Finding your morning routine

There I was. 

It was just an ordinary day. In fact, it started like every other. 

Off I went on my 5:30am walk, smiling away like a crazy person yelling Good Morning (!!) to every person we (Morgs is my exercise partner in crime of course) came across, followed closely by me energetically entering my work place excited and smiling as always about the day that I had ahead of me, when it came. The question I am getting asked more regularly than not recently.

"Howwww are you soooo happy in the morning? I want to start my day as well as you"

My answer came back without me even thinking and it wasn't an answer at all, it was simply this question....

"Well, what's your morning routine?"

I advocate and believe from the bottom of my soul that starting the day off on a wonderful foot sets me up for the rest of the day. I can smile, laugh, and be ok with bad traffic, my bosses bad moods or shitty work loads because I made time for me that morning and I know my body, mind and spirit is nourished enough to not get caught up in the unnecessary stresses. 

So what IS exactly my morning routine? 

5:20am - Wake up to a new favourite song I've picked for that week instead of a crappy, soul draining alarm. How? I just choose whatever song I'm loving that week from my music library. You can do this through your iphone alarm clock, click on 'Sound' when you are editing your alarm and you can go in to your library of songs! Smile number 1 accomplished.

5:30am - Go for a walk (between 4km - 7km) around our local area with Morgs and stop for a take away coffee at our favourite cafe (antz in your pantz) on the way home. Smile number 2, 3, 4 & sometimes 5 accomplished. And generally some belly laughs too. 

7:00am - Put on our music to get ready to & have my breakfast, which is always a big healthy green smoothie. Smile number 6, and sometimes 7 if a song I really love comes on.

7:10am - Of course this is done as I am listening to my music and drinking my green smoothie (I still love a good multi task after all) but it is one of my most important beauty routines I do, period! ... Dry Brush my whole body. Read about what this is all about here & then smother it in Organic coconut oil (instead of chemical filled moisturizer).

7:45am - I am always ready and I escape to my lady cave (Morgs has generally almost always left by now) where I sit for 20 minutes right before I have to leave for work & gratitude journal.  I do this right before I leave for the reason that by the time I get in the car, I am so brimming with gratitude and joy how could I not start my day excited and happy. I am SO hyper aware whilst driving as well from seeing all the things around me at just how much else I am grateful for that I didn't put in my book.

Of course, on my drive to work as well, I have the music a'going so by the time I am at my work, (or wherever I have to be after my morning routine) I am happy, excited and bringing everything I've got. 

I am well aware there are souls reading this as well going, hang on a minute though Anna, I am NOT a morning person and that's totally ok, I have some good news for you. You can be. The amazing, almost overwhelmingly exciting news is that it takes 30 days to make or break a habit. JUST 30 days.Which means beautiful, that if you hate getting up any earlier than you have to each morning, even getting up 10 minutes earlier every day to do just ONE thing for yourself will create the new habit within a month. 

Are you ready for the challenge now?

I challenge you to just pick one thing that you love, just one thing initially so it's not overwhelming you give up after a week and do it every single morning before work. It doesn't need to take up your whole morning either, in fact, I encourage you to start at something that will just be 5-10 minutes. That might mean instead of turning the news on (which let's face it is sad news at best), you play your favourite songs...loudly. It might mean that you have been wanting to shift a kg or two so you get up and do 10 minutes of lunges and squats. It could even mean you get up 10 minutes earlier so you can read some positive quotes and start your day off with your mind in a positive place.

Whatever it is though, let it be your thing. 

Once you have your new habit with getting up a little earlier to incorporate you time in to your morning you might find you can get up another 10 minutes earlier again to do it for longer, or find a new nourishing activity. 

Ready to wake up earlier tomorrow and start your own morning routine yet? I hope so. The most important thing to remember with something like this is to not be hard on yourself. If one morning you wake up and simply can't get up, don't beat yourself up, maybe your body is just trying to say sleep & recover a little longer that day. The amazing thing to remember is you always have a new opportunity the very next day to start again. 

I'd love to hear what you are going to try to start doing each morning for you though, so drop me a line in the comments below sharing what you are going to try to start doing. I would love to help keep you accountable too, so flick me an email at lifesshinyprettythings@gmail.com with a header "Morning Routine" and what you're planning on doing & I'll email you in a week or so to check in on you!

With love & light,

Anna xx

Photos found here, & here.