A question I get asked a lot is – What should my morning routine be, what should it look like, and what is mine personally? I’ve also found and seen both with myself, and with clients, how important a morning routine is during the coronavirus lockdown period.
So, from very early on in my health journey I worked out my own personalised morning routine. And I have also done a lot of research and a lot of study into this as well, to see what is the best system and the best structure for myself and clients.
I’m a very systems-oriented person, so I like to have the same structure every single morning. So for me, it works out really well that I’ve set up this morning routine. Some of this will resonate with you, and you might want to pick some of these things for yourself personally. But what I do say to all clients is, our morning is our own time. And you’ve seen me say this on so many Instagram stories and posts. I’m talking about it all the time. We control our mornings, when we first wake up, so make sure you create some sort of routine for yourself. Something inspirational. Every single day, I like to start the day with some teaching for my soul! What’s yours going to be?
We control our morning. We get to set the intention. We get to plan how we want our day to be from the very beginning, when we open our eyes. After that, I kind of like to think we’re on borrowed time. For me personally, things can come up with clients. Emails can come in, phone calls can come in. For other people, their bosses can have demands, their clients can have demands, things can happen with the children. All sorts of elements can come into play – that’s life!
When I lived in Sydney, I would jump out of bed at the last minute possible, race around mad dashing, half asleep, getting my stuff as fast as possible to get to the gym on the way to work. Run from there to work. And I was forever just on the run. That was kind of how my day flowed. Another family member is the exact opposite she used to intentionally wake up at the last minute possible to walk out the door to work. Why? Because she wanted to sleep for as long as possible. I obviously value sleep. You’ve heard me talk about that lots too. But what is your intention for the day?
So now my Dad laughs at me because he thinks that I’m absolutely ridiculous. These days I get up and I’m super slow. I’m the opposite to my past-self. I’m not very “efficient,” in his words. In terms of, “Why would you want to do all of this in the morning?”
So I normally wake up before my alarm. But if you’re waking up with your phone alarm you have a choice to make, before you let technology take over! A lot of people use their iphone or iPad for their alarm but then they start swiping, they get distracted. And there’s little or no intention for how they’re going curate their day and what they want to put into it.
So for me, I wake up and the first thing I focus on is gratitude. I am extremely grateful for the day. And I think it stems from when I was lying in bed so sick. And I didn’t know what the day was going to bring for me. Every single day is now a gift. I used to take it for granted. And this is something that I’m always grateful for. I’ve realized the gift that life is. I don’t want to get to old age and look back and be like, “Hey, the days are running out.” Now I’m grateful for every single day.” Be grateful now. What I encourage you to do is write your gratitudes down. Sometimes I’ll write down 5 or 10 things currently, and in the future, that I’m grateful for. I got this tip from Jen Gottleib, and the manifestation she has created in her life is next level. When we write the future things we are grateful for (as if they have already happened) we are setting our intentions, right?
I encourage you to really embody, really feel into that feeling of gratefulness. What does it actually feel like in your body to be grateful and excited? So really, take that time to embody gratefulness. So that is my first challenge for you. For the next week just give it a go. See how your day is. See how it changes when you wake up expectant, filled with gratitude for the day and what you’re grateful for. It can be as simple as just breathing. But it doesn’t matter how you’ve slept, it doesn’t matter what’s going on. It doesn’t matter. You realize that this day we are living is such a blessing, such a privilege, and we get to make the most of it.
Then, for me personally, and if you’ve been to my “Dreaming” workshops, you’ll know that I start to think about my dreams. So the dream that I’ve created for the next three years, I start to live that out. I sat to replay it, I start to rethink it, I start to embody it. And in those moments, I take on the attributes of that person (my future self). So often I think about three of those attributes from the dream of where I want to be, what I want my life to look like in the years to come, and I embody them. I think about it like putting on clothes. What are the attributes that I need today, for my dream that’s in the future? What are those three qualities that I really want to embody today, that will make a difference for my future? So I do that and then I organize my day. (Oh and also, I often do it with a cup of tea. Because I really like tea and I like being warm and snuggled up … especially in winter!
Next, I take a couple of minutes, and I work out what do I need to do as soon as I walk into the office? What do I need to do before I get into the office? What does it look like before I see my very first client? And how do I want my day to look like, what gym class am I going to, what am I going to do? So, that’s my mini structure.
I also… Because you know me, I’m about stacking multiple layers as much as possible, getting massive bang for everything that I’m doing. You know that, right? Because I teach you guys how to do it. I also really believe in grounding too. And nature is really important for me. So after I’ve done this routine I also do grounding. So for me, I get barefoot and I’ll often take Charlie out before we go to the gym, to the vegetable garden. I’m lucky to live in an apartment block with a lot of bush and nature. And so, we’ll walk barefoot. And I see the day, I see the weather. I’m actually known around the neighbourhood for being the homeless person, because it’s known that they’ll see me walking Charlie barefoot. So I also really believe in the grounding and earthing principles first thing in the morning. So I do that most mornings as well.
So that’s my morning routine. I encourage you to get structured, to get intentional. Choose your own routine and give it a go and for one week just see how different you feel. See if it changes your taste, see what you notice. Because remember, sometimes it’s just noticing what we’re noticing and what we’re feeling. But I really encourage you, if gratitude feels hard, just give it a go. Just find one thing. And then, work out the attributes that you want for today, to live your best life possible. Who do you want to be? We wake up new every single morning. We get to make a choice every single morning. So, it’s so exciting and each day has a gift. So enjoy your morning routine.
PS. I totally forgot one key thing in the video the FINAL step in my morning retinue is I listen, watch or read something inspirational. Every single day, I like to start the day with some teaching for my soul! What’s yours going to be??