My Morning Rituals

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When I attended integrative nutrition school 6 years ago, I learned all about the next morning rituals I'm going to share with you. They recommended them as tools for self-care. Prior to that for 30 years of my life I had no morning rituals. I would wake up go to the bathroom, check my phone, eat, and go about my day. 

For the last 6 years I've been cultivating a practice that is now part of my mornings and it is a time I take by myself for my self for self and self- love of body and mind.

First, what is a ritual? The dictionary description says that a ritual is a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.

You may already have a ritual throughout your day without even knowing it. Simply think of a series of actions you perform every day in a specific order.

The following self-care and self-love rituals might seem like a lot at first but with time and repetition they become part of your healthy living habits, you begin to love and enjoy them because they have the potential to make you feel really good.

My daily self-care ritual. Specifically in this order. I alternate steps 4-6 to whatever I feel that morning. I do dry brushing 2-3x a week.

  1. meditation - 20 mins as soon as my zen bowls alarm goes off, I sit up and meditate.
  2. tongue scraping - as soon as I go to the bathroom after meditation - 10 secs
  3. oil pulling - 15-20 mins with coconut oil
  4. dry brushing - while I'm oil pulling - 5 mins
  5. morning pages - while I'm oil pulling
  6. read an inspirational book - while I'm oil pulling
  7. hydration - after getting ready, brushing teeth etc. I drink 16oz of water 
  8. Balance Supplements - I drink a little more water with my hormonal balancing supplement
  9. Breakfast - 5-6 days a week I drink a protein shake with vegan protein, greens, and mushrooms.
  10. Stretch - while I drink my shake, I sit on the floor and do gentle yin stretches to wake up and get ready for my morning yoga classes. 

One of my big mottos is " All positive shifts we want to create in our lives begin with self-love, and the path to self-love is through the self-care"

Self-care is the new health care baby!

If you are not willing to make time for self-care then don't expect others to do it for you.

Bonus! I have an evening ritual too!

I like to write these on a journal specific to this that I have next to my night table so that I write right before I go to bed.

  1. I write 3 or more things I'm grateful for my day
  2. I write 1-3 wins for my day, what went well, what felt like winning?
  3. I write 3-5 reasons why I'm awesome - this create a positive reinforcement belief table to counteract any negative thoughts I have about myself thought the day. 

When there is a will there is a way, when there is no will, you'll find an excuse.

I hope these inspire you to add a little more self-care into your day.

Much Love,

Barbara