How do you begin your days? Are you reaching for your phone as the first action when you wake up each morning? Is your second action to scroll through feeds, view notifications, or even check email? If these are your first actions, you may be creating unwarranted stress, anxiety, and pressure that pours into your entire day.
How you start your day is how you live your day. How you live your day is how you live your life. Louis Hay
In a world where content stimulates our minds from the moment we awake until bedtime, knowing when and how to unplug and be mindful of your inner self is as essential as breathing. The first minutes or hour of our day impacts how we show-up throughout the remainder of the day. Think about a day you woke up in a mad dash or on the wrong side of bed. How did this impact your interactions, energy, and even mindset for the remainder of the day?
Establishing a morning ritual or routine that keeps you mindful of and in-tune with yourself sets the tone for the day. Without a morning routine, your mental and emotional health is at risk. This can include: stress, anxiety, depression, isolation, FOMO, or even a feeling of inadequacy among others.
Hal Elrod, author of The Miracle Morning, introduces a morning practice that helps waking up daily to higher levels of energy and focus for the day. Elrod’s practice in The Miracle Morning is known as “S. A. V. E. R. S.” — Silence. Affirmations. Visualization. Exercising. Reading. Scribing. Elrod recommends these six mindful actions be the first we do each morning to invigorate yourself and your days.
So, we ask, what is your morning ritual or routine to connect with yourself?
As you think about your morning ritual or routine, we’ve included a few of our very own techniques of mindfulness provided by team members at Thiyah:
- Motivational Showers: pressing play every morning and evening on a personally curated playlist during my showers. This includes: speeches, specific songs, or even meditations
- Mirror Post-its: posting quotes on a mirror to meditate on daily and identify ways to incorporate into daily life
- 10 Gratitudes: write or meditate on 10 things you are grateful for upon waking up
