How to have a relaxing morning (how to create the best morning routine for mindfulness)

This is Episode 3 from my new podcast channel : The Mindful Cafe. This is your cosy mini-coaching corner to help you create an intentional life which makes you feel good.

Hi there!

Welcome to episode 3 of The Mindful Cafe. I share habit shifts and mindset shifts which help you slow down, live with more intention and experience inner peace even if you have a busy lifestyle. Think of this podcast as a cosy place where you go to, to feel good about yourself.

For today, I want to share how we can create a mindful morning routine. You may be mildly interested in this topic but wondering how you can tangibly define a so-called ‘mindful’ morning.

I define mindful mornings as mornings which feel flowy, aligned, calm and trusting. None of the panicking, rushing, frustration, anger, bad-temperedness, I think you have an idea of what I am talking about. Because we have had those kinds of days before. 

Why is this important, you ask. Well, if we do not plan our mornings, our days will control us instead of us controlling our days. Can you recall a day recently where evetything seems to go wrong? And one bad thing after another happening like a domino effect.

Well, if we mentally and emotionally prep ourselves for the day ahead, we will have less of this negative drama going on. We can reduce this happening if we are intentional with how we start our days. 

If you start your days feeling calm, at peace, yet alert and present, you will be handling challenges with grace and you will also have more courage to take actions which feel good to you. Not to mention that you will have easier access to your intuition when you are very present and mindful. Intuition is another topic for another day. 

Also, people who practise being in a mindful state of mind in the mornings will have experience less stress, less anxious feelings and overall,more stable emotionally.

Let’s start how we can create or design the best morning routine for mindfulness.

Strategy #1

For me personally, not touching my phone, laptop or iPad for at least 60 minutes upon waking up is the foundation for my morning routine. Once we swipe our phones, our attention is going to be robbed by other people. We will be sucked in into other people’s priorities, their opinions, their ideas, their values. This is not the best state of mind to be in. You want to hold on to your authentic values and priorities instead of letting social media or other people dictate how you think and feel and act. So do yourself a favour and dedicate the first 60 minutes to yourself.

I’ve done this for years. And I will admit that on some days, I will go against it and scroll first thing in the morning. When I do that, I will usually start feeling anxious and my mind will start racing. And then I will be indecisive about what I should or should not do. 

I also understand that some of you may not have the luxury of doing this for whatever reason. You may have a job or a situation which requires your immediate attention. If you are in this stage of your life, then maybe you can aim for setting aside 20 mins without the internet first thing in the morning.

Strategy #2

If you don’t know what to do during that period of time, you can do chores, prepare breakfast, workout, prepare your children for school, write, plan your day, read or journal. 

I like to read self-help books in the morning because the positivity can shape how you think. So, infuse your days with some positive thinking in the morning if you can. Get yourself in the growth-mindset mode before tackling the day. 

Strategy #3

Another very typical activity you can do, is to journal how you want your day to turn out today. For exmaple, I have a digital planner and almost every morning, I will write how I want the day to flow. What do I want to feel? Do? How do I want the day to unfold?

You are almost scripting your day. You are like the director of your day. I love journaling and planning my days because if I don’t do that, my days will feel wasted and unproductive. Ideally, I want to do smth meaningful and high vibrational everyday, but it doesnt always happen. But I try to make it happen by scripting it or writing down how I want my day to turn out.

So far, I have talked about not touching your tech in the mornings, reading a self-help book and also scripting your day. That should be enough if you have a very busy lifestyle.

However, I want to just gently remind you to feel aligned with the things you do. The activities have to feel ‘right’. On some days, working out at 6am feels right, on other days, journaling at 6am feels ‘right.’ Being flexible and honouring what feels aligned for the day is important.

However, you will realise that the same activities will feel right 70% of the time. If you are a natural writer, journaling will feel right 70% of the time. 

The 3 activities are activities which work 70% of the time for me to create a mindful, peaceful, calm morning.

Other strategies

But you may be different from me and find my suggestions not exciting at all. Then I’ll give you 5 other common activities which can help you create a mindful morning.

Number one : working out. You may find it very energising to work out in the morning. And working out is great because you will automatically (I hope!) stay away from the internet and its influence as you are exercising. 

Number 2, you can also meditate if you like it. I used to meditate in the mornings and it was helpful for like 2 years, but now I have somehow stopped it because I find journaling my emotions and thoughts more helpful for me to get clarity and calm. Meditations come in many forms - you can do a coffee drinking meditaion where you sit and be present with your cup of coffee for as long as you need to be. Walking meditation is another idea for you. Walking for some time with just you, your thoughts and nature is a form of meditation too.

Or you may like esoteric meditations like those from Steve Nobel - I love esoteric meditations because they remind me of how much bigger the universe can be. And my problems feel so small in comparison. The result? More calmness, clarity and in touch with your intuition.

Number 3, you can try switching on relaxing spa music in the mornings to elevate your mood. Relaxing classical music can help too, or music with 528 hz - these put you in a focused yet calm mood. Communicating or playing with your pets can ground you and start your days on a very high note. 

There you have it! I have shared 3 non-negotiable things which work for me to create a mindful and intentional morning and also suggested other activities as well.

See you in the next episode of The Mindful Cafe.