When spring arrives, you often want to reset your body and your life. The environment around you is being reborn so it only makes sense that you want to experience some of this rebirth as well. For many of us, these feelings and goals are experienced around New Years and around the time spring hits. Why else would spring cleaning be a thing? It is time to shake off the old and start something new. To start a new healthier lifestyle or habit, begin with your morning routine. The way your morning goes can make all the difference in your energy, focus, and mindset throughout the rest of the day.
Journal or Read Every Morning
Morning routines not only include what you do to get ready for work or get your family ready to head off to school, but also what you do before other responsibilities. If you wake up in a stressed and tired each morning, overwhelmed by your to-do list, and constantly running late, then the rest of your day will likely be chaotic too.
A better thing to do is to start your day 20-30 minutes before you need to get up…ie miracle morning. Use this time to yourself to get up slowly and participate in activities like journaling that are just for you. Sit quietly and write in your journal, whether it is a gratitude journal, you are writing what you plan to do that day, or simply try stream of consciousness writing.
This would also be a time to read if you don’t want to journal. Sacred texts, devotionals, or daily meditations.
Try Yoga or Morning Exercise
Another excellent practice for your morning routine is to do yoga or another relaxing physical activity. Getting your body moving in the morning, increases your energy naturally throughout the day, and gets some mood-boosting endorphins going. Morning exercise has a wide range of benefits as well, from getting it out of the way to where you don’t need to worry about it later, to boosting your metabolism for the remainder of the day. Get up a little earlier to have time for yoga, Pilates, or just a brisk walk around your neighborhood.
Listen to Nature Sounds in the Shower
I absolutely love having a bluetooth speaker in my shower. When I want a spa day I put on some spa music, light candles, and relax. When I want to energize myself I throw on some happy tunes and sing away. In the spring though I often like to take morning showers with the sounds of nature…birds singing, brooks babbling, or waves crashing. It makes me feel more connected to the season.
Get Out in Nature
If you work outside the home then this may be a weekend thing but getting out for walks and hikes in the morning can be transformative. Just go for a stroll, enjoy the sights and sounds of nature, take a local or online botany class, practice plant and tree identification, geocache, hunt for edible mushrooms like morels. You can of course walk for exercise but you can also walk for fun and adventure. Make it a goal to hit up all your local metro parks and all your local watering holes and natural springs this season. Move on to the next county if you need to. What magic awaits you? You never know until you get out there and see!
When you add a healthy start to your day, you are much more likely to continue with it throughout the rest of the day. When you try new things and set new intentions with the dawn of spring, you too experience a rebirth in mood, energy, and mental clarity. Enjoy!
