By now all of us have heard that the secret to success lies in your daily routine. Over the years I have figured out that my day is fully dictated by my morning.
As the mother of a 3 year old, a big portion of my day is dedicated to child care, feeding, chasing, cleaning, tickling so making sure that I take the time each morning to set myself up for success is key. N calls me OCD, but I call it organized and deliberate and have tweaked my mornings over the years to work best for me.
6:00 Wake Up
I usually have to slowly extract myself from the bed as it’s not unusual that during the night that every living thing in my house has ended up in my bed, and somehow, simultaneously, draped across, over or adjacent to my body. I take a moment to say a quick prayer of gratitude for another day and then head to the bathroom where I do all the things one does upon waking. I rarely shower first thing in the morning. On the days I work out I’ll take a shower afterwards, on the days I don’t I do a quick cleanse of the essential areas, dry brush, moisturize and move on. I say it’s because I am conserving water, but really it’s because I’m lazy and the effort involved in showering seems excessive some days. I then head to the kitchen to turn my tea kettle on, take some fruit out the fridge (arrrrgghhh cold fruit the worst) and light a candle and some incense to start the day.
6:20 -7:00 Yoga + Meditation
Once my water is hot I squeeze in half a lemon, take a shot of aloe vera juice and then head downstairs to my yoga room where I take a hit from my Sunday Goods cannabis pen and do my yoga practice. Since my back sprain I’ve beed doing a lot of work focused on glutes and hip stability. Taking time to move my body, be quiet and set an intention each morning is the key to my sanity and gives me a bigger jolt than any cup of coffee ever could.
7:00 -7:30 Snuggles + Breakfast
40 mins is the perfect amount of time for the effects of my Sunday Goods to fade so once H wakes up, he and I spend some time snuggling while he transitions from being asleep to being awake. He usually is full of questions from the day before and we end in a fit of giggles. It’s important to me that he wakes up in a calm and peaceful way. I want him to enjoy mornings and have the opportunity to start his day in a way that feels good for him. He’s consistently hungry so we head straight to the kitchen for fruit, tea, water and vitamins. He’s pretty clear on what he wants to eat outside of fruit and 99% of the time its eggs. For me it’s a green smoothie with Moon Juice Brain Dust and Omega 3 oils. We sit at the table at chat a bit then it’s off to get ready for school.
7:30-8:00 Toddler Wrangling
For those of you with young children you are familiar with this stage of the morning. It can take 30 minutes or it can take an hour depending on the day. For me it’s always easiest to be 90% dressed by the time Harris wakes up. If not I find it takes twice as long to get out the house.
I have noticed that Harris reacts to my energy and if I am rushing and anxious, he immediately resists that feeling and is more challenging to get out the house. If I’m calm and moving at a normal pace, he falls in sync and off we go.
8:30 Drop Off
Twice a week I drop Harris off at school. I typically spend about 20 minutes in the classroom and sometimes read to his class. Afterwards I will go to yoga or a coffee shop and spend a few hours working on my computer. On the days that I don’t have drop off duty, I walk the dog and then head to my desk and start my day there.
On the days this routine doesn’t happen (travel, hitting the snooze button) there is a marked difference in how I feel and how the rest of my day unfolds. If I miss easing into the morning I feel like I’m running out of stride and could potentially clip the next hurdle and fall on my ass.
What does your morning routine look like? Any tips/ideas you want to share that are key to you having a successful day?
