The Beauty of Morning Rituals

Over the centuries, rituals have been recorded through text, images, or by real live continuing practice. So many remain today yet so many are lost. For most, rituals generate a thought of mysticism or old religious practices containing images of animal sacrifice for prosperity and good fortune or fire and blood for the soul to crossover to the heavens.  But today’s ritual talk is all about the basics: Morning Rituals! A simple method of bringing together the two dichotomies of thought and action into a sweet nectar of connection. The beauty of the morning ritual should be experienced by all.

I Kind of Already Do It, Right?

We all have a morning ritual in the sense that there are those “things” we do to get us up and ready and typically out the door. Most of the time we aren’t even conscious it is happening. Shall we call it an unconscious habit? Let’s shift over to consciousness. Being conscious of our daily habits keeps us in the present moment. Remember that place? It centers us and keeps us focused rather than sorrowful about the past or anxious about the future. It allows us to be grateful for things like the food we chew and ingest to nourish our body, the soft clean cotton that touches our skin, the heavy calmness in our mind when we are about to drift off into a deep sleep, and the juicy morning stretch that gets our blood flowing.

I’ve Always Asked People About Morning Rituals

Years ago a colleague at work told me that he woke up on workdays at 3:45 in the morning, slipped out of bed, poured a cup of coffee (that he had programmed to be ready the night before) and sat at the kitchen table with the window cracked open so he could hear the wind and the birds chirping. (Are they actually chirping that early??) I asked him why. He said it was calming, peaceful, and he felt clear and was able to design what his day would look like. After his coffee, he would eat a bowl of cereal in the silence of the early morning. Then he would get in the shower and the rest is work history!

My morning ritual took a little bit of time to evolve. I’m the kind of person that could jump out of bed and bake a cake before brushing my teeth. (Chocolate all the way!) But the thing is, that keeps me from noticing simple things like how my body feels before I step out of bed or how my mind recovered from yesterdays thoughts and events. So I began to tell myself that it was ok to ease into the morning and not have to get to work doing whatever was on the list that day. (I mean, that means setting the alarm earlier to allow time for it obviously) All night, while my body restores itself, my spirit is out and about sending me messages through my subconscious. I figured the least I can do is acknowledge how my body feels and take some time to decipher through any messages. You know what I mean?

Anyway, one thing I’d like to say is I understand that some have to get up at 5 am to start getting ready for work and the thought of losing an extra 15 minutes of sleep to start a little morning ritual (in the 4’s as I like to call it) sounds horrifying. I lived that! Sometimes it worked for me and sometimes it didn’t. But I will say just one more thing: you are not losing anything! You are gaining clarity, focus, calmness, peace, energy and the list goes on! Keep reading below to find out what my own morning routine looks like.

My Morning Ritual

Open My Eyes and Stretch My Body

As I open my eyes, I smile and reach my arms up and my legs long and stretch the biggest stretch of my life. I really do smile and I’m not sure how that began or if I always did it, but I do. While I stretch, I feel my blood circulating, energy rising, and the connection to my body.

Go Pee

Eliminating waste that has been built up over several hours of sleep is the key first thing in the morning. Why would you hold in anything that isn’t serving you? Get. It. Out.

Quick Bed Yoga

It doesn’t always work out but when you can, bed yoga is the best. I lay back down and bring my knees to my chest. From here I do a few stretches and movements to get my spine flowing and my hips open. Watch my Instagram video to see more!

Oil Pull

I put a tablespoon of organic coconut oil in my mouth and start swishing it around for the next 5-20 minutes. No, I don’t stand there looking at myself in the bathroom mirror! Oil pulling helps kill some of the bad bacteria that build up overnight, lend a hand to bad breath problems, and improve gum health. It’s also way better than using mouthwash, which kills good bacteria along with the bad. Not to mention the added chemicals…oops, I did mention it.

Plant Check and Clean Up

Talking to my plants keeps them physiologically happy. Come on! They love oxygen we all know that. I walk around and just check in on all of them, making sure they look clean and happy. As I do that, I pick up anything left over from the night before. Typically, I clean up before bed but sometimes a few dishes end up in the sink or random things like notebooks or blankets are laying around. Washing the dishes actually isn’t that bad. The water is so fresh in the morning and plus I have to stay present so I don’t drop anything in the sink and break it! Mindfully wiping down my coffee table, lighting incense, and arranging my crystal lotus and stones prepares and cleanses my room while connecting me to the yoga and work that is yet to come.

Make Tea and a Glass of Special Water

As I am still swooshing the coconut oil, I boil water for tea. (I’ve recently stopped having coffee in the morning. Just for a bit) Next, I squeeze a fresh lemon in my cup and add cinnamon and honey. Sometimes I slice fresh ginger and lemon or sometimes I add turmeric. It depends on the day! I make a fresh glass of water with either organic apple cider vinegar or tons of fresh lemons. When the water is boiling I pour it into the cup and notice all the ingredients softening into the warm goodness that will nourish my body. (staying present baby)  Next stop: the bathroom.

Tongue Scrape

After spitting out my coconut oil, I mindfully rinse my mouth and use my metal tongue scraper to scrape any leftover goop way in the back. Bacteria really build overnight, especially when they don’t get much oxygen. Scraping your tongue is like the first line of defense to your immune system! It also activates saliva production and agni (the fire agent) that helps your digestive fire kick in. Brushing my teeth comes next and I may floss again. (I mean, I floss at night and I don’t sleep eat so should I floss again in the morning?)

Head to the balcony

I love getting some morning rays! As I sit out on my balcony, I grab my drinks and my notebook and just sit there for a few minutes enjoying the morning air and feeling the warm sun on my skin. Then, I start writing. Writing is a recent addition to my routine. My new lovely friend shared this thing with me called Morning Pages. I write down every piece of mumbo-jumbo in my mind onto 3 pages. Literally, anything from I have to buy paper towels, to I wonder if my brother misunderstood my comment yesterday, to the movie I saw last night was sad, to did I put too much lemon in this tea. It helps create space for your creativity to flow all day long. Please look into this, I love it now!

The rest is open!

After I conclude my morning ritual, I really feel fresh, light, and ready to take on the day. From there I do a million things that I won’t bore you with but definitely include practicing yoga, meditation, making breakfast (check out this super yummy oatmeal with zucchini), teaching yoga, running errands blah blah blah. I hope that you can find the time to start your own ritual or add to your existing ritual and know that as a result, you will absolutely be able to identify the benefits immediately.

Please share your morning rituals below in the comments and help inspire others that are just beginning!