The Making of Morning Rituals

This morning was dedicated to catching up, tidying up, and committing to a set of morning rituals that ground me in my day. We are what we practice. Our rituals (habits) create our reality. I want mine to be both grounded and fancy. What are your morning rituals?

Morning Ritual 1: Ten Minutes of Meditating

I’m on level 3 of the Mindful Eating course in the Headspace app. During today’s session I worked on noting whether something was a thought, or a feeling. If it was a thought, which everything that took me from my focus on the breath was today, I was to discern whether it was attachment, or aversion. All were attachments. Some seemed neutral, banal even. The to-do’s of life.

Morning Ritual 2: Fancy Flapjack Breakfast

Do you take time to give yourself a smile-inducing breakfast? A marvelous meal can set the tone for a magnificent day, imho. I’ve decided I’m worth giving myself the time for that.

I used to just make one massive flapjack, spread Smart Balance Butter on it, and top it with a little pure maple syrup. It was functional and tasted delish, but it wasn’t fancy.

My Fancy Flapjack Breakfast

I warm up my favorite pan. Then, I put a half cup of Almond Poppyseed Power Cakes mix by Kodiak Cakes and a half cup of unsweetened coconut milk in a small bowl and whisk them into batter. Spoon the batter in with a tablespoon to make three small flapjacks.

Why make three? So they can be stacked. As they cook, I slice strawberries and listen to the day’s Precision Nutrition (PN) coaching.

The pancakes are never a uniform size. When they’re golden brown on each side, I take the largest and put it on a small plate. Then, I spread about a Tablespoon of Fat-Free Greek Vanilla Yogurt on top. I add fresh strawberries and blueberries. I do the same for each layer. Then, I drizzle honey over the top.

Every element of my breakfast has nutritional purpose. I feel like I’m eating a decadent, fancy cake for breakfast. Yum!

Life can always be more fancy. The fun kind of fancy. Not the starched shirts and secured top buttons sort. Do you delight without requiring a special occasion?

Morning Ritual 3: Precision Nutrition (PN) Coaching:

Today’s PN Coaching was focused on overcoming fears regarding nutrition. What do I fear?

• Hunger.
• Missing out on the delish.
• Being unable to use snacking to unstick myself when I struggle to write through something. Boom Chicka Pop Sea Salt Popcorn is the bomb at making word choices for my prose.

Writing that last fear down makes that choice even more ridiculous than it’s reality. I need to get comfortable with the discomfort of not knowing what comes next. That is the most troubling part of life for me.

What about you? What fears do you struggle with when it comes to health and nutrition?

My New Morning Rituals (4 &5)

I kept tidying, picking up what others left behind on the table, the counter, and the floor before and between doing the next tasks that I want to be part of my morning ritual. Fancy Flapjacks, 10-Minutes of Meditation, and Precision Nutrition have established their staying power.

The next two are new and I found it easy to get distracted as I approached doing them:

• • Make a list of 10 dreams, writing them in the present tense. The task was inspired by Rachel Hollis. Though I’ve heard of similar techniques before, I’m now giving it a try and seeing how it goes. I even bought a notebook to dedicate to it.
  • A centering writing exercise inspired by a class I took from Dani Shapiro during Loft’s Wordplay. For the details, click here.

Magic in the Mishap

Since my day didn’t go quite as planned, there was room for magic. There wasn’t time to go to the gym before meeting up with my writing critique group, because I “squandered” too much of it folding laundry and sweeping. Instead, I found time to do a brief yoga practice at home before heading out.

I logged into YOGA IS and picked a 30-minute practice from by Desiree Rumbaugh called Love is Stronger than Fear.

In the practice, each pose is held for one minute. My crow can only fly so far, so I had the opportunity to get comfortable with a little flailing and failing. During the practice, I did three handstands. I haven’t done one of those in decades. By handstand, I mean the kind where one kicks up against a wall. I can’t just do one of those in the center of the room…yet.

Rumbaugh shared how her practice is a time for her to remember who she is and that it helps her solve whatever comes up. She said that the “30-minute 1-minute pose challenge is to increase your steadfastness and fearlessness.”

Steadfast is my word of the year. One thing I’ve recognized is that in order to be steadfast, I have to remember who I am. It’s an easy thing to forget in one’s 40s after so many years of focusing on others. Magic.

How do your mornings go? I’d love to know! Let’s connect on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.