Rituals can shape our lives for the better. When we habitually practise positive habits, amazing things can happen.
There’s a reason that we feel so unsettled when we miss our alarm, forget to put on our watch or have to take a detour to the office due to roadworks.
It’s because practising routines help us psychologically prepare for the day. How you spend your morning will influence the rest of your day, so it’s essential to use it wisely.
Of course, there is nothing we can do about temporary roadworks or a flat car battery. Still, we can incorporate rituals into each morning to help you become better prepared for when the unexpected does happen.
Today I want to share some morning rituals which you can put into action to reclaim and reconnect with your high-performing self, but first, let’s look at the proven benefits of morning rituals.
The Benefits of Morning Rituals
According to Brain MD, there are a host of scientifically proven benefits to creating and upholding morning rituals. They include:
- Lower stress levels
- Increased productivity
- Instil discipline
- Establish stability and groundedness
- Boost cognitive function and mental performance
- Foster career success and better job performance
So, let’s look at four rituals you can incorporate into your morning routine to start enjoying some of these benefits.
1. Meditation
There is a common misconception that meditation has to be a lengthy and involved process, but this is not the case. Meditation can be a quick 5-minute practise, and even just a few short minutes can have a massive impact on your mood and your day.
Some people are disinclined to meditate, as they don’t know ‘how’, but there are a few great resources available that can help. The Headspace app is full of guided meditations to help focus your mind, and sessions start from 3 minutes long – perfect for the morning when time is of the essence.
Meditation is clinically proven to reduce negative thoughts, which creates a positive space for your high-performing self to thrive.
2. Exercise
While I understand that not everyone will have time to complete a 30-minute workout in the morning, those who manage to get in some form of exercise enjoy so many benefits; it’s no surprise that an increasing number of people are catching the keep-fit bug.
As with meditation, you can complete your morning exercises in as little as 5 minutes – it’s about committing yourself to those five minutes every day.
YouTube is a wonderful source for all manner of exercise videos, from the very beginner up to high-intensity, there will be something for you.
If you want to combine meditation and exercise, yoga is the perfect way to do this. YouTube’s most-watched yoga expert, ‘Yoga With Adrienne,’ has a 5-minute Morning Yoga video with over 6 million views; this video aims to promote a healthy flow of energy that will allow you to be your best authentic self.
3. Journaling
A slightly more accessible habit, journaling can produce the same fantastic effects as meditation and is a great way to help focus your thoughts and intentions for the day; all you need is a notepad and a pen.
Our brains are so full of information and details; they become ‘cluttered’ when we overload them without any method of release.
Journaling – writing down thoughts, feelings, and ideas – frees up space in your mind to allow new concepts to flourish and help you solve problems that may have had you feeling ‘stuck’.
You could commit to writing five ideas, thoughts or feelings, or aim for ten lines in your journal each day – you might be surprised as to how much space you will ‘free’ up in your mind.
4. Practising Gratitude
Writing down gratitudes has been hailed as the ‘secret’ of happiness. Speaking to the Guardian, Tomasz Fortuna, a psychoanalyst and psychotherapist at the Tavistock and Portman NHS trust, says when people practise gratitude, “You can see the emotional development of a person; their internal world becomes more enriched, more balanced”.
Gratitude has been time and again linked with increased wellbeing and protection from stress and depression.
It is slightly different from journaling in that this involves specifically writing down up to five things every day that make you feel grateful. Our brains are hard-wired to look for negativity, to protect us from harm. But left unchecked, this can spiral, and we become locked onto focusing on the negatives and unable to see the many positives around us.
Your gratitudes can be as small or as significant as you like. The real benefit comes when you form the habit of seeking out things for which you are grateful.
In time, you become naturally attracted to the ‘positive’ rather than the ‘negative’, and that is when great things can happen for you personally and professionally.
Are You Ready to Get Started?
For most people, the morning is a hectic time, and it can feel like there isn’t a moment to spare outside of getting up, getting yourself and possibly your children ready and breakfasted and finally leaving the house.
But as I’ve outlined here, some of these powerful morning rituals take as little as 3-minutes. It’s not about making drastic changes to your life; it’s about dedicating yourself to making the time for these practices.
And remember, it takes just 28 days to develop a new habit. So if you start some or one of the practices outlined in this article today, you could have formed a new positive morning routine in only one month.
If you enjoyed this article, read more about a range of self-development topics on our blog page, which you can find here.
Until next time,
Julia
About Zestfor
Zestfor specialises in developing Training programmes and resources scientifically tailored for technical markets – including Pharmaceutical, IT, and Life Sciences.
Our blend of in-classroom, online, and virtual live-stream delivery methods will engage and assure even the most introverted team members from the first meeting – whether face-to-face or virtually. To have a brief chat, call us on 0845 548 0833. Alternatively, please email our team here.
