How does your day start? Do you wake up to an alarm? Do your kids wake you, or your significant other, or pets? Maybe you wake up according to your body’s own internal clock. Maybe you wake up in a panic, because you’re a chronic over-sleeper…

Whatever it is that brings you from sleep into wakefulness, it brings with it an opportunity to set the tone for the rest of the day. Those first few minutes awake, we’re like clean slates, our moods unsullied by the demands of work, other people, the news.

(When you read “unsullied”, did you immediately think of this? Me, too. Obviously. But, I digress…)

That’s why mornings are such an important time for self care. Yes, even if mornings are chaotic. Yes, especially if mornings are chaotic.

A few simple tweaks can make all the difference, to your mornings and your days. Here are some easy self care ideas you can incorporate into your routine:

Plan ahead.

• Pick out your clothes for tomorrow.
• Pack lunch(es).
• Set up the coffee or teapot. Breakfast stuff too, if that’ll help.
• Make sure everything you’ll need to take with you when you leave the house is ready to go. It’s less stressful to spend 15 minutes looking for your keys before you go bed than to do it when you’re trying to get out the door, right?

Set your smart speaker to wake you with your favorite song. My echo (Affiliate link) lulls me to sleep with ambient noise, and wakes me up with music I know will make me smile and not want to hit snooze. (If I’m worried that I’ll just yell “ALEXA, STOP!” then fall back to sleep, I set my phone alarm as backup. Know thyself!)

Speaking of phones: leave it! You weren’t even fully conscious a moment ago. so give yourself time to get reoriented and steer your day in the direction you want it to go before you start throwing all the problems and demands and worries of the world at it. Really, you don’t have to read the news, check social media, or check your email the second you open your eyes. It can wait. Leave it.

Drink some water.

Look outside. Open the door; step outside if you can. Look towards the East, where the Sun is rising whether you can see it or not. Say good morning to the day.

Stretch.

Listen to music that makes you want to sing and dance. While you walk the dog, while you shower, during your commute. While you’re at it…

Sing and dance!

Be grateful. Grateful that you slept in a bed. Grateful that you woke up. Even if you can’t think of anything else (and you can), that’s a lot to be grateful for. Feel it.

Make the most of mirror time. While you’ve got your attention, repeat positive affirmations, or give yourself a pep talk. Tape your affirmations on the mirror as a reminder.

If this seems like a lot, know that you don’t have to do everything listed here to reap the benefits of a more intentional morning routine. Try what sounds good. Keep doing what feels good.

A little morning magic goes a long way.

xo