By Alexandra Plane and Donna Nolan.

The focus for our last couple of blogs has been around our sleep and evening rhythms, therefore in this blog we felt to bring some awareness around the importance of establishing a nurturing, self-loving morning rhythm when looking at deepening our health and overall well being.

The quality we choose of how we are with ourselves upon waking can set ourselves up for the type of day we are about to embark upon. Have you ever noticed that if you get out of bed grumpy or racy, then that can easily become the flavour of your day?

Here we are sharing some simple rituals that can support you when waking up and how establishing a caring and nurturing morning routine can make a real difference to how you feel into your day. These simple and practical tips offer support in how to start the day reconnecting with yourself and how to hold this connection into your day ahead.

1) Upon waking, pause and spend a moment re-connecting with you, your breath and body. How are you and your body feeling?

With the busyness of our lives, it is common and easy to jump out of bed and race straight into the day. Or even upon waking, turn our phone on and get caught up in emails, Facebook etc before we even land our feet on the ground.

What if, upon waking we created space (just a few minutes) to be with ourselves and held a gentle conversation with our body through awareness of feelings/sensations and a commitment to keep our mind with us/our body (conscious presence). Then and only then, get out of bed, holding and nurturing this precious connection with self. Could this be a different start to our morning that would lay a solid foundation for a more harmonious, gentle and joyful day?

2) Meditate a few minutes upon waking when/if feeling out of sorts

Having checked in with your body and how you are feeling, if there is a raciness in the body, mind and/or physiology, nervous tension or an emotional overwhelm – sadness, anger, frustration etc – 3 to 5 minutes of Gentle Breath Meditation™ will help you come back to a precious place of centredness, gentleness and support the clearing of stress/disharmony held in your body. You could also enjoy our 13 minutes free online body awareness meditation .

3) Enjoy being organised and getting ready with ample time

Allow yourself plenty of time to get ready so that you don’t end up rushing. Is it really worth sleeping in those extra 15 minutes, then to have to rush to get out of the door and deal with the created nervous tension? Planning in advance for your day ahead, getting up earlier and making a priority to take the time and be gentle/present with yourself in your daily preparation (preparing breakfast, showering, getting the kids ready, exercise etc) offers a deep support for carrying a connection with yourself into the day ahead. Being present in what we do allows for spaciousness in our life that can be tangibly felt in our body.

4) Develop awareness around what and how you eat for breakfast

Is coffee and/or sugary food a must to get your mood picked up and your brain functioning? Are you gobbling breakfast before you zoom out the door or on the go to work? What about experiencing making breakfast a nurturing moment for both your body and whole being and observe how this can support you through your day.

5) Nurture, celebrate yourself and have fun getting dressed

Be present and enjoy getting ready and dressed for your day – for you . How often do we dress in a hurry in an effort to rush out the door, to impress, or cover up how we are actually truly feeling? If we come back to everything being energy (which it is), what if we took the time to be precious, tender and playful with ourselves as we dressed in the morning for our day ahead? When we put energy into truly caring for/honoring ourselves as we get ready, it feels lovely and this loveliness naturally nourishes us throughout the day.

The way we feel in the morning is strongly linked with the quality of our sleep, our evening rhythm and all the daily choices we make – you may find it valuable to revisit our prior blogs on those topics. 

It is not about getting it all perfect at once, rather about ongoingly developing our awareness and commitment to ourselves. Celebrate each baby steps you take to develop a loving foundation from which you begin your day. It is precious and powerful.

Donna Nolan and Alexandra Plane offer Yoga/Yoga Therapy, Meditation, Esoteric Healing and Massage at their clinic in Balmain, Cammeray  and Balgowlah

Contact them for enquiries or bookings.