make yourself a priority first thing in the morning. The effects of this will stay with you throughout your day. Your morning routine doesn’t have to be set in stone. Deciding to create a morning routine doesn’t mean that you choose one thing that you rigidly decide to do everyday for the rest of your life. Your routine can evolve as your life circumstances change. All that matters is that you pick something that works for you and then do it consistently until it no longer makes you feel good. Then, find something else that does!
Do you have a consistent morning routine? Has this encouraged you to try one for yourself? Please let me know in the comments below.
Have a beautiful week.
Be well,
Ambar