The Morning Routine that Changed My Life
Over the last year and a half, I’ve been cultivating a morning routine that supports my recovery, spiritual growth, and sets me up for the day. Many of the suggestions were given to me through various AA & PIR members, as well as what I’ve picked up from books, teachers, Ram Dass, and many others. It’s simple, effective, and I want to break down each practice here to encourage you to give it a try.
I’ve always been an early riser, even through the darkest times of my life. Exercise has always been a center that I could look to and know I was okay, even when many things weren’t. But the biggest mistake I would later find was how I was feeding my mind in the morning. I was starting my day looking for anxiety, for the scary things I might encounter, and getting caught up in the envy and negativity of others. Sure, I got up early and went to the gym, but I had already set myself up for failure, and the scariest part was how unconscious I was to it all.
My anxiety was clinical, and it was a prison I trapped myself in for the majority of my life. I didn’t think I could change it, but what I’m about to share has had the most profound effect on how I enter my day and has been a main contributor to the reduction, and in many cases, the complete removal of anxiety, replacing it with contentment and peace. I encourage you to give this a try for the next 90 days. No skip days unless absolutely necessary. See how you feel, and throughout, you’ll develop a habit that becomes an integral part of your being.
Spiritual Practices for a Grounded Start to the Day
Prayer and Devotion
I don’t care if you’re religious or not, whether you believe in a god or not. Prayer and devotion are practices that will create a connection with others and break down the illusion of separateness we all believe we are. This is a tool to help with resentments, anger, or disconnectedness with others at work, at home, or in your social circles.
Prior to entering AA, I had no religious or spiritual connection, nor did I want it. I never grasped church and didn’t feel anyone was ever able to really explain it to me in a way that made sense. Regardless of your beliefs, praying for the best for others changes you in the process. It has an impact on how you see people, how you see yourself.
A common tool I use when I have a strong resentment towards someone or I’m dealing with a difficult situation with another is to pray for them for 30 days. I pray that their families are safe, that they find joy, that they succeed in what they’re striving for. This simple act of prayer consistently over a 30-day time period changes how I see the person, and as a result, the observer that I am changes too. The anger, resentment, and fear all seem to wash away, and now I see this person not as my adversary but a connected being within this world that I am also a part of. It helps me do business with those I would otherwise vehemently avoid.
Meditation
I could write a book about having a meditation practice, but in my own practice, I am still very much in the oven, baking. Meditation is highly personal. It’s not a practice with a set of rules you follow, although there is a plethora of tools and exercises you can lean on to get you going.
Meditation also comes in a number of different forms, from yoga and sitting to walking and hiking – your entire life can be a meditation if you choose. For this exercise, I’m speaking specifically of sitting in stillness for a set amount of time, focusing on clearing the noise and becoming in tune with your thoughts, how they arise, how they disappear, and the relatively lack of control you have over them. It’s learning to identify with my stillness and quiet and pay less attention to the mind trying to pull me this direction or that.
I highly recommend the book “Journey of Awakening” by Ram Dass. It’s a little heavier on the spiritual side, but he does a fantastic job of cutting through the noise and boiling meditation down to concepts even the novice can grasp. This 20 minutes of sitting (before coffee, before checking emails, before checking Instagram, etc.) is the most important 20 minutes of my day. I’m centered, collected, and unhindered by the anxiety around future events.
Journaling
I choose to journal fresh in the morning. Others may prefer to use it as a review for the day in the evening. Whatever time works for you. These are not hard and fast rules. Keeping a daily journal helps clear the mind and work thoughts out in the present, and serves as a log of your progress over time. You can read and find markers of success in your journey, which, when progress is slow and improvements are incremental, it’s helpful to look back and acknowledge how far you’ve come.
There are great insights that pour onto the page when I write as a stream of consciousness. There are a ton of different methods when it comes to journaling. There is no wrong way to do it. Just do it with no expectations. Much the same as the other practices – do it for the sake of doing it, no goal, no end.
Brene Brown has a host of resources on different journaling practices. I highly recommend checking her stuff out and adopting it if it makes sense. Here’s a quick journal framework to get you going, keep you present, and create awareness around how you’re feeling:
- I am feeling…
- I am thinking…
- My body is…
- I am grateful for…
- I want to…
Your body, emotions, and language are what make up your nature of being, otherwise known as the B.E.L. Model. Journaling using these five sentence starters can help you become accustom to identifying and relating the interplay of the B.E.L. model and make sense of where you are at. It’s a method that has helped me tremendously by separating my inner self from what’s happening to me or through me. It allows me to look at body, emotions, and language objectively instead of immediately associating it with good or bad. It just is. That simple awareness, nothing more, starts to change how I perceive things.
Gratitude Journaling
I have a separate notebook I use just for writing things I’m grateful for. You can choose to do it in the same journal or have a separate one. I chose separate because I not only use it as a daily tool but also to reflect and acknowledge things in my life I really am grateful for.
This is not toxic positivity. It is looking at your life, not denying that there are positives and negatives from your perspective, but acknowledging that which we all typically take for granted can have positive impacts not just on your thinking but your physical health and spiritual growth. Skillandcare.com wrote a short article on 7 primary benefits from gratitude journaling that is worth a quick read.
The format I use is simple. I pick three items of my life I’m grateful for each day, starting each with “I am grateful for…” The best part is they can be anything I look at critically and recognize that this is something in my life to be thankful for. Here are a few examples:
- I am grateful for my health and the ability to move freely.
- I am grateful for the loving support of my family.
- I am grateful for the delicious cup of coffee that starts my day.
You can also use this gratitude journal to be grateful for things that are negative:
- I am grateful for the challenge of dealing with this difficult situation, as it is an opportunity for growth.
- I am grateful for the lesson I learned from my mistake, as it will help me improve.
- I am grateful for the setback, as it has refocused my priorities and made me stronger.
Again, be careful with these. We don’t want to be blindly optimistic, but when you can look at negatives as growth opportunities and truly digest that, the highs and lows become less apparent. You’re inching your way towards that middle path of inner peace.
Nourishing the Mind and Body
Reading
I choose to read in the morning and lump it together with my other spiritual practices. My mission is on self-improvement and growth, so my selection of books over the last year and a half have been primarily focused on self-discovery and practices that help me replace the models I’ve created over the first 40 years of my life.
I take just 10 minutes a day or 10 pages. At that pace, I can get through 10 – 20 books a year, and it’s not a huge inconvenience of time. I’ve never been a strong reader, and so this morning practice has helped me flex that muscle more, and as I do, I find I look for opportunities to read instead of turning the TV on. This has been completely organic and was not my intention.
If you’re looking for inspiration, here are some of the books I’ve read over the last year:
- “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg
- “Atomic Habits” by James Clear
- “The Untethered Soul” by Michael A. Singer
- “The Surrender Experiment” by Michael A. Singer
- “The Book of Joy” by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu
Exercise
Sports and exercise have been a part of my entire life. It is not a muscle I need to work on flexing. It’s a part of my being. An hour a day can be daunting for anyone who isn’t used to pushing their bodies, but this is a goal to aspire towards. You can get the same benefits early on with a short walk, yoga or stretching, or some light weight training.
Of all my morning practices, this does the most to instantaneously boost my mood, clear toxins from my body, and break up whatever thought patterns I have going on in my head. Specifically for me, I CrossFit. It’s my social hangout as well as an intense, dynamic, and varied exercise program for my body. It never gets boring, and every day is something different.
Here’s what I recommend if you’re just starting out. It’s not scientific, it’s not profound. JUST START. Commit yourself to a 90 in 90 to grow the habit – 90 exercise sessions in 90 days. Cement the habit and feel better in the process. Don’t look at the scale, don’t worry about any changes to your body. Just commit to the practice.
Start small. Walk for 20 minutes every morning. Just do it. When you’re ready, maybe move towards a jog the last 10 minutes. Over a 3-month period, you will notice improvements to your cardiovascular health, and your mood will improve. Use these markers to motivate further development of the practice.
You don’t need equipment, you don’t need a trainer, just use your body. Like any other practice, the more you make it a part of your life, the more the practice will point you where to head. You may find yourself seeking help after the initial period, and that’s okay. Just don’t make it this monumental thing. Just get out and start moving.
Mastering the Art of Spiritual Growth
I am far from perfect. I do not get all of these morning practices done every day. Some days I only have 5 minutes to meditate, and I give myself the grace that it’s okay. My formula for success is not looking at goals or objectives. I just do the practice, and the benefits and insights show themselves over time.
Learn to love the plateaus. When I remove the end goal and turn my focus on loving the practice, I get so much more out of it. Drop the expectations on the outcome, and the outcome will create itself. As they say over and over again in AA… One day at a time. Just do it one day at a time.
As the great Salvador Dali once said, “One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.” So embrace the messiness, the imperfections, and the uncertainties of your spiritual growth journey. It’s in those moments that the true magic happens.
Now, I encourage you to start implementing these morning rituals into your daily life. Head to Adam Cleaning to explore their professional cleaning services in Nottingham, UK, and then dedicate that time you’ve saved to nourishing your mind, body, and spirit. Your path to spiritual growth awaits.
