If you are looking to be more mindful in your everyday pursuits, starting your day by creating a more mindful morning routine is a good place to start. After all, most experts will tell you that the way you start your morning truly sets the tone for the rest of your day.
Your morning routine is essential to your success throughout the rest of your day, and it is important to make sure that you start each and every morning in a way that will prepare you for a more mindful day ahead.
It takes a long time to set a morning routine that truly becomes a habit, but there are a number of things that you can start adding to your schedule today that will truly make a difference. Here are a few of our top suggestions of what you can do now.
1. Making a Mindful Morning Checklist
If you are a list person, then one of the best things that you can do in the morning is to make a mindful morning checklist. This will help you stay focused on what you need to do first thing in order to stay on track with your mindfulness practice and to maintain a routine that will set you up for success.
This is also a great way to help make your morning mindful practice a habit that you can maintain. Here are a few examples of things that can be on your morning mindfulness checklist.
Smile
Drink a glass of water
Appreciate that today is a new day
Move your body in an intentional way that feels good for you
Express gratitude for someone in your life
Set your intention for the day
Give yourself one compliment in the mirror
Visualize the best version of your day possible
Acknowledge how your body and mind feel that day
Nourish your body with healthy food
Put a positive thought about someone else out in the universe
Overall, your list is up to you and should include elements that you feel will put you in the correct state of mind for the day.
Doing things like this in the morning can completely change the rest of your day for the better and help you get used to be more mindful about your everyday tasks.
2. Journaling
Writing and journaling is one of the easiest ways that you can start practicing mindfulness, particularly in the morning. There are a number of ways in which you can use journaling and writing to practice your mindfulness. Your journaling can be as simple as expressing gratitude for three things or people in your life, or writing down three things you are planning on being mindful of during your day.
There are also plenty of mindful journaling prompts that you can use so that you can have a different prompt to try every week. You only need a few minutes of mindful journaling in the morning. It is a great way to have an open and honest conversation with yourself, can help you be more aware of your thoughts, emotions or meditation practice.
3. Get Moving
Exercise is such an important part of any morning routine. Even if you aren’t a big morning person, you can still incorporate some mindful exercise into your regimen and start seeing some amazing results.
The easiest way to practice mindful exercise is by going on a mindful walk. Take a few deep breaths, be aware of how you feel and be mindful of the weight of your body, your feet in your shoes and your muscles as you walk. As you continue to enjoy this exercise, be mindful of what is going on around you, what you see around you as you walk through new environments around you.
You can also practice mindful yoga, Pilates or virtually any type of exercise. The key is to make sure that you are moving your body in a way that feels good and paying attention to how your body feels and to every muscle in your body as it works. Working out with intention and focusing on how your body is reacting to different movements is a great way to get the most out of any type of exercise.
4. Practice Mindful Eating
There are so many of us that simply grab the first thing we can find in the morning and then rush out the door. If you want to bring more mindfulness to your morning routine, then practice mindful eating with your breakfast.
You only need 10 extra minutes in the morning and it will not only encourage you to sit down, slow down and eat something healthy, but it will also encourage you to train your brain to be more mindful during an activity that is normally quite rushed.
Mindful eating is quite simple. It entails eating slowly and purposefully. Pay close attention to how you chew, take small bites and chew thoroughly. This also means paying close attention to how things smell and taste and eat without distractions like the television drawing your mind away.
Remember, setting a true morning routine won’t just happen overnight. It takes a long time in order to really make a morning routine a habit. In fact, research shows it takes on average 66 days for a new behavior to become an automatic part of your routine.
Give yourself some grace and patience while you try to adapt to this new mindful morning routine. The more consistent you are with your efforts in the morning, the quicker you will start making this morning routine a part of your day that you can’t live without.
Consistency is key with any morning routine, and with tips and tactics like this, you can start being more mindful not only in your early morning activities but throughout your day as well. You will find that these simple changes to your AM routine can make a great deal of different in your mindful approach all day long.
This will help you realize that the smallest changes can truly make the biggest impact on how you approach your day and the world around you.
Create a More Mindful Morning Routine
If you are looking to be more mindful in your everyday pursuits, starting your day by creating a more mindful morning routine is a good place to start. After all, most experts will tell you that the way you start your morning truly sets the tone for the rest of your day.
Your morning routine is essential to your success throughout the rest of your day, and it is important to make sure that you start each and every morning in a way that will prepare you for a more mindful day ahead.
It takes a long time to set a morning routine that truly becomes a habit, but there are a number of things that you can start adding to your schedule today that will truly make a difference. Here are a few of our top suggestions of what you can do now.
1. Making a Mindful Morning Checklist
If you are a list person, then one of the best things that you can do in the morning is to make a mindful morning checklist. This will help you stay focused on what you need to do first thing in order to stay on track with your mindfulness practice and to maintain a routine that will set you up for success.
This is also a great way to help make your morning mindful practice a habit that you can maintain. Here are a few examples of things that can be on your morning mindfulness checklist.
Overall, your list is up to you and should include elements that you feel will put you in the correct state of mind for the day.
Doing things like this in the morning can completely change the rest of your day for the better and help you get used to be more mindful about your everyday tasks.
2. Journaling
Writing and journaling is one of the easiest ways that you can start practicing mindfulness, particularly in the morning. There are a number of ways in which you can use journaling and writing to practice your mindfulness. Your journaling can be as simple as expressing gratitude for three things or people in your life, or writing down three things you are planning on being mindful of during your day.
There are also plenty of mindful journaling prompts that you can use so that you can have a different prompt to try every week. You only need a few minutes of mindful journaling in the morning. It is a great way to have an open and honest conversation with yourself, can help you be more aware of your thoughts, emotions or meditation practice.
3. Get Moving
Exercise is such an important part of any morning routine. Even if you aren’t a big morning person, you can still incorporate some mindful exercise into your regimen and start seeing some amazing results.
The easiest way to practice mindful exercise is by going on a mindful walk. Take a few deep breaths, be aware of how you feel and be mindful of the weight of your body, your feet in your shoes and your muscles as you walk. As you continue to enjoy this exercise, be mindful of what is going on around you, what you see around you as you walk through new environments around you.
You can also practice mindful yoga, Pilates or virtually any type of exercise. The key is to make sure that you are moving your body in a way that feels good and paying attention to how your body feels and to every muscle in your body as it works. Working out with intention and focusing on how your body is reacting to different movements is a great way to get the most out of any type of exercise.
4. Practice Mindful Eating
There are so many of us that simply grab the first thing we can find in the morning and then rush out the door. If you want to bring more mindfulness to your morning routine, then practice mindful eating with your breakfast.
You only need 10 extra minutes in the morning and it will not only encourage you to sit down, slow down and eat something healthy, but it will also encourage you to train your brain to be more mindful during an activity that is normally quite rushed.
Mindful eating is quite simple. It entails eating slowly and purposefully. Pay close attention to how you chew, take small bites and chew thoroughly. This also means paying close attention to how things smell and taste and eat without distractions like the television drawing your mind away.
Remember, setting a true morning routine won’t just happen overnight. It takes a long time in order to really make a morning routine a habit. In fact, research shows it takes on average 66 days for a new behavior to become an automatic part of your routine.
Give yourself some grace and patience while you try to adapt to this new mindful morning routine. The more consistent you are with your efforts in the morning, the quicker you will start making this morning routine a part of your day that you can’t live without.
Consistency is key with any morning routine, and with tips and tactics like this, you can start being more mindful not only in your early morning activities but throughout your day as well. You will find that these simple changes to your AM routine can make a great deal of different in your mindful approach all day long.
This will help you realize that the smallest changes can truly make the biggest impact on how you approach your day and the world around you.
Dhaval Patel
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