Purpose is an incredible alarm clock
Your alarm clock beeps. You hit snooze a few times before rolling out of bed to swipe your self-worth feed, rush through a shower and skip breakfast before heading to work, already late…
If your morning resembles a hurricane, you might consider developing a Zesty Morning Routine. Each morning is an opportunity to start fresh and become fully awake in your life. There’s no need to design an overly complicated routine, but being a little more mindful will go a long way. It will also help you begin to wake up with purpose and energy from knowing what you want to do and why.
Zesty Habits
Habits are behaviours practiced regularly enough so that they become automatic and etched into our neural pathways. For this reason, practicing positive and healthy habits and avoiding soul-sucking activities is essential to thriving in your life.
There are a few habits I’ve found to be very effective in helping to become more mindful, self-compassionate, focused and resilient throughout the day. It’s worthwhile developing your own morning ritual, but here is my Zesty Morning Routine:
Wake up early
Go to bed earlier. The first hour of your day and how you spend it often sets the tone for the rest of your day. Waking up early gives you some quiet time to nourish your body and mind, and take mindful actions. The silence of early morning can also be a very empowering experience. I usually go to be at 9pm and wake up naturally between 5–5:30am.
Breathe
As soon as you open your eyes in the morning, tune into your body and breath. A good breathing exercise is to: Inhale for 4 seconds – hold air in your lungs for 4 seconds – exhale for 4 seconds, emptying all of the air in your lungs – Hold your breath for 4 seconds. Repeat 10–20 times.
Drink lemon water
After a good eight hours sleep without any liquid, you need to re-hydrate. Drinking warm lemon water with a pinch of pink himalayan salt is a great way to kickstart your metabolism, balance your pH, flush your adrenals and replace electrolytes in the form of potassium, calcium and magnesium.
Stretch
Dedicate a space in your house where you can be alone and settle into some quiet stretching. Stretching will help wake up your body, nourish your muscles, increase blood flow to your brain and sharpen your concentration in the morning. —Take your hot lemon water with you, put on some quiet music and make it feel good.
Meditate
Spending 5–20min practicing meditation will help synchronize your body and mind. Think about your personal mantra and encourage positivity by finishing with a few thoughts of gratitude. Try the Headspace App for guided meditation.
Visualize your day
Manifest and then make it happen. Sketch out a mental plan for the day and then visualize yourself going through all the important actions in your day. Visualization will prepare you for specific situations by roughing out a strategy in your subconscious, which you can later connect the dots to.
Make your bed
Accomplishing something first thing in the morning will give you a small sense of pride and will kickstart your ability to make empowered decisions throughout the day. Make your bed and do your dishes, because when your external world is tidy you can better focus on your internal world.
Have a healthy breakfast
Nutrition is fuel for your Zesty Life and the right fuel will help you to thrive and feel at your best. Ensure you’re putting the right stuff in your body. Make conscious decisions about getting a good helping of mico & macronutrients.
Take a hot shower followed by a COLD shower
After your hot shower, take a 2–3min cold shower. The burst of cold flushes your circulatory system and pushes blood from your skin back into your vital organs, it releases endorphins and improves your immune and digestive system. Cold shower therapy has been shown to have an antidepressive effect and boost your mood— It’s also great practice for stepping out of your comfort zone!
Get some exercise
Whether it’s walking your dog around the block, taking a Pilates class, hopping on your bike for a few laps of Rupert or going for a quick run; getting your blood flowing, releasing endorphins and taking time to experience the rejuvenating power of nature will shift you into a positive mood for your day.
Zesty Morning, Zesty Life
Life is but a series of moments. Establishing a mindful morning routine can take some practice, but I’ve personally found that it has noticeable benefits—I feel happier, stronger, more connected and more creative in my daily activities, and I can more easily access flow state.
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Do you have a morning routine? Share it in the comments section below!
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