By Seabuck Staff , published Jan 19, 2018

Morning Rituals for Better Self Care

The beginning of a new year is a great time to work on yourself. Many successful people have cited morning rituals as having a very positive impact on their daily lives. Having a morning routine will change your life, which will change the way you go about your workday. No more waking up as late as possible, rushing to work and crawling through the day. Practicing self-care each morning will help you cultivate a more positive outlook to get you through each day.

Morning routines are beneficial for those who don't consider themselves morning people. Self-care in the morning puts a buffer between you and your work day, giving you time to center yourself. There are many ways you can establish a morning ritual to help start your day off right. You can stretch, sing, exercise- anything that makes you feel like you are ready for the day ahead.

Make time for Yourself

If you want to devote time to yourself- you must make time for it first. It’s impossible to do anything new if you are rushing out of the door every morning. Start by going to bed a little sooner than usual. Put away your phone well before bed time and try charging it in a different room. Recent studies have shown that phone use before bed time is linked to chronic sleep deprivation. 1

Do something you want to do every morning- it will increase your positivity. Studies have found that optimism has an impact on your physical health.2 Whether you do a morning meditation or make a special cup of tea, a small ritual of self-care will boost your mood and health. Your mindset plays a big part in how you perceive the world- and you have more control over than you may realize.

The positive feelings from morning rituals will motivate you do more. A good mood makes mundane tasks easier and helps you enjoy the day- no matter what you are doing.

Make your life Easier

Having a morning routine helps to combat morning fatigue. The fewer decisions you have to make right away in the morning, the less drained you’ll feel. Have your lunch ready to go- the less decisions you can make early in the morning, the better. Don't forget to eat breakfast, either.

“Habit Stacking” is a good way to start creating a morning routine. Take habits that you already have and combine them with new habits that you would like to adopt. If every morning you wake up and take a shower, that’s a morning habit that you already possess.

Adding a new habit is as easy as adding a short stretching routine before your morning shower. This simple tactic will help you build a new morning routine without the pressure.

Be Aware of your own needs

So how do you figure out what to include in your morning routine? It all depends on what’s important to you. Do you strive to be more organized throughout the day? Are you trying to incorporate a daily morning exercise routine? Or are you looking for a bit of calm reflection before your day begins?

Writing down an actual plan will help you stick to your goals. When you have a solid plan, it's much easier to put it into action. Use a planner or a journal and plan specific times. How much time do you need to squeeze in a morning yoga session?

Once you have your new ritual down, you can start to add more things. Once you’ve made time for yourself, you can move on to preparing for the rest of the day. It will be easy to make coffee and grabbing that lunch that you prepared the night before. Now you're awake and all set to go!

You should take the time and make a morning routine that works for you. It’s all about preparing yourself and allowing yourself to have a calm and well prepared day. Chefs don’t start a dinner service without prepping their ingredients, so why start a day without taking the steps to make it a good one? Check out some of these awesome morning routines to get inspired.

https://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/3-little-known-reasons-why-morning-rituals-are-freaking-awesome/

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/cathryn-lavery/morning-routines_b_8042428.html

 

1. https://www.nature.com/articles/497S13a
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2894461/