Morning Rituals Revisited
I heard from quite a few people in our last full moon gathering that they are feeling the need to reset their morning routine. So I looked back at a blog post from December 2023 that I had written. It’s crazy to me that’s it’s been over a year since I wrote it.
Since then, I have had some success with my own morning routine. Being pregnant and then having a newborn in the house definitely requires some flexibility in the idea of a “routine.” That’s part of why I prefer the word ritual over routine. To me a ritual is something sacred that I want to do. A routine sounds a bit more laborious and kind of boring.
Since December 2023, besides having a new baby and a now four year old, I also co-own a co-working, yoga, and healing arts space here in Cambutal, Panama, La Colectiva. I am still growing Flow Yoga International as a yoga teacher training school with my dear friend, Kate Jones. And I would love to get back into sharing wellness retreats again.
With all the things I am doing, and would like to do, it is time for me to revisit my morning rituals as well.
Here’s my revamped version of what my ideal morning looks like now.
Wake up with the baby. This is one thing I cannot control right now. I wish I could say that I am going to wake up at 5:55 every morning, but after a night of breastfeeding, any extra time in bed I can get, well…I take it. If you don’t have kids, or your kiddos are older, setting an alarm a bit before 6am can be an ideal time to kickstart your day.
Sip a shot of my morning booster. Filled with anti-inflammatory and metabolism boosting ingredients, I choose to start my day with this and a glass of room temperature water. It’s better than a default coffee first thing on an empty stomach.
Make my morning drink. My go-to these days is my balanced morning drink, a warm, slightly sweet blend of coconut milk, dates, and cacao. I usually add some adaptogens for good measure.
Move my body. If the baby falls back to sleep and I am up, I can make time for a bit more movement. More often than not though, Koa sits under his play gym while I move for 5-10 minutes in a flow looking something like yoga. If this is all I get, it is great. Just this small amount of time helps me set the tone for the day.
Meditation. I’ll admit, this isn’t happening right now. And that’s okay. I try to sit for 7 minutes when I can. I know the practice will be here waiting for me when I feel I can prioritize it again.
Write my “morning pages”. Coined by Julie Cameron, morning pages are three pages of free writing that you should write every day. There is no structure. Just write and see what comes out. It’s great to clear the mind and release things that may be floating around and taking up space in your head. Once you get it out on paper, it feels like there is more space in your brain for creativity and clarity.
From here, my time is shared with the family, getting ready for school, work and the day to day. When I have that smidgen of time to myself (even when Koa is awake with me), I feel so much more connected. I am grounded from the start of the day and I feel more optimistic, I have more patience, and the rest of the day tends to roll more smoothly.
If I wake up with just enough time to get ready and get out of the house. my whole day feels rushed and uncentered.
In order to set myself up for success in the morning, a key factor I’ve found is getting ready the night before.
Here are a few things I try to prep at the beginning of the week or the night before to make mornings a little more streamline and slower:
Morning Booster: Make this on Sunday for the week ahead. Use a big 32 oz mason jar and pop it in the fridge.
Balanced Morning Drink: I am starting to make a bigger batch of this on Sundays as well. It’s a lot to get the blender going every morning, so I make enough to last through the week. Pop it in a large mason jar and heat a serving each morning.
Set my clothes out. One less thing to think about in the morning, this little detail really seems to help. I am working to get Ayla to choose her outfit the night before, but she inevitably changes her mind in the morning so we flow with it.
Have lunches and snacks prepped. Packing Ayla’s lunch and having snacks packed for my work day the night before saves time and energy in the morning.
Pack my work bag. My days vary from day to day, a mix of yoga classes, massage clients, meetings and computer work. I try to have everything I need packed and ready to go for the next day.
My next step for this year is to allocate times for specific work.
For example, Mondays will be days to film a short yoga video. Tuesdays to edit and create a voice over. Wednesdays to write blogs and prep my newsletters. Thursday for taking content photos. Fridays to post to Instagram.
And around all of that, be an awesome mom to my kids, a passionate partner to my husband, and a present friend.
Life feels like a lot sometimes.
All we can do is our best each day.
When I start my day off well, slowly and with connection, I feel I get a little bit closer to living my ideal day in my ideal life.
I hope this helps you as much as it helps me!
Bug hugs and lots of love,
Loren