Buongiorno! <3
Establishing and practicing a morning routine may sound insignificant, but it’s one of the easiest things you can do in your daily life to aid in improving overall peace and balance and provide a clear, positive space within which to start your day.
As always with the subjects of my soul food posts, this practice offers benefits on multiple levels: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual and is worth at least a try. 🙂
1. BODY — starting things off healthy
Knowing what you are going to eat for breakfast in the morning and making sure that it is something healthy will save you time and lay the groundwork for a healthy day.
There’s a lot of talk about breakfast being the most important meal of the day, but I always live by the rule “eat when you’re hungry.” Your body will tell you if you need food or not, so I never force myself to eat anything. So if you are not a breakfast eater (out of not feeling hungry rather than for lack of time), one thing you can incorporate is drinking some water right when you wake up and drinking warm water with lemon. Our bodies lose a lot of water through the night working hard and breathing heavily, so I always keep a glass at my bedside table and drink it first thing. Then I make my water with lemon.
If you’re a coffee drinker, you can still benefit from drinking a glass of water before. Since coffee is dehydrating, the extra water can really help.
I’m in Florida right now, so my green smoothie belongs in a tropical cup ha!
One thing that you can control and depend on (especially when you are half asleep and easing into your day) is a routine.
2. MIND — organizing and not rushing
I can only speak from personal experience as always, but I find that nothing adds more stress to a work/school day than starting off in the morning in a frantic rush. Yet somehow this happens pretty frequently. Depending on the different things I’ve left for myself to do in the morning or what I’m cooking for lunch that day, I can easily budget my time poorly and end up in a mad rush to get out the door complete with jogging to the subway. Not ideal.
(It’s a late morning for me on vacation. 🙂 )
But on the mornings where I am more on top of things, I love getting ready in calmness and taking my time. Often times, there is already a pretty stressful day ahead for most people, so beginning the first minutes of your day al in stress only adds to the pressure.
Little changes like picking out what you’re wearing, and finishing up any random tasks the night before can do more than just save you time—they can save you a little sanity in the mornings.
I’m on vacation right now and this is my morning view! Ahhh 🙂
3. SOUL — the power and dependability of a routine
The most important aspect of establishing a morning routine is that it gives you something to count on. Obviously in life, almost everything is subject to change and curveballs just get thrown left and right. But one thing that you can control and depend on (especially when you are half asleep and easing into your day) is a routine.
I find it really comforting in a big way to know that I have my lovely calm morning to count on every day. It may sound trivial, but it brings me a great amount of peace to not feel like I have to roll with the punches of an unpredictable morning that’s out of my control.
No lovely morning is complete without your favorite slippers!
What are your mornings like? Do you have a routine to keep things constant or do you just try your best to get out the door on time?
A presto amori miei,
Amanda <3
That was so sweetly written, it felt like a warm hug for my soul! mmmmmm… Thanks Amanda 🙂
Author
aww thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear that <3 <3
Lovely post and gorgeous photography too! ❤️
https://busybeeblogweb.wordpress.com
Author
Thank you!! 😊❤️
I’ve been thinking a lot about trying to get a morning routine going. This post helps. Thanks ☺
Author
I’m glad to hear it!! Thank you ❤️
Love this post 🙂 x
Author
Thank you! ❤️
This post is so true. I have early days (up at 4:30)…So it’s only through the use of a solid morning routine that I actually make it to work on-time without forgetting anything, and still manage to get a peaceful 15 minutes or so of time to just sit and chill with a cup of tea and the puppy. Wit a good routine you can basically run on “autopilot” .
Nice slippers!
I always try to have a morning routine but all too often I end up rushing around like a headless chicken, running to my classes, and still ending up late. At least I’m trying 😛
Author
I totally get it. Still happens to me sometimes! 😊
I am slowly becoming more of a morning person than I was! A cup of tea or coffee and I’m good to go. Great post!
Author
That’s great! It does help haha though I know some people just aren’t programmed to be morning people. Thank you! 🙂
I just wrote about my new’s years resolutions, one of which is to improve my morning routine!! I still have little idea about how I’m going to achieve that, but clearly I just need to follow some tips from you! 🙂
https://thebarefootangel.wordpress.com/2016/12/30/my-new-years-resolutions-new-year-new-goals/
Author
Thank you, that’s so sweet. I’m glad you found yourself here 🙂
This was such a fun post to read! I think one of my goals for 2017 should definitely be to start implementing a more structured morning routine, and these tips will certainly help me get started. 🙂
Omg, easier said than done sometimes! I wish I had the willpower to get up earlier and have a stress-free morning!
Hi I’ve nominated you for an award https://wordpress.com/post/simonettel.com/9137
This post really spoke to me, I started implementing a morning routine in 2016 and never looked back, if I miss it I feel off all day!!
Author
Thank you so much, I’m so glad to hear that you got something out of it. I totally agree 🙂
I’m a big fan of the morning routine. It makes the whole day more manageable!
Author
For sure! 🙂
Great post Amanda
I’m not a routine type of person as I’m usually on time. The only routine I have is making a little stop to the ladies before I leave the house and making sure I have a full bottle of fresh water for my journey.
Author
Thank you! That works too 🙂 Doesn’t have to be long or complicated to be a great routine you can count on!