I have to admit.. I haven’t always been a morning person. Well, unless the surf was up. I would drop anything to be at the ocean’s edge for the break of first light. My drive was definitely not to create consistency or honor my circadian rhythm. I would n’t have even called it a routine per se. I was simply chasing the highs from surfing and embracing the lows with napping and lounging when I had the chance to catch up. Was it fun? Absolutely. Is it sustainable? Not a chance.

Circadian what?? The old me didn’t connect my own body rhythms to the rising and setting sun. I had no idea what this concept was in practice. I was working late nights in the kitchen, drinking too much alcohol, numbing my mind with pot daily. Looking back, I was numbing all of the signs my body was telling me. Each morning when the surf was not up, I would sleep until I would be late for work. I was just getting by.

Things have definitely changed. Consistency is my morning motive which includes hydrating and moving in ways that make me feel good. Over time, I have architected a solid framework for what my morning will look like. And now it is pretty darn consistent.

I like to focus on the important biorhythms we all share which relate directly to your vitality. Starting my day right is about honoring my bodies need for hydration and elimination. What does starting the day right look like for you? If you are already a champ in this department. Bravo! How about meditation, gratitude practice, exercise and cold showers? These may be on the list of practices to put in place if you are craving a gratifying and grounded start to your day.

How does this relate to your morning biorhythms?

Your colon and brain are constantly communicating with each other, influencing your mood, emotions, your ability to focus, and even your ability to poop. We know inconsistent bowels stress the body.

This stress has the potential to cause many complications throughout your body. You don’t want that. You want the opposite. You want a smoothly operating system from entrance to exit. So then what does it take to have everything in place?

Fundamentally, starting the day right is about cleaning house (your bowels) and organizing your energy ( grounding yourself with intention). Each day is a new opportunity to create consistency. Just as the best chefs in the world have preplists, you can create a prep list for your morning. Of course yours will not include the fancy garnishes and sauces for plating creative delights, yet it will include the need to do things so you can create your day from a place of balance and stability.

First step is to be sure you are properly hydrating every morning.

If the food channel is not hydrated, your waste becomes stuck and the process of eliminating just takes more energy. The bowels have to work harder to get things moving. When the elimination organs become overworked you may become depleted on many layers. This happens when your precious energy is used insufficiently. So remember, hydrate your body.

Second step is to relax and give yourself the time to ground into the day. Your body is primed in the morning to eliminate yesterdays’ trash and you want to honor this. If you find yourself stressed or not having enough time to ground yourself before entering your day then it may be time to start. Stress will activate the sympathetic nervous system and make it challenging for your organs to function as they need to. Not only is this taxing on your energy levels, this will prevent the waste from exiting, allowing the ready-to-exit toxins to re-absorb through the intestine and colon. Think of this channel as the support for our more subtle channels.  We need this food channel clean for a clear mind. You need to eliminate the garbage of yesterday so you can process your life today.

Here are some suggestions to set yourself up for a successful morning.

Have a plan. Write a list what you intend to do in the morning and have it somewhere you will see it. So what would this preplist include? Here are my non-negotiable morning prep list items.

• Visualize – While still in bed, I visualize myself on the planet and invite gratitude for the new day and opportunities ahead.
• Make the bed – or at least your half of the bed if you have a partner.
• Oral hygiene — scrape tongue, brush teeth.
• Wash – face, eyes and nose with water.
• Lubricate – I lube my nostrils with sesame oil. This keeps the protective layer in the nasal cavity hydrated and healthy.
• Hydrate – with warm water, about 48 oz while I gaze out at the trees.
• Movement and breath – dance, jump, yoga, free weights – do what moves you
• Dry brush, cold shower and sit in silence.

Stick to your plan. I know, it is easier to continue doing the same things you are comfortable with. But if your morning could use an upgrade, then you want to stick to the plan.

Remember to be kind to yourself when creating a new routine or refining old habits. I have noticed when I keep a structured morning not only my experience within each task deepens, the support deepens. This is helping me become resilient to outer influences and to stay on track.

“Show me your schedule and I’ll show you what your priorities are.”  

Robin Sharma – the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari – makes it pretty clear. When we use calendars to actively schedule our work, family and self care activities we are making a statement: how we allocate our energy reflects our priorities and values.

Take a look at your calendar. What’s the first thing you see? For many of us it is commitments we have made to others- business meetings, client follow up, places we need to be with our kids and aging parents. Often the only personal commitments reflected on our calendars are for health and medical issues and taking care of the mundane- car, house and finance.
What does it mean when we don’t see ourselves reflected in our calendars? While it may mean that we don’t value self care, for many of us it simply means that we did not learn the value of taking time to plan for ALL of our needs . Giving ourselves permission to spend time scheduling our self care needs as well as the needs of others is a learned skill.

Getting Clear- What Do I Want to Create?

Scheduling time for ourselves into our calendars means we have to be clear on what matters and what we want to create.  In the absence of this big picture design, we are not able to make a map of the small daily actions that will get us there.

When I coach my body habits course “Thriving As You” we spend time painting a picture of the future version of ourselves that we desire.  Planning and goal setting approaches like the 12 Week Year and The Desire Map Planner  give us a “big picture” sense of what we desire both in the immediate and the near future. Taking time to imagine your future self can unlock your next actions as you begin to map out the daily habits that are needed to create the new version of yourself.

Me? I spend time visioning with each season change. I use imagination to create a full and vibrant picture of my next version of myself. I get excited about what I am going to do and what I am about to create. I map put my goals more specifically in a 12 week cycle. But I have learned one thing: in the absence of a morning check-in with myself I call My Meeting with Me the bigger picture gets lost and so do the daily habits that will get me there.

Meeting with Me- My Morning Planning Practice

Step One: Meeting Preparation

Each morning I meditate, practice yoga, drink warm water and use sesame oil to give myself a massage before I shower. These are the self care habits I teach in my “Thriving as You” program and which form the base of the 10 week “Body Thrive” course offered at Yogahealer. Practicing them each day creates a space of clarity that I can trust and a sense of self-worth that is a growing edge for me. From this space I am ready to plan my day.

Step Two:  Commit Time to Meeting with Me

Through trial and error, I have crafted my best approach to my morning journaling and planning practice.  Here is what I have learned.

• I work best with a combination of tools.  
  • My favorite essentials oils help set the tone for focus, reflection or inspiration depending on what I am needing that day.
  • My online calendar gives me a sense of time- I can sketch out my plan for the day or take a broader view for the week, month or quarter. Color coded time blocks for personal time, teaching, meetings and critical work give me a sense of the rhythm of the day. This calendar initially holds date- and time-specific events and time blocks for critical projects, and then in my weekly and daily planning sessions I fill with greater detail.
  • My Best Self Journal gives me a connection to what really matters to me.  The morning gratitude practice, a review of the previous day’s wins and lessons learned, and my clearly stated goal and daily targets- these ground me into the heart of the matter.  Sitting with the journal each morning, pen in hand, satisfies that part of me that is human and learning.
  • My white board summarizes it all and puts my plan for the day in view as I work.
• When I treat my journaling and planning sessions like meetings I amplify the benefit.
  • By sitting at my desk I take my needs more seriously. I am able to use my work-like approach to schedule in the essentials like time to eat, commuting time, and time for errands. I become a “business” that is worth managing rather than an afterthought.
• I do it daily.
  • Plans change.  Appointments get cancelled. Clients catch a cold. A snowstorm affects travel plans. By sitting down daily at my desk, opening my electronic calendar, and reconciling changes in plans, I am able to book in real time the self care activities (eating, exercise and errands) that I need to do. They do not get lost in the reality of my life.

Step Three: Reap the Benefits

There are three clear benefits to my morning meeting which are reflected in the quality of my day and in my ability to show up for others:

1. I Eat Better

One of my growing edges right now is my relationship with food. Sitting down each day to schedule in food shopping, meal preparation and time to eat means I eat at consistent times, consume less sugar, and I sit down to eat and am more present during meal time.

2. I Stay Focused

Social media is my primary way of communicating with clients, yoga + health coaching colleagues and people who inspire me.  But the perils of social media are well documented, and when I am tired or unfocused my tendency to drift to my facebook feed eats away precious time. Taking time to plan each morning means I stay off social media- except for essential visits to groups and sites that enhance my life and help me get my work done.

3. I Actively Create My Life

When I actively plan and reflect on each and every day I am able to become more of the person I want to be- someone who writes, moves with freedom, leads with a loving heart, connects deeply in relationship, and supports others in their growth through heartfelt and life changing programs. I continue to learn and grown. I get things done. I feel deeply satisfied. And I stay in a space of grounding and clarity.  

Practice Comes in Many Forms

I recently did an experiment- what happens when I drop my morning planning sessions?  How does my ability to execute my self care and my sense of focus and clarity change when I do not use my planning journal consistently each morning at my desk?  

My two week experiment was an interesting backslide into past habits.  A sense of overwhelm resurfaced. I was unfocused and my evolving self care habits began to slide. The benefits of my morning meeting slid away. The value of my newest self care practice was reinforced.

My best self journal. My google cal. My desk.  My white board. My essential oils. These tools make up my newest essential self care practice- meeting daily with me. I know where I am, I know what I need to do. And I step fully into caring for me AND for the things I have commited to.

Are you game to give it a try?