Silver Linings: Creating Nurturing Morning Routines

on Sunday, September 29, 2013
For some of us, our morning routine includes nothing more than jumping out of bed, into clothes and rushing out of the door. Others wake up a few hours before heading out to work, and take their time to drink tea, read the newspaper and ease their way into the day.

I, too, have gradually started to take a little more time in the morning to get ready for the day. One year ago, I've blogged about my morning routines, and how I am constantly trying to fine-tune what I do before I get out. As I put it then (and this still holds true):

The ultimate goal is simple: I want to be energized, ready to dive into the day, and with as little friction and time-loss as possible.

Last Spring, I started to wake up earlier to meditate first thing in the morning. I also started taking more time to cook breakfast. After many years of eating cereal (or sometimes oats) for breakfast, I've decided to ditch the sugary stuff and treat myself a balanced breakfast of protein/fat and carbs. Sometimes I have eggs and sweet potatoes, sometimes toasted sprouted bread with avocado, sometimes a breakfast smoothie, sometimes a porridge, sometimes oatbran protein pancakes... all these things take a little more time to prepare, but they work wonders to my energy.

Recently, I've started to practice yoga in the mornings, and finish it off with a longer meditation. That means that I need an extra hour in the morning, and that means waking up around 6am (I'm still using the SleepCycle alarm clock, that's why I mention "around" a certain time).

At the moment, I'm working from home and waiting for getting started on my next employment. That doesn't mean I am staring at the wall or sleeping in every day. My current morning routine looks like this:
6:00 - wake up, brush teeth, drink water, etc.
6:15 - yoga & meditation (typically 40 minutes yoga and 20 minutes of meditation, but times are variable according to how I feel)
7:15 - shower and get dressed
7:25 - cook breakfast
8:00 - start working

Have you paid attention to your morning routines, and how it affects the rest of your days?

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