The other day someone posted this to facebook:
That's right, folks you will be UTTERLY EXHAUSTED!
How about treating YOURSELF with all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster?
That's how I start my day every day, beginning with giving myself a Reiki treatment. So if you have taken a Reiki course with me, you know at the end I always say, give yourself a Reiki treatment everyday (at which point you may have looked at me like I was nuts). The whole point is, whatever you do, start with yourself.
So in the spirit of starting with myself I'm going to share...
The Morning Routine
1. Wake up.
Yawn, stretch, breathe, blink and look around. I always marvel how well I can see first thing in the morning. Then I check the time, like all of us. I sleep with the wifi off, so I'm not tempted to check email just yet.
(1 Minute)
2. Clear my mind.
Waking is one of the times I'm flooded with all sorts of brilliant and useless ideas. I just write them down. They can be messages or feelings that came up in a dream, inspirational words, or a burning action item for my "to do" list. Whatever it is, I get it down on paper and off my mind.
(1 Minute)
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| Yours may be fancy. Mine's just a phone. |
3. Give myself a Reiki treatment.
This is by far the BEST investment of time first thing before getting out of bed. Especially a cold winter morning. I'd used to wake up with my hands buzzing and immediately place them on my eyes. The first Reiki position is doubles as the most useful eye exercise, called Palming.
If you don't have an hour, do 40 minutes. If you don't have that, do a quickie in 15. Key placements: Front of face and back of head, throat and heart, solar plexus and pelvis, feet (repeat at bedtime).
(15-60 Minutes)
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| If you're strapped for time, do a quickie |
If you don't have any time, take two minutes and remember:
I give thanks for my many blessings.
Just for today, do not worry.
Just for today, do not anger.
Honor your parents, teachers and elders.
Earn your living honestly.
Show gratitude to every living thing.
4. Meditate.
This is alone time. It doesn't matter whether you practice with the breath, a mantra or practice mindfulness. The point is do what you like to do. A beautiful practice to set the tone for the day is a "metta" or loving kindness meditation (listen to a guided session here). When I feel too restless I walk, or mindfully...
(10 Minutes)
5. Light and Water.
Open the windows / blinds, water your house plants and drink a glass of warm or cold water. You can add lemon or apple cider vinegar to boost your stomach acid and cleanse your system. Let's face it we all need light and water. Let it stream in.
(5 Minutes)
6. Stretch, dance, sing, move!
Get out of breath! This is the time for yoga, exercise or whatever physical activities you need in your morning. Go outside barefoot, do chi-gong,cycle or run around. Do what you gotta do to break a sweat.
(10-20 Minutes)
I should mention that by this point in my day, there is a very small, chatty and boisterous human being climbing all over me who needs lots of attention and moves around a whole lot. If you have one of these delightful people (or beloved animals) in your life, be grateful. And let them join in the fun. This can be social time.
7. Shower.
Ahhhh. Nothing like dissolving into water. Another one of those times when I'm flooded with brilliant insights or useless ideas... Another great time to practice mindfulness.
(5 Minutes)
8. Breakfast.
Normally this entails fruit in either a salad or oatmeal with nuts and cinnamon or shredded coconut, or an anything or everything smoothie, or Montreal style bagel with avocado and tomato, or omelette with pesto, olives, sun-dried tomato and basil, or French toast with fruit! Clearly I love breakfast. Wholesome and simple. If you have a little one around, get them to help. If you don't, this is more time for mindfulness!
(20 Minutes)
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| 70s TV: Just Like Mom: stay in charge of recipes at all times. |
The Only Rule is Actually an Exception
This whole process is 1-2 hours long. Before you protest, there is one rule: LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. You don't have to do it all. There are days I skip the plants (let's face it sometimes they are not thirsty) or the yoga (I might promise to take myself swimming later) or the breakfast (I can always grab something in town after my shower if I'm in a rush).
And trust me, there are plenty of days when I admit I succumb to email or text messaging before the yoga or shower. I can't do TV, news, talk-radio and increasingly, music. But these might be your exceptions.
The point is I don't kill myself over the exceptions. Remember that thing about caring, being kind to and understanding yourself? That's right. It's the spirit in which all things happen, not the happenings themselves.
So beginning today, care, be kind to and understand yourself. Your day -- and everyone else's around you --- will be much better for it.
