Practice These Morning Rituals for Mental Clarity

Whether you are up with the sun or enjoy sleeping in, there’s nothing better than starting your day with a clear mind. One way to do that is to establish a morning routine.

Starting your day with a few simple rituals can help you set a positive tone for the day and ensure that it stays with you all day long. Here are a few ideas for simple rituals you can easily incorporate into your morning:

Breathe and Reflect

Often when we wake up, our first instinct is to grab our phone and catch up on everything that’s happened while we were asleep. That sudden jolt puts your brain right back into hyperactivity mode and sets it up to stay there all day long.

Here’s a newsflash: all of that information will still be there later in the morning. Rather than reaching for a screen when you wake up, put the phone down and spend 5-10 minutes breathing and thinking about what you want to accomplish that day. Focusing on the big picture from the start of the day will help eliminate distractions later on.

Exercise

Once you’ve fully woken up, a great way to jumpstart your body and your mind is by exercising. Choose an activity that you enjoy doing so that you are more likely to stick with it instead of hitting snooze and going back to sleep. Your mind will benefit from a post-workout buzz that will last far beyond the morning.

Another perk of exercising in the morning is that your workout is finished for the day. The longer you wait, the more likely you are to have something come up that will prevent you from exercising.

Write

Keeping a journal of thoughts, goals, and intentions is a good practice for overall mental health and clarity and writing in it is beneficial at any time of day. However, the mornings provide a special opportunity to put your thoughts to paper before the craziness of the day begins.

You may even find that you change your routine to wake up early just to journal while you drink coffee or tea and set an intention for the day!