I believe the way we start our day matters, usually more than most of us want to admit. That’s why I wanted to take some time this month to share the daily morning routine that allows me to create a centered and grounded space.
The way we begin our day sets the foundation for how the rest of our day will go. It is the building block for what we will accomplish and it’s the key to creating magic all day long. Whenever my life is feeling a little out of whack, all I have to do is ask myself, “Am I doing my morning practice?” Chances are I’ve let the morning magic slip—I’ve been going to bed a little too late and hitting the snooze button on the alarm clock a bit more.
Before I dive into my morning ritual “how-tos”, I want to share a little story with you. We’re going to back up a few years to 2007.
For most of my life, I had worked in the corporate environment and my husband was in construction. For both of us, this meant waking up real early. I remember when I first graduated college and got a “real” job (whatever that means), I had to wake up at the time I had previously gone to bed during my college days. Yes, late nights were just part of college, but I also bartended my way through school, which had me going to bed most nights around 4 a.m. I thought I was going to die when I had to start waking up at that time.
But because I had to, I adjusted and became a morning person who got up early. Usually, though, I was headed right into my day with a cup of coffee, shower, then straight to work. This was a morning ritual, but not the one I have now and not the kind I want you to adopt.
When I had my first son, early mornings turned into the time when I could get work done for my corporate job so that I didn't have to spend quite as much time in the office. I was still trying to reach that dream at the top (again, whatever that means), and working 50 hours a week was the key to getting there.
Eventually, I left corporate and started creating my own dreams with dōTERRA. I kept up the early mornings because I now had two kiddos and that was precious work time. I saw my hubby off around 4:30 a.m. and then I’d have a couple of hours to crank it out before the kids woke up.
Guess what? This still isn’t what I want you to do. Why?
Because even though those early mornings had me getting a lot done, I was exhausted. I began my day working, worked in pockets throughout the day, and was usually still working by the end of the day. I had created a six-figure business, but I got burned out in the making! I was a bit of a scattered mess. I would forget appointments and just didn’t feel like me. I had worked so hard to create what I believed was my dream, but it wasn’t what I thought.
There had to be a better way, don’t you think? I’m guessing if you have read this far, you can relate to what I’m saying. You are doing everything you think you need to do to create success, but you just aren’t feeling like you have arrived. Or maybe “arrived” isn’t the best word. Maybe it’s more like, you just aren’t feeling like you. You aren’t finding that inner peace and alignment that you crave and desire so much. You want to be wild, free, and living in a magical space.
That place exists. Trust me—I’ve found it. I live in it often and I want you to live there too.
In February of 2014, I realized that something had to change. I had to figure out a way that I could come back home. So I reached out to a colleague in dōTERRA. I had been noticing some of her posts on social media and wanted more of what she seemed to have found. I often find that when we are ready for change, god has a funny way of showing us just where to find our next steps. We scheduled a call and she suggested someone that I could work with.
Within a month, I was in a group coaching program that changed my life. And guess what? The part that changed my life the most was how I started my day! For the first time ever, I was going to start my day early, but not dive right into work, social media, or a job. I learned how to breathe into my day and make it sacred; how to create a foundation that I could use as a building block. Now, I want to share a few of those tips with you.
As I write this, we are in the month of January. Many of us look at January as the month to launch right into a new year and go big or go home. That’s not my thing, and if you go follow me over on Instagram, you will learn a bit more about why. I believe that for us to create lasting change, we have to begin small and then continue to add bite-size chunks into our daily rituals.
That’s what I’m going to ask you to do with the start of your day. Begin with 15-30 minutes and once you can get that time in consistently, build upon it. When I embraced a new morning flow, 15-30 minutes is where I started. Now…well I don’t mean to overwhelm you... but now I go at least an hour most mornings and have a few hours of routines before I sit down at my desk. You can get there!
If I would have tried to start that right away, I know it would not have lasted. But now? I embrace it and I know that once you make a decision to just get started with your own sacred practice, you will crave it too.
Ok, now it’s time for me to share a few tips to get your day started!
Step 1: Wake up before anyone else in your house!
This is key, especially when you have kiddos. I know that getting up early might not be your thing. This was something that I had going for me. Trust me, though. The time you will gain later on in your day will be 1000% worth it.
See, we’re trained to believe that to be successful, we have to constantly be doing—in order to earn more money, we have to work more hours. This is an old way of thinking. We have to do the right activities at the right time and do them when we are energized and in what we call alignment.
Many of us are running around depleted because we are trying to do everything all at once. We're so unfocused that we don’t know what we’re supposed to do when we actually sit down to work. It leaves us feeling exhausted and in this case, we probably do need the extra time in bed.
When we wake up a bit early though and begin our day, we have a different peace about us which allows us to own our day and not vice versa.
Step 2: Pee, drink water, and make your cup of brew.
I like coffee with a bit of heavy cream. I do intermittent fasting (this may be another blog) and coffee and cream keep me fasted but give my brain some fat to get going. I also add in some of my dōTERRA supplements and put on my oils.
Here are the supplements I use each day:
- Terrazyme to give my digestive system a jump start
- Zendocrine to kick-start my filtering organs
- Mito 2 Max to support my mitochondria and energy levels
- Turmeric for overall health; I really like how it supports my hormones and keeps them dancing
The oils I use vary from day-to-day. I just look at them like I would a box of chocolates and pick the ones my “spidey senses” guide me to. Balance, Wild Orange and Frankincense are go-to oils I use often.
If you don’t have oils in your home, let’s connect and we can chat more about these important tools!
Step 3: Connect with your mind, body and spirit
This is where the fun begins. Build upon these practices as you go and find what works for you. For more ideas, you can download my free guide on how to connect with yourself.
I have my morning rituals broken down into three main areas: my physical body, my spiritual body, and my brain nourishment. If you are just getting started, aim for 5-10 minutes in each area. I always begin with my spiritual self, move to mind, and then to body last. Find what works best for you.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
Spirit Connection simply means connecting to your higher power, god, spirit, and the unseen realms. They do co-create with us, so we must connect with them in order to know what we really need for the day.
- Read a devotional. I use the Bible app and pick from their devotionals.
- Meditate
- Put on relaxing music, sip your coffee and stare off into space while breathing. Don’t laugh. Some mornings this is all I get in for 10 minutes and it’s glorious and works wonders!
- Many mornings I do a combo of all of the above. This is all about making it YOURS, not someone else's!
Body Connection is all about moving your physical body. This does not have to mean a giant workout. It can look like a few yoga stretches, some sacred dance or a quick jaunt around the block before everyone else wakes up.
If you aren’t in a regular exercise routine, don’t worry about it. Start with this little morning routine and build!
Brain nourishment is just feeding our brain some good stuff in the morning, or getting out of our brain the junk that’s been filling it up!
- Journal your thoughts
- Read a personal development book
- Listen to a podcast/audio book
Many times, the brain nourishment carries over into other parts of my day. I listen to a podcast or book while I’m walking, folding clothes, doing the dishes, or driving.
When I’m done with this, I prep the house for everyone else so they can wake up with oils in their diffusers and a happy and relaxed mama to greet them. Notice, nothing about this has me looking at social media, checking email or working at my computer. Those are things that don’t belong in my morning start and they don’t belong in yours either.
It all sounds easy, right? That’s because it really is once you make the decision that you are ready to begin. What I do is not hard. It isn’t magical, it doesn’t require much time in the grand scheme of things and is pretty much free. Nothing that will set us free and allow us to embrace our wild is magical.
Everything we do begins with the decision to make a change. My wish is that these words landed with you today and inspired you to make the decision to create a sacred ritual. Begin your day in a magical way that gives you the peace you desire and takes you a step closer to finding your wild.
Want to continue exploring some of the rituals I have on the morning magic? I just created a new ebook that I think you will enjoy. You can grab it here.