Morning Routines

I’m going to talk a bit today about morning routines. It’s not something you can fit in your wellness basket, but it’s still part of the big picture.  What you can do though is write out the plan for your morning routine and keep that in your ‘basket’.

 Having a morning routine is actually a big thing.  A morning routine can help your physical well-being as well as your emotional well-being. Let’s talk about both.

FlyLady and The Miracle Morning

I originally started a morning routine many years ago- I’ll guess about 15. I started following FlyLady(If you have never heard about the FlyLady website and a program for helping people with housekeeping and general routines, you may want to check it out). Her specific routine didn’t work super well for me. At least not the way it was set up. I found it a bit too structured and rigid. Yet I’ve used it off and on through the years as a springboard for my own. It was a good guide and starting point. Obviously, there’s a lot I do like about it, as I keep going back to that as my guide.

Then a few years ago, I read another book specifically about morning routines. It’s called The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod and is about ‘the not-so-obvious secret guaranteed to transform your life before 8AM’.  Well, I’m not sure it completely transformed my life.  However, it does transform the morning.  Again, I didn’t find that following the recommendations in that book (like the FlyLady website) worked for me, but accepting the concepts and working with them to fit what works for me does.

My Morning Routine

I wake around 6:15. The first thing I do is a coconut oil pulling while I get dressed, make the bed, and wash my face.  Then I brush my teeth.

Next, I go down to the kitchen and prepare my morning detox tea (usually dandelion of some variety), take my supplements, put my shoes on, and get ready to walk.  In nice weather, I try to get outside, but with winter here, I’m usually always on the treadmill.  I walk for about 15-30 minutes, depending on the day and whether I overslept or have something unusual going on earlier in the day.

After my walking, I check the calendar to make sure I’m not forgetting anything that will be happening that day. Then I get my tea and sit down in my prayer corner to practice quiet breathing, pray, read scripture, devotionals, or whatever is in my prayer corner basket (yes, another basket!). I choose this time of day for my quiet time before my 12-year-old gets up (we homeschool so I usually have until 8:00 or so).  This is about the time I unload the dishwasher (sometimes getting my son to help) and start any laundry that needs done that day.

So that’s my routine.  Now let’s talk about the physical aspects and the emotional aspects.

Physical Aspects of a Morning Routine

My routine helps me on a physical level because I’ve established the routine, so I don’t “forget” some basics- like the oil pulling and brushing my teeth! It also incorporates a routine for me to make sure I get at least one cup of detox tea in a day as well as my morning supplements. And then of course- movement!  I have found that if I start off the day with my walking and go at least 15-30 minutes, I feel better the rest of the day and I’m more likely to get my step goal in for the day as well.

Emotional Aspects of a Morning Routine

And now the emotional aspects.  Having a routine in place brings me peace of mind because I’m more likely to get things done that without the routine, I would put off and ‘forget’ like walking, my supplements, the tea, and even the prayer time and brushing my teeth!

My routine helps me build my focus for the day.  It lets me start with basic needs and priorities (the physical things as well as my time with God).  It gets me on track during my slow time of the day as I wake up and puts me in the right frame of mind. The routine increases my sense of control because I know what’s coming. It lowers my stress because of that sense of control, and I am allowing myself the quiet time to do things that are beneficial to me.

Having this morning routine is a part of my wellness basket.  It’s a healthy habit.  Healthier habits make a healthier YOU.  It’s self-care.  Even if you must include kids or others into your routine, it’s still important to establish a few things that are always the same.  Think- what’s the first thing you do when you wake up?  Instead of reaching for the phone, reach for your supplements or the toothbrush.  Check your calendar.  Say a prayer or practice deep breathing.  Even one little thing, one new habit, can make a big difference in your day. It does NOT have to be rigid- just a gentle guide of a few things to get your day off to a good start.

Do you have a morning routine?  Is this something that you feel would be good to include as part of your wellness basket?  Tell me about your morning routine below!