Home   >   Art & Lifestyle   >   Morning Rituals to Set You Up for Success

Morning Rituals to Set You Up for Success

By on September 7, 2021
p

By Dani Dunckley, MA, RYT

Each morning when we wake up, we can go in one of two directions: we can set ourselves up to feel good with rituals like meditating, setting intentions, expressing gratitude, morning journaling, and exercising… or we can pick up our phones, gulp down coffee, and start rushing around.

When we choose the second option, we often start the day feeling overwhelmed and anxious. Our mind races with everything we have to get done. If we’ve looked at social media, we might already be comparing ourselves to other people or feeling stressed by hot takes on the news.

The morning is a sacred time — it’s when we choose how we want the rest of the day to go. Therefore, it’s crucial that we change our habits.

The great news is that a single shift in our behavior can redirect our entire day.

This is why I begin my day with morning rituals.

My morning rituals create the foundation for my day and include meditation, journaling, mindfulness, and movement.

When I begin my day with morning rituals I feel energized, present, calm, connected, centered, and focused, which empowers me to show up during the day as my authentic self with confidence and clarity, rather than starting the day feeling overwhelmed (which just gets worse as the day progresses).

My morning rituals create a sacred space for reflection, connection to my inner wisdom, and trust in myself, so that during the day I’m able to hold boundaries and to ask for what I want or need with ease, as well as stand in my power and feel good about my words, thoughts, and actions.

A transformative part of my morning rituals is letting go of what holds me back like guilt or patterns that no longer serve me such as running around like a chicken with its head cut off so that I feel productive and squeezing more things into the day to feel efficacious, even though it takes a toll on my nerves, my body, and my emotions and at the end of the day, I’m wiped.

With my morning rituals, I recognize this harmful pattern with compassion, and I choose by consciously beginning the day with intention and reflection to take a different path.

I choose to make my practice a priority.

I choose to dive deeper instead of avoiding myself.

I choose to slow down even (especially) in the midst of a busy day.

My morning rituals are also a time for me to heal and process; they provide grounding and stability and keep me connected to myself—to how I feel and what I need.

My morning rituals are a sacred time to fill my own cup and to do something for myself.

We all want to feel good, but we don’t consciously think thoughts and take actions that make us feel good. In fact, we often do the opposite.

Caring about how you feel means that you become more deliberate about the words you choose, the thoughts you think, and the actions you take. It means that you go out of your way to realign your energy with love.

When you begin your day with morning rituals, you’ll start to notice that things begin to work out exactly as you planned — or that something even better happens. Not only will you go through your day feeling happier and less stressed, but the high-vibration energy you carry with you will ripple outward. Other people will pick up on it and respond to you more positively.

And if you only do one thing in the morning, do this:

Practice gratitude.

Each morning when you wake up, express gratitude for yourself, just as you are. Place your hand on your heart and say, “I love you. I’m so grateful for this body, for this breath, for this moment.”

Notice how that powerful practice impacts the world around you.

Notice what happens when you show up with gratitude and when you nurture appreciation for good food, rest, friendship, reflection.

How does that impact your work, your relationships, and your interactions with others?

Each time you choose gratitude, you choose happiness and you choose joy.

Even grief fosters gratitude.

When my dad died, my heart split wide open and as much as it hurt, I was also filled with enormous gratitude for my life, the time I had with him, how much I loved him, and how much he loved me.

COVID-19 has also taught me gratitude, gratitude for life, gratitude for my friends, many of whom I haven’t seen for over a year, gratitude for a yoga practice that has kept me grounded and centered, calm, compassionate, and connected to my deepest self during this often alienating time.

So if you only do one thing each morning, practice gratitude.

And notice how that one small practice alone sets you up for a great day.

********

04f6cba39993-F567FCBA_D85A_469D_B11A_6406A3FE907A (2)Dani Dunckley, MA, RYT, is a True Fulfillment Self Care Coach. She helps women in service based professions who put everyone else’s needs ahead of their own commitment to their self care so that they can make a significant and sustainable difference in the world without sacrificing themselves and while living a life they love. For more info visit https://danidunckley.coach/

Feature Slider Image by Olea Kobruseva

About simply...woman!

We encourage spreading the message of knowledge and wisdom. We appreciate and thank our featured partners for their articles. All information provided on Simply…Woman online magazine is for reference only; the content is based on the authors’ experiences and therefore is not intended as a substitute to the services of a fully qualified professional. Although every reasonable effort is made to present current and accurate information, Simply…Woman makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information.