How starting your day with a routine boosts energy, focus, and resilience
Impact of morning routines
The first 1% of your day sets the stage for the remaining 99%. Starting your day with mindfulness, whether through practices such as meditation, yoga or simply going for a walk, will have a profound impact on your energy levels, focus and resilience to stress and distractions throughout the day. Research suggests that just five minutes of daily meditation reduces stress and anxiety throughout the day, making it an effective way to set the tone for a productive and focused day. A routine allows us to connect with our bodies, quiet our minds and focus our attention (=energy) in the here and now. The effect: Our energy is no longer scattered, making us much more resilient to micro-distractions and stressors. Everything seems to 'fall into place', people around us seem nicer, and work seems easier because it becomes effortless to focus on it.
It doesn't really matter what morning routine you choose
As long as it is a routine and you do it mindfully - that is, with your full attention on the practice. It can be a common routine like meditation, yoga, Reiki self-healing or stretching, but if you choose to make a tea ceremony for yourself, or take 15 minutes to do a drawing that reflects your current state of mind, or pick 20 grains of rice with chopsticks every morning to practise focus and accuracy, the effect is similar: you are focused on the here and now. So choose a routine that works for you and allow yourself to be playful without feeling you have to stick to the stereotypical activities.
Setting up your routine: A quick guide
Set a specific time and place for your practice: Choosing a specific place and time will help to create consistency. If the time and place of our action keeps changing, our system has to invest some energy each time to adapt to the new conditions, making it harder to turn our action into a habit. On the other hand, if we stick to a consistent time and place, it will slowly become imprinted in our procedural memory, resulting in our body and mind initiating the routine automatically.
Tie your practice to an existing routine: Link your mindfulness practice to an existing routine, such as brushing your teeth or making your bed. What habits are already established in your life? For example, if you start each day with a consistent pattern of waking up, then taking a shower, then brushing your teeth, then checking your phone, then making coffee, where in this chain would your new mindfulness practice fit? It will be easier for your system to adapt to the new routine if you don't do your new habit as a standalone practice. Instead, place your practice after you brush your teeth and before you pick up your phone, for example.
Condition yourself by adding joy to the experience: Incorporating elements of fun and creativity into your morning routine will help you look forward to it and make it a more enjoyable part of your day. And if your practice is not fun, but rather requires you to step out of your comfort zone, tie it to a pleasant reward. If you do your mindful 20 push-ups at 8:40 every morning, make sure you reward yourself immediately after - for example, with your favourite yoghurt, a hot cup of coffee or something else you look forward to. Over time, this will cause your mind to associate the activity with the pleasure that comes afterwards. As a result, the thought of doing push-ups will release dopamine and activate your desire to do them.
