Even if it is just for five minutes, a morning routine can help you move through your life with greater ease and presence. Having productive habits at the start of each day does not just include important practices like getting up at the same time and making your bed. It also involves checking in with yourself and setting your intentions for the day.
Discover Your Needs
Setting up a morning routine begins with identifying habits that will benefit you instead of focussing on things you think you should do. For example, if you exercise in the morning, despite knowing what would ground you more is taking 30 extra minutes to sip your coffee slowly in the morning with presence and intention, can you permit yourself to make this shift?
Take the time to discover the things that will benefit you as an individual, even if they may not work for others.
Slow Down
It may seem impossible to slow down in the morning, but we can choose to wake up a little earlier to give ourselves ample time to ease into the day rather than rush into it.
Whether it is a few minutes or half an hour, what if you woke up earlier to give yourself time just to be present? You do not have to spend that extra time doing anything. You could lay in bed and breathe or practice a self-care technique that you may not typically have time.
Connect With Your Body
When you are running on autopilot, trying to do everything and be helpful to all people, you often live in your head, disconnected from your body.
Living in constant states of “fight or flight” increases your stress response and perpetuates lingering anxiety and stress. However, the morning can be a time to integrate rituals that get you out of your head and connect you with your body.
Connecting with your body could include incorporating movement into your mornings, such as walking or yoga, or practicing meditation, visualization, or deep breathing. Perhaps this even involves reading, journaling, or mindfully sipping tea.
The purpose of a morning routine is to help you practice bringing intention and presence into your life. It should include things you do per your own needs and help ground you at the start of each day.
Cultivating practices that allow you to live life with intention is part of experiencing holistic wellness. Recovery is a time of self-discovery and uncovering ways to help you maintain strength, focus, and being present. At Avalon Malibu, we will support you to identify what you need in order to experience wellness as an individual. We have several programs to help you in your recovery journey, including detox, intensive outpatient, residential treatment, and our partial hospitalization program. To learn more, call us today at (844) 857-5992.
