My Morning Routine (2018 Version)
I wake up at around 4.45 am every day. As I wake up, I do a quick boot up sequence. I smile and say the words ‘Thank you’. I express gratitude for the fact that I’ve been gifted another day to live and express myself, and for the wonderful things that I get to experience on a day-to-day basis. Then, I say the words ‘Sending love…’, and visualize that I am giving away love and it’s spreading over my neighborhood, my city, my country and is gradually enveloping the entire world. This is a variation of the ‘mental love letter’ exercise that Steve Jobs practiced every morning. Once it is done, I begin a countdown from 10 to 1, and at 1, I throw away my bed sheet and get out of my bed. The countdown method helps deal with any laziness or procrastination I have and gets me going.
I walk across the room to switch off the alarm on my smartphone. Before I switch it off, I do a few boxer shuffles to get myself in a pumped up state. Then, I go to the bathroom to brush my teeth and freshen up. I sprinkle cold water in my eyes and wash my face. This helps me in waking up from any residual sleepiness.
After using the bathroom, I begin a 15–20 minutes meditation practice. I mostly use Headspace and occasionally use other meditation apps or YouTube videos. Then, I proceed with my morning fitness session, that lasts somewhere around 20–25 minutes. It comprises of four parts: cardio warm up session, workout session wherein I mainly do pushups, squats, sit ups and plank, Yoga asanas, and Pranayama (breathing exercises). Each part takes 5–6 minutes to complete. Next, I go to the kitchen and drink around 600 ml (20 ounces) of warm water with freshly squeezed lemon juice; I also add apple cider vinegar to this mix sometimes. Once I’m done with that, I head to the bathroom where I take care of my grooming and hop in for a cold shower. I like to play something inspirational in the background when I take my shower as it uplifts my mood and energy.
Post-shower, I make my bed. Even it’s a small task, I feel amazing and I get a great sense of accomplishment once I’m done with it. It’s a great habit to have as it sets the tone for entire day. As Naval Admiral William McRaven, the commander of U.S. Special Operations, said in his 2014 commencement speech at University of Texas at Austin, “If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter.” Once my bed is ready, I do some basic cleaning and tidying up and make sure things are organized and kept in their respective places. Along with tidying up my space, I light an incense stick and a tealight candle to create a soothing ambience. This helps me feel relaxed, comfortable and attain hygge in the mornings. Next, I begin with my morning journaling. I empty all my thoughts, worries, anxieties or questions in my journal. This proves to be very useful as we live our daily lives and avoids the bottling up of any negative emotions. Also, I write down 5 things I’m grateful for and 5 positive aspects of something or someone that I’m having a difficulty in dealing with. After that, I read the meditation from the respective day from The Daily Stoic — written by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman — and write my thoughts based on the corresponding question from The Daily Stoic Journal. After journaling, I complete my affirmations and visualization sessions that can last anywhere from 5–20 minutes depending on how much time I have. Then, I start brewing my morning coffee. As it brews, I step outside in the balcony to soak in the morning sun and meditate on the greenery — the plants and trees — around me. This quick exercise helps me reconnect with nature and my inner calm. Next, I get back inside and read the daily meditation from ‘The Language of Letting Go’ written by Melody Beattie. By the time I finish reading the meditation, my cup of joe is ready for me, and I take the first heavenly sip that I had been looking forward to with gratitude.
With the coffee in my hand, I go to my work desk and I continue with the second part of my recalibration process, wherein I read my mission statement, go through the tasks that I need to accomplish that day as per my weekly plan and my calendar and track my important habits using my personal habits tracking system. After completing this session, I read a personal development book related to a skill that I’m trying to develop or subject I’m interested in learning about for around 10 minutes. This is the culmination of my morning routine, and I begin my work day immediately after that. I open my laptop and start with the morning jam session for my work that comprises of two 45–50 minute uninterrupted sessions with a 5–10 minutes rest in between, lasting anywhere from 100 to 120 minutes in total.
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Originally published at www.thekarmayogi.blog on November 11, 2018.
