Creating a Morning Ritual for the love of Self.

Creating your Own Morning Ritual

What is a morning ritual? A morning ritual is how we start our day, giving ourselves that bit of time first thing in the morning to establish calm and set us up for a fabulous day.

We are creatures of habit, rising in the morning to coffee and Facebook doesn’t nourish our soul, in fact it can be detrimental to our wellbeing.

Scrolling through social media first thing in the morning can also send your stress levels soaring as you subconsciously start comparing yourself to others’ Instagram-filtered lives. Adeola Adelayo, MD, a practicing psychiatrist with Banner Behavioural Health Hospital states:

“Instead of giving power to yourself on how you want to start your day, you are giving that control over to your phone,” Dr. Adelayo says. “You start your day checking to see how many likes you’ve gotten on a photo or responding to a text from the night before from an irritated friend. This is bound to cause unnecessary stress and anxiety in your life.”

So, what can we do to start our day for ourselves? To show love, positivity, and self-belief.

I’m glad you asked! Creating your own routine, can be as personal to you, as you like. If you don’t know where to start, I have a list of great activities that you can mix and match to suit your own needs. It is your morning, so let’s make something special just for you.

Morning Drink:

Instead of reaching for a coffee, why not try a hot water with lemon.

Lemons contain vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant, and are a source of plant compounds called flavonoids, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

Antioxidants are compounds that help protect the body’s cells from damage. By reducing cell damage, antioxidants reduce the risk of many health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer.

Morning Sunshine and Stretch:

After making your hot drink with intention and care, head outside barefoot, and face the sun. Drink in the life affirming rays and start a small stretch routine, giving thanks to your body. This is a great time to complete some mobilisers, starting the day with a body focus.

Morning Gratitude:

Starting your day with gratitude allows you to focus your attention on the positives in your life. The brain is hardwired to hunt for the negatives, but hello 2022 called and said we aren’t being chased by lions today!!

Making an effort to fill in a daily gratitude journal will have positive effects and re-train your mind to focus on the positives in life. They don’t have to be huge sweeping statements, it can be small, like I am grateful for sleeping well…

Essential Oils:

Starting your day with a diffuser blend and/or roller blend can really have positive effects on your body and mind. I like to doTERRA Peppermint Oil behind my ears.

Peppermint Oil can be used aromatically to enliven the senses and promote a feeling of energy.

I love a good blend in my diffuser, connecting myself with my physical needs each morning. My favourite doTERRA oils are Balance, Cheer, Bergamot, Kumquat, Digest-Zen, Citrus Bliss and Wild Orange.

Cold Water Immersion:

Now this one, heading into winter probably isn’t appealing, but trust me, it leaves you feeling amazing!! Cold water immersion has so many benefits:

Boost the immune system; Improve circulation; Deepen sleep; Boost energy levels; Reduce inflammation; Improve metabolic function; Improve mood.

You can ease into this, maybe start with splashing your face with cold water every morning. Then moving onto the last 30 seconds in the shower, switch to cold only. You can increase the time as you progress. And then, the grandmother of them all…full cold-water immersion. In a pool or the ocean, just dive in. Let it take your breath away, allow yourself to feel just how invigorating this ritual is. Many powerful people use this to start their day. Tony Robbins is a huge believer in this.

I have been doing this on and off for years but recently I have gone 3 months straight with this, and I am amazed at the difference in how I feel. Now that the weather is cooler, I say, “oh I won’t do this today in the shower”, but I always end up doing it, because it awakens my soul and leaves me feeling refreshed, renewed, and raring to start my day!!

I hope this has given you some ideas to start your day for you! To show love and consideration to yourself. To feed and nourish your own soul before working on your family, friends, and workplace.

Share your own ritual, spread the love and let’s all spend time working on our greatest masterpiece, ourselves.