Episode 203: Transforming Your Mornings: How Small Rituals Can Bring Big Joy to Your Day

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Episode Transcript

What would you think if I told you that you can control how your day starts off before even opening your eyes. Or that no matter how difficult you day was you can still calmly go to sleep?

In the past few episodes we’ve been talking about rituals and how to bring moments of joy to your life by changing the intention of everyday habits.

Let’s put it all together and transform a few of your habits today. 

How do you start your morning?  

Is it hectic? Calm? Somewhere in between?

Take a moment to think of how you normally feel in the morning. Do you start off tired or energetic?

Maybe you aren’t able to get a full night’s sleep. Is it hard to shut down at night? Do you have to wake up in the middle of the night for a caregiving duty? Do you just collapse in bed at the end of the day or fall asleep on the sofa watching tv only to shuffle your way to bed at 3am. 

Waking up and falling asleep can be some of the most frustrating parts of your day because they can be difficult to do. 

It is possible to feel calm both when you wake up and before falling asleep. You can use things you already do and form a morning and evening ritual to make the beginning and the end of your day something you can look forward to and use as a tool to set the mood for the rest of your night or day. 

Let’s start with mornings.

I try not to think first thing in the morning. I know it’s hard to do but all of those worries, doubts, anxiety about what has to be done that day or dreading your day will have it’s time. You will certainly find a way to do that. It just doesn’t have to be as soon as you wake up. 

Spending your first moments in the morning in a calm, mindful way can create space for that calm to linger into your morning. It just requires a shift in your mindset when you wake up. 

When I wake up my brain wants to get to work. In fact it loves to get to work before I’m even fully awake. I actually started writing this podcast episode in my head when I was still partly asleep a few morning ago. 

When I become aware I’m awake and before I open my eyes I actively tell myself to stop thinking. Almost like when you walk into the living room and you can’t stand to hear the Law and Order theme song again so you turn it off. You just say nope… not right now. 

I do the same thing. As soon as I notice I’m starting to wake up and before I open my eyes I stop myself from thinking or problem solving and I direct my attention to what I”m sensing.

I try to focus on something I can hear, or feel. On a special day maybe I can smell coffee being made. On most days I think of something I’m thankful for. Maybe it’s just the fact that I woke up to experience another day. Or the ability to enjoy hearing the birds sing. 

You might say… well that is going to be difficult on a bad day. What if my husband is in the hospital or my mom had a horrible night? 

The key is, you control what you think of in this moment. Right before you open your eyes. Before you’ve officially entered into your day. You can chose to not think about anything and if you don’t think about anything you aren’t giving yourself the opportunity to have an opinion about the day. In this moment it isn’t a good day or a bad day… it’s just a day. 

Believe me, I know it can be hard. It’s difficult for me to wake up to a complicated day and not stress out about everything that needs to happen. Or anticipate the emotions I’ll feel in the future. 

However, you have the choice to choose what you do when you wake up. Be stressed out and anxious about things that haven’t happened or already happened. Or simply just allow yourself to wake up and have a few moments to yourself. 

What if you are a jump up to turn off the alarm type of person? 

First of all… find a gentler alarm tone! I don’t know about you but the rush of adrenaline I experience when when an alarm wakes me up is horrible! 

But let’s think of the other things you do in the morning. 

You put your feet to the floor for the first time. That is a moment to linger in. You can give yourself a pep talk if you anticipate a difficult day ahead. You can take 5 deep breaths before fully getting out of bed. You can take a few minutes to sit there and look outside. Anything to get you out of your head. 

You probably brush your teeth mindlessly. I mean think about it. Can you recall what you did when you brushed your teeth this morning? What is the exact name of your toothpaste and what is the flavor. What side of your mouth did you start on? What did your hair look like while you were doing it? These few minutes of teeth brushing, that you do every morning, are an opportunity for you to start your day on a positive note. You can imagine you’re getting rid of all the nasty residue from the day before. Or you can imagine you’re washing away all the negative emotions you brought into the morning with you. You can simply enjoy and breathe in the smell of your toothpaste. Really focus on how this act massages your gums. You can also look at yourself in the mirror while brushing your teeth. Give yourself a wink. Think some compliments for yourself. 

You can turn this one thing you know you will do every morning into a moment to set yourself up to have a better day than you would have if you just brushed your teeth like you usually do. 

Just doing one of these things or something you’ve created for yourself in the morning can change how you start your day. 

You need to find something you do every morning. You wake up. You get out of bed. You walk to the bathroom. You brush your teeth. You maybe drink something. If these are all things you do every day without fail and you can turn it into a moment to pause and find a sense of calm, even if just for a moment, you’ve built caring for yourself into you day.

No need to learn how to do something new. No. Need to figure out when you’ll have time to do it. No need to leave post it’s all over your house to remember. No excuses!

Take some time this week to think of what you can transform from a habit to a ritual in an effort to make you mornings and waking up a more positive experience and next week will talk about your evening routine. If you’d like to share what your morning ritual is or have questions about creating one feel free to email me. You can simply hit reply to my newsletter if you get it every week or through the contact me link on my web page at www.loveyourcaregivinglife.com

Thanks for listening.