Welcome every morning with a smile. Look on the new day as another special gift from your Creator, another golden opportunity to complete what you were unable to finish yesterday. Be a self-starter. Let your first hour set the theme of success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day. Today will never happen again. Don’t waste it with a false start or no start at all – Og Mandino
Waking up to a new sun and a new day, is a gift and luxury that you should never take for granted. Each new day that you are fortunate enough to experience, is a chance for you to see new things, experience new places, meet new people and learn new things.
How you start your day, sets the tone for the rest of your day. You have the choice to keep hitting the snooze button, over and over as you moan and groan about the start of a new day. Or you can jump out of bed with excitement, knowing that it’s a fresh morning and a new chance.
Choose to wake up and greet the morning with a big smile, breathe a huge intake of air, and say “thank you”. When you decide to show up for the day, full of enthusiasm, passion and excitement, you grace the world with beauty, and that is when synchronicities and opportunities present themselves to you.
So how do you do this? It’s early, it’s cold, and sometimes it’s dark. Well you need to create time for a little self-indulgence – you need to create a morning ritual that you are excited about. A morning ritual is a self-healing and self-honouring ritual, it gets you excited about getting up. How you create a morning ritual is purely up to you. A morning ritual will be different for everyone; it is designed by you based on your passions, beliefs and priorities. I will share with you mine and then I will give you some points on how to create your own.
My Morning Song
I wake up at 6am, the birds are chirping out my bedroom window, the morning sun kisses my skin and I think “oh beautiful a new morning and a fresh start”. Before I step out of bed, I sit up, give a big smile to the day and then think of three things that I am grateful for. I then get up out of my bed, open the windows in my bedroom, listen to the birds sing, and let the morning breeze fill my home and my heart. There is a different light, smell and presence about an early morning. Maybe it’s the thought of new opportunities.
I then slowly make my way down the stairs, and make myself a hot lemon and apple cider vinegar water. I sip on my invigorating hot beverage with morning mindfulness while looking out the window at my garden. I just love it when my garden seems to grow overnight.
As Thich Nhat Hanh (my favourite Zen Master) reminds us”
Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.”
I then roll out my yoga mat and greet the new day with the sun salutation poses, I do six sets. After my blissful twenty minutes of yoga I head to my bathroom and the first thing I see on my mirror is my morning affirmation “Today is going to be a fabulous day”. As I brush my body with my body brush I think about the affirmation. I then jump in the shower for a spiritual cleanse.
After my shower, I sit down with my green smoothie, diary and my favourite podcast. I drink mindfully, visualising the nutrients of the smoothie feeding and energising every cell in my body, while I listen to an uplifting podcast and write in my diary.
Time permitting I then go for either a swim in the lake or a walk in nature where I can think, imagine, and brainstorm ideas for my art, my soul, my products, my marketing ideas and business strategies.
I start the day off just perfect for me and I know my morning ritual is complete because I feel inspired to get started on the new day!
How to create your morning ritual
•Decide on a Wake-Up Time and stick to it. Give yourself 30-60 minutes for your morning ritual.
•Get Moving. The hardest part of waking up is getting over the sleepiness; it’s all too easy to drift back off to dreamland. So get up and get moving. This is a great time to do a little exercise. If that doesn’t fit in with your schedule then just do a few stretches or walk up and down some stairs a couple of times.
•Choose something that you want to luxuriate in. It may be reading, swimming, yoga, gardening, creative projects, or study. Choose whatever you find enjoyable. Now dedicate a little time to this in the morning. Your morning ritual may be to simply journal. Get my free journal guide book at The OM Collective
•Do it for thirty days. To change a habit you need to do it for thirty days, so stick to your ritual and don’t miss a day, and before you know it, it will become second nature for you.
•Write up your morning ritual; make it a piece of art for your home. Type it up with trendy computer texts and graphics. And then frame it and keep it by your bed.
Whether one is twenty, forty, sixty, or eighty; whether one has succeeded, failed or just muddled along – life begins each morning! The greatest fact in life is that it is never too late to start again. – L.M. Hodges
Some heart thoughts on a luxurious morning start.
- Mindfully sip a cup of herbal tea in the morning sun.
- Sit and reflect for a moment in your sacred space or secret garden.
- Wake up and feel the warmth in your heart as you look over and see your cat or dog in their bed asleep next to you.
- Greet the morning sun with the yoga sun salutations.
- Express yourself and write. Write in your diary or maybe write a letter, a book or even a blog.
- Wake up early, go for a walk and watch the world slowly wake up.
- Wake up early and go to the beach or a park and enjoy the moment of being the only one there.
- Spend some time body brushing your body [read the benefits of this here] and then lather yourself in some divine No Monkey Business Coconut Oil.
- Get some ideas on simple luxuries by reading 70 Ways To Add Simple Luxuries In Your Day
Want less and have more. By being open to appreciating the smaller and seemingly insignificant things in life it attracts more meaning within your own life. Designing a morning ritual that is filled with a few of your own simple pleasures will add a little luxury and purpose to your morning.