I’ve heard it said that the way we start our morning sets the tone for the rest of the day, and in my experience this is very true. A morning routine is an intentional action that you take first thing in the morning. It can be as simple as doing some simple stretches and breathing exercises before you get out of bed, or taking a few moments to write in your journal while enjoying a hot cup of coffee. All that matters is that you find a special way to begin your day with an activity that brings you joy and nourishes you. Having a morning routine is the best way I’ve found for getting my day started in a way that leaves me feeling calm, centered, and ready to have a great day.
When I first became a mom, I started to notice that I was waking up every morning to the sounds of my baby crying. My daughter, June, had become my little alarm clock, and it felt like a very unpleasant way to start the day. I wanted to start my morning differently, but I told myself that I was too tired and needed every precious moment of sleep that I could get. However, I knew the importance of having a morning routine, so I started to implement one. When June was a newborn, we started a morning routine of waking up and immediately going for a walk every morning. We would go for a long walk by the beach first thing everyday. Since she was waking up very early at the time, we were often the only two people out, and it became a very nice and calm way to start the day. Some of my favorite memories as a new mom are of these early mornings out in nature with my babe.
As the weather started getting cooler, and my daughter started getting a little older, our morning routine started to shift, and instead of going for our morning walk, we started doing mommy & baby yoga every morning. This also became a special way for us to bond, and for me to get in a little movement to start my day. Yoga makes me feel more calm and centered, and doing just 10-15 minutes of movement in the morning started to help me carry these good feelings with me throughout the rest of my day. I also loved being able to share something that I love with my daughter, and incorporate it into our daily routine together.
Lately, I’ve noticed that this morning routine is no longer working for me. June is now 16 months old and she is very energetic. She is going through a stage where she is no longer content spending every morning on the yoga mat. Our beautiful morning practice started to turn into me trying to do yoga while June destroyed everything in her room or cried to get my attention while I was trying to do a headstand. I had really loved having our mommy and baby yoga practice as our morning routine, so I was reluctant to admit that this wasn’t working. But last week, I started realizing that I was no longer feeling peaceful while doing yoga in this way, and it wasn’t creating the feelings of centeredness that I was counting on to carry me through the day.
So, once again, I changed my morning routine. I started waking up before June does. For the first time in over a year, I’ve been getting out of bed on my own, without a baby’s cries waking me up. I go downstairs, roll out my yoga mat, and do a short yoga practice while the house is still quiet and still. Then, when June wakes up, we play a little bit and have breakfast together. I enjoy my time with her more because I know that I’ve already done something to take care of myself. These precious moments alone make my mornings feel more spacious. My new morning routine helps me feel more focused as I go about my day.
And that is the importance of a morning routine: it is something you do to make yourself a priority first thing in the morning. The effects of this will stay with you throughout your day. Your morning routine doesn’t have to be set in stone. Deciding to create a morning routine doesn’t mean that you choose one thing that you rigidly decide to do everyday for the rest of your life. Your routine can evolve as your life circumstances change. All that matters is that you pick something that works for you and then do it consistently until it no longer makes you feel good. Then, find something else that does!
Do you have a consistent morning routine? Has this encouraged you to try one for yourself? Please let me know in the comments below.
Have a beautiful week.
Be well,
Ambar
I love that you’ve changed your morning routine several times. That feels like permission to change mine!
In the warmer months I was starting my day with movement. But now that we are changing seasons, I get up a little later in the mornings and don’t feel like I have the time. Also, my body is colder and stiffer in the mornings now, and I feel awkward and stiff.
I will now commit to a morning meditation. I can fit in a duration that works with my later mornings, and I can wait until later in the day when I’m less stiff to do some movement. Also a cozy meditation on my cushion sounds like a perfect way to start out a cold dark morning 🙂
Thank you for giving me permission to adjust with the seasons, my body and my schedule.
That sounds lovely Christine! How is your morning meditation practice going?? Please keep me posted! xo
😳 it hasn’t been happening!!!!
Ahh that’s okay! Maybe you can switch it up to something you are more motivated to do in the morning. Or even try meditating for just 1-2 minutes before you even get out of bed! 🙂
This article was very timely for me. I am trying to build a solid morning routine right now. Even though my daughter just turned 2, I still find myself jolting awake when I hear her waking up through the monitor. I want to be more diligent about waking up earlier on my own time before my daughter so I have time to work out before she wakes up. I am using the time change this week to jump start this change. I used to work-out during the day at 10 AM. I wanted my daughter to see me workout to motivate her to live a healthy life herself, but it became impossible to do anything because she would try to hug my legs or grab my hand weights. It definitely was not relaxing or energizing. My new plan is to take her for a 30 minute walk every day instead.
Ah it sounds like we are very in sync Bernadette! I felt the same about my morning yoga routine with my daughter… I loved being able to share it with her and felt I was setting a good example. It was hard for me to admit that it wasn’t working anymore, and I hope that we can get back to practicing together once she is at a different stage in her development. 😉 Have you been able to start waking up before your little one does in order to get in a little “me” time? Please keep me posted on how it goes for you! xo
I’ve been able to wake up a couple times before my daughter in the past 2 weeks so that is progress:) And I definitely was much more productive on those days! Once my daughter fully adjusts to the time change, I think it will get easier and easier.
Awesome! Good for you! I was sick last week so I fell off track with waking up before the babe. Today was my first day back to the routine and it felt so good! Always a work in progress. 🙂
I love it. I can see that our mornings are changing too. I’m still waking up when Franek is crying but I’m hoping to follow your lead and wake up before him when he decides to sleep until 6:00. We currently eat breakfast together before Maciej heads to work and we all love it. It’s a special time to bond as a family.
Yes… the morning routine really is ever-changing, but it really is nice to wake up a little earlier and get a little time to myself before the day starts. I’m sure you would appreciate the alone time too. 🙂 That is so nice that you all have breakfast together each morning. Definitely a sweet way to start the day. <3 Sounds like things are falling into place with your new routine in your new home. 🙂 xo