This Morning Routine Will Improve Your Mood
by Elise Young, Social Worker/ Counsellor
The perfect morning routine has to be tailored for your personal needs.
Build in time for yourself. How much time do you have in the morning for yourself? You might have two hours or just maybe 15 minutes. It doesn’t matter how long you have as long as you set at least some time for you. It might take waking up earlier, putting down the mobile phone, skipping watching TV, sharing the morning routine tasks and making choices to meet your own needs.
Top tips for a personalised morning to improve your mood:
Plan ahead the night before. Think to yourself how can I make my morning fun and include care for myself. Put out items ready for the morning that will allow you to use your me time effectively. For instance, if you want to journal your dreams have a dream journal and pen ready next to your bed, or if you want to do stretching in the morning have your yoga mat and exercise clothes ready to go.
Prolong the time before looking at your phone as long as you can. This will allow more time for yourself before you get into issues of the day or all your morning time is taken away wipe scrolling!
Have a glass of water when you wake, you can put in lemon for a vitamin boost. We lose a lot of water through the night and a glass of water is a perfect way to hydrate and help wake.
Purchase a morning alarm and have it in another room. No one wants to get out of a warm cosy bed on a cold morning. Having an alarm outside of the room will get you up and moving and you can’t push that snooze button.
Take some time, all you need is 5 minutes, just for you to wake and be quiet. You can meditate or simply be quiet. Be present and notice your thoughts that come in but don’t follow them just observe. This process is much like watching waves crash on the beach; watch a thought come in and don’t follow them out just wait and see what comes next. The more we practice silence the bigger the gaps between thoughts grow. This approach reduces anxiety and allows our authentic self to come through.
Prepare for the day ahead. Think through what you want to do for the day. Write your to do list and include who you can ask to help you with your list. While writing, your to do list, hold the mindset that you create your own luck.
A morning routine helps address procrastination, reduces anxiety, and creates stepping blocks towards a meaningful and conscious life.