This Morning Routine Will Improve Your Mood
Breathe in. Breathe out.
It may be that simple for many of you. However. for the majority of people, it doesn’t come as easy.
Waking up stressed is enough to bring a tornado crashing your entire day. There will nothing you can do, and you may wish at some point you didn’t wake up at all.
So let me suggest an easy exercise that may allow you to face the day with greater optimism. And, this exercise includes time — an ally but mostly regarded as an enemy. Let me explain.
If you are rushing, stressed out, and feeling like you can’t cope, is your day going any faster? Are you able to do all the things you wanted (needed) to do before it is time to get to bed once more? Are you focused? Do you actually find time to stop what you are doing and ‘breathe’? Do you actually realise you are breathing? Existing or surviving?
Do you take time to enjoy your breakfast, or do you gobble it down with hot coffee while trying to get the kids ready for school? Do you avoid breakfast altogether, fuelling your body with pure caffeine because there is never enough time?
Well, the answers are quite easy… Aren’t they?
If you run like a headless chicken trying to do too many things at once, putting too much on your plate, and far too many deadlines in the aim to keep you focused and ‘challenged’, do you think you will achieve all that you have set up to do?
So let’s look at ‘time’.
if you understand that time can be your greatest ally, would you think that waking up 5 minutes, perhaps 10 minutes before your usual time can help you?
I hear you say: “I don’t have enough time to sleep and I should cut my sleep down by 10 minutes!!!”
But then you are looking at your day as an inevitable outcome. Being a chef for 30 years I know who you feel. When I had only 3 hours to sleep a night, and that for 6 months, every minute asleep were precious. What i took from this is that I woke up exhausted and stressed out. I have 3 coffees within the hour and would not even care if I was asleep or awake as there was so much to do. Working on yachts for example is the worse job a chef can do. You travel to the most exotic places in the world and yet you may be in a hyper-conditioned galley with no window at all (if you are lucky may have a tiny one), and you work at any time of the day and night. The late parties often meet with the early risers, and this goes on for months on end, until the end of the season. So, I hope you can see my point, when I say I know what 10 minutes less asleep does to the mind.
And yet, those 10 minutes have change my life.
I can do so much more in a day, be more focussed and much happier. I don’t rely so much on coffee anymore, and I am actually living.
As soon as you wake up, sit comfortably on your bed. Do not think about anything but being present. Take a deep breath. Breathe in, breathe out.
Inhale… Count to 5… Exhale… Count to 5… inhale… and repeat for 5 minutes.
If you cannot manage to breathe, then listen to a 5-minute SOS meditation to guide you for 5 minutes.
Then, take 3-5 minutes to set your intentions for the day. Write in your diary what is important in your day and the things you need to do. Make sure to add 1 thing that you will do for yourself. It can be anything, as long as it is time you dedicate to yourself. This is not a to-do list that includes your chores and daily errands. This is a list of intentions that will allow you to become the person you want to be, more aware, more organised.
You can now get up and go about your day. You will now be more calm and focussed. You will have set the tone for the day by driving your focus on what’s important.
I urge you to read Energise, to help you focus on what’s important and lead a healthier lifestyle and eat better.
5-minute SOS Meditation Sessions
Visit our YouTube page for different meditation videos to help you be more centred and calm.