Start your day the mindful way - tips for an intentional morning

Mornings are the start of your day. Time for you to honour yourself, choose who you want to be that day, who you want to show up as and what you want to achieve. Finding sacred moments of ritual in your morning, allows you to feel grounded, present and ready for the day ahead. Taking control of your morning means you take control of your day and your decisions, instead of the day controlling you. You set the tone, you decide what you want to manifest with the morning being the best time to do this. 

Here are a few tips to help you start your day in a mindful way:

• Stop snoozing the alarm. Every time you press snooze you are tricking your body to fall back into a sleep cycle only for the alarm to wake you up again ten minutes later. This is ineffective and will actually only make you more tired. Set the alarm, put your phone on the other side of the room and make yourself get up to switch it off. Once you get up and out of the bed you will feel one hundred per cent more awake!
• Get outdoors as soon as you can, breathe in fresh air and allow that low level sunlight to enter your eyes. Not only is a good way to start your day being outside, whether it’s a walk or just a cup of tea in the garden, it helps to regulate our sleep cycle by accessing natural light early in the morning. Nature has such a calming, regulating effect on the body. Take advantage of those feelings early in the morning to give you a strong foundation for the day. That’s why sea swimming has become so popular, as people are really noticing the benefits of getting up and in the sea early. If you can accomplish that before everyone else in your house is awake…what else can you do?
• Don’t reach for your phone to scroll social media straight away. Why fill that relaxed, calm brain of yours with other people's opinions and worries before focusing on yourself? Instead try practising a five minute guided meditation every morning. You can do it with a cup of tea, or while you wait for the kettle to boil. Everyone has five minutes they can give themselves to reconnect and feel present. One of our favourites is Boho Beautiful on Youtube. 
• Move your body a little, whether that is by walking or sea swimming or just gentle stretching. Wake yourself up with kindness and love, however, that looks for you. Allow for the breath to enter the body and awaken every part. Nice belly breaths can help circulate the blood, improve our respiratory rate and feel more awake. Again you only need to do this for a few minutes to feel the benefits. 

Keep your morning sacred and special for you. A non negotiable act you do every day that allows you to feel grounded and loved. There is no right or wrong but by starting the day doing something for you, it gives you great strength and power to feel like you are ready to face anything. 

Remember, that change is hard and your brain will do everything it can to tell you not to get up early, or not to go out for a walk etc. When you start to push through that voice and try new things you will start to see the benefits and wonder why you didn't start sooner.

Finally, knowing who you want to show up as and what you want to achieve each day is so important. It allows you to plan and focus your energy into your day ahead, knowing what you’d like to be proud of by the end. Just thinking this through as you drink your coffee or drive to work is enough. However, some people find it helps to journal it and get down on paper what their intentions are for the day. 

Below are some helpful questions you can ask yourself each day to journal or just to ponder. Let us know how you get on…

 

To start the day I would always start with your intention for that day... Today I choose to be........

By choosing this I will feel this.......

This is important to me because...

What do I need today?

Who can I make feel special today and how will I do that? What does my soul need today?

What am I thankful for today?

How do I want to feel at the end of today?

What can I do to make today pleasurable?

What does my ideal day look like?

What time of day am I most productive? Why do I think that is?

What has been inspiring to me lately?

What have I always wanted to do, but haven’t gotten around to it? What is stopping me?

What gives me energy on a daily basis?

What signs have I been misinterpreting or ignoring?

What lessons am I learning right now?

What recent situation do I need to take responsibility for?

Do I believe life is happening to me or for me? why?

Written by our dear friend Charlotte Lodey xx