I’ve touched briefly on the concept of a morning routine when I talked about adding 30 minutes of reading to start off your day. Well, a morning routine consists of other activities to help focus your intent for the day ahead. It can be comprised of things that make sense for you, and everyone’s morning routine will be different. However, one thing you should definitely think about including is meditation. The benefits of implementing an everyday habit when you first wake up are quite vast, and meditating during that time can totally boost those advantages. Let’s take a closer look at this concept to help you understand why you should make meditation part of your morning routine.
About Morning Routines
A morning routine is a habit of setting aside a regular amount of time each day for some sort of purposeful intention. It sets the tone for the rest of your day, and it can be comprised of various activities. The amount of time you spend on your morning routine is up to you. However, an hour is a significant amount that doesn’t seem to give people too much trouble to attain. You can fit a great deal of purposeful meditation and spiritual growth work into that time. Beyond meditation, you may want to consider adding some of these activities to your morning ritual:
- A glass of water with lemon for hydration and energy
- Stretching or short exercise routine to warm your body up
- Reading to open your mind and motivate you
- Journaling to flesh out the ideas from what you’ve read or to reflect on issues of interest
- Daily planning to get set for your day and to limit any surprises
- Goal setting to place focus on your intentions for the day ahead and to provide you a map
These are just some examples. Your morning routine should be meaningful and useful to you. Feel free to get creative with it. You’ll probably need to experiment a bit to figure out the best combination. But don’t worry; it will come with time.
Why Morning Meditation?
Meditation is an excellent form of self-care. You’re purposefully setting aside time to focus your thoughts and to spend a quiet moment to work toward achieving your highest self. Meditating helps you to create the calm and quiet mindset you need to start the day off right. It also helps you to develop the focus that can be carried onward as you encounter various problems or issues, making problem solving much easier. In fact, your overall state of mind will be enhanced through meditation. You’ll feel you’re more motivated to accomplish your goals, you have more persistence to push through obstacles and you’re more patience when encountering minor difficulties. All of these are good things.
How to Make It a Habit
Creating a morning routine of meditation and mindfulness might take some work. Like most new activities, it will take practice to become a habit. However, there are some things you can do to help make this a habit that sticks. One way to do this is to know your why. Write down the reasons why you’d like to make this routine a daily habit. Stick the list somewhere visible as a reminder and to motivate you. You may also want to recruit a buddy to share the experience with you. Having an accountability partner is useful because you’ll have a support system and someone to whom you must answer if you find yourself slacking. Your morning routine buddy can be a spouse or roommate within your home or a friend who doesn’t live with you. Just be sure to check in with that person at least every few days and as needed for encouragement. Don’t give up. Try to at least commit to your morning routine for a month. As you may know, repetition is the key to forming lasting habits.
Meditation is a crucial part of a strong morning routine. Hopefully, you now get a better picture of how the two go hand in hand, along with the powerful benefits they can offer. Give it a try for a month and see just how your life transforms.