Mindful Mornings October 16 2020

photo by Lesly Juarez

You may have heard “mindfulness” being thrown around lately as a new buzzword.  I have seen it on magazine covers and heard it coming from friends but realized when sitting down to write this that I have been practicing it for years without knowingly plugging in to this new trend.  For me, it began in six years ago when I took a beginner meditation class.  During the course of the class I decided to make mediation a practice as I began to see how it positively impacted my day.  This later developed into a morning routine that you could say is a mindfulness practice.  What does that mean?  To me, it means to begin my day intentionally.  What does it include?  The following:

  1. Reading from a positive or spiritual text 5-15 minutes.

I currently am reading “A Course in Miracles” workbook which is a spiritual text that has done real magic in my life.  How much time I spend simply depends on the lesson I am on and/or how much time I have.

  1. Meditation 10-20 minutes

I am a silent meditator and simply practice focusing on my breathing and allowing thoughts to come and go.  I do not expect my mind to be blank the entire time, rather consider it a cleansing and sometimes things are dirtier than others.

Photo by Katerina Jerabkova

  1. Journaling 5-15 minutes

At the very least I write nine things I am grateful for (because 9 divides equally on three lines and I cannot be bothered with an extra dangling down on another line) and if I feel led, I will write to release whatever is on my mind.  I have always been a journaler so it comes quite naturally for me, but I have found lately that if I journal to contemplate an issue in the morning it can lower my energy for the day.  The end of the day is a better time for releasing and I actually receive clearer guidance at this time.

  1. Cat snuggles

This is a bonus if Mitzie comes and sits on my lap while I am meditating.  J

 

I know what you are thinking, I don’t have an hour to spend doing this every morning!!  I realize that time frame is not realistic for some, but even when I was teaching full time and running my business, I made time for working out every morning AND doing a short version of this routine (5-5-5).  Full disclosure, I only commit to five days a week because that is the realistic version for me.  You CAN do this, and you will notice a change in your energy each day, I certainly have. 

I would love to hear about any of you working any of these into your morning.  Let me know how it goes!!

 

Wellness your Way,

Heather