I wasn’t always a morning person but when you become a mom it kinda requires early morning hours. If I didn’t get up early, then nine times out of ten I would see a creepy little toddler staring at me with some kind of big mess waiting for me to clean. This then created a long morning that was both chaotic and frustrating, leaving the rest of the day consisting of me working to shift my energy and play catch up. All the parenting books talked about the importance of waking up before the kids to get a head start on the day so I knew I had to figure out a way to implement this on the daily.

This is been my basic morning routine for years, adding in a few different things here and there whenever I needed it. But I can honestly say that it’s no longer about the kids, now that they are much older I wake up early for me and still use this to nourish and ground me for a productive day. So it’s about time that I share it with you and hopefully, this gives you some ideas and a little encouragement so that you too can thrive as a morning person and start your day off great!

My Morning Routine

Having a great morning routine happens when you have a great nighttime routine … Check out My Nighttime Routine.

While I love my morning routine, this post isn’t about trying to get you to do my morning routine. It’s just an opportunity to see what other mama’s out there do to stay grounded and pumped throughout the week, especially when your to-do list is long AF :)

Plus I really just want to support you in figuring out what works best for you by sharing a bit of what has worked for me.

My morning routine gets me feeling centered, productive and inspired, and ideally, yours will do the same.

Now, does this routine happen perfectly every single day? Nope. But if I slack off or get out of the routine, I give myself grace and restart the next day.

My morning routine has also changed and evolved over time as my kids have gotten older, as Ramon’s workweek changed, and as the circumstances of our lives have changed like homeschooling and activities we plan around that. It’s a process that we’re always examining and working on getting better in order to create smooth mornings for everyone in our family! <3

01. GET UP AND OUT OF BED

Ok, so I know that getting up is kind of assumed but I think it’s super important to include this as the first step as often it can be the hardest.

How many of us end up lingering in bed longer than what is intended? Maybe we hit the snooze button and sleep a bit longer and we do that over and over again until it’s so late that we just have to wake up or we lay there on our phones, on Instagram, on Facebook or on whatever app or game that’s pulling your attention right now.

Here are some ways that have helped me to get up and get my day going right away.

• Putting my phone (a.k.a. alarm clock) outside my bedroom, into the kitchen, far, far away from me. I do this because having to physically get up to turn off my alarm can be the difference between hitting snooze and starting the morning the way I’d like.
• If you’re using your phone as an alarm, change the dismiss button into a problem to solve. I’m not sure if all phones have this option but mine does and I take advantage of it. So every time my alarm rings it asks me some kind of question, which makes me read, think, and focus.
• Commit to NO emails, social media, or answering texts for the first hour of your day. Give yourself this time because you will have the whole day to give to everyone else. You deserve this!

02. BRIGHTEN UP MY SPACE

After doing to the bathroom and letting my dog out to pee, I then open all the blinds in the house to get the light shining throughout my house. This gets me motivated. When my house is dark, everything feels slow and dull.

I also like to light a candle and/or incense. This clears the energy and creates a nurturing space to connect with yourself and your day.

03. WASH MY FACE

The next thing I do is brush my teeth and wash my face. Check out this post to see what plant-powered skincare products I like to use.

Really, the point of this step is to wake me up even more since I’ve found that once I have washed my face and brushed my teeth I can’t seem to go back to sleep.

04. DRINK 32 OZ

Staying hydrated is really important to me and I typically don’t work out or eat anything until I’ve had at least one 32-ounce mason jar of water.

Some days I will warm my water and other days I’ll add lemon. Whatever it is I do get at least 32 oz in my belly. That way if my day gets busy I at least drank 1/3rd of the amount I needed and can easily work to get the rest in later.

05. TAKE OUT MY JOURNAL

Taking out my journal is probably one of my favorite times in the day. Journaling has been something that has really helped me create the life I want and work through the habits and limiting beliefs that keep me from growing.

Here are some of the writing exercises I like to use…

• Things I’m grateful for and why?
• What do I love about myself and my character?
• Things I made happened?
• 3 dreams written as if they already happened?
• Things I get to be excited about?

I really recommend trying one or all of these journal prompts. They really make my day and help me to show up more connected to who I am and what I want for my life.

06. MEDITATE

I’ve mentioned this many times before but I’m in love with the meditation app Insight!

I use it almost daily and love seeing all my favorite teachers on the app.

Right from the beginning, the app feels like a community—the home screen announces how many people meditated through the app and how in your area is currently using it. You can connect with friends and family.

In fact, once you find a teacher you enjoy—like Tara Brach or Sarah Blondin, two of my favorite, you can follow them to make sure you don’t miss any new content. If you prefer a quieter meditation, you can always set a timer and meditate to bells or calm music.

Of course, you don’t have to use the Insight Timer App, but if you’re just starting I highly recommend it!

07. LISTEN TO A PODCAST/ BOOK

I’m a big believer that we should all do a little something every day to feed ourselves some form of knowledge/ information. If you are a book reader then great but for me sitting down and reading gets me back into relaxation mode and could potentially put me back to sleep.

Listening to a book or podcast is how I keep myself engaged. I like to listen to them while I run or work out and this helps to save time.

Right now I’m listening to The Woman Code on Audible. This helps me multi-task a little bit and work out + learn something new at the same time!

08. MOVE MY BODY

The final stage in waking myself up is doing some form of exercise or movement. This can be a great source of energy, something many of us need when we start our day.

But beyond that, morning exercise has been shown to improve focus and mental abilities all day long. Not only will you feel awake and have more energy after your workout, but your mind will be ready to take on whatever tasks you have lined up that day.

For me, a workout is anything that gets my heart pumping and most days this consists of either a walk, run, hot yoga, or HIIT sessions. It really just depends on my mood.

09. SHOWER AND GET READY

I’m sure you’ve done that thing where you just stay in your pajamas for the whole day. While it seems like a dream come true, whenever I decide to stay in my pajamas I don’t get anywhere near enough done than when I shower and change into something more professional.

So even if I’m just working a full day at home I make sure I get dressed – it just changes the whole vibe of the day.

10. FEED MY BELLY

The final (and best) part of my morning routine is breakfast – my favorite meal of the whole day, next to dessert!

I love getting creative with it. Some days it’s a green smoothie, homemade granola, smoothie bowl, chia pudding, and/or avocado toast!

I really want to encourage you to practice intuitive eating when it comes to what to eat for breakfast. If you’re not a regular breakfast eater and you prefer waiting until lunch that’s ok too. Somedays I like to eat my lunch for breakfast too, like this salad in a jar!

HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN ROUTINE

As I said at the beginning, this post isn’t about me trying to tell you that you should do my morning routine too. In fact, I don’t really recommend it. If you’re starting from scratch, it’s best to build up your routine. I didn’t just go from zero to this. Over time I added in one thing here and one thing there and it’s all piled on top of each other.

Focus on a few morning habits you want to shift and do that every morning for a month. Then add another the next month, and another the next month. If you want to create a routine that you’ll actually keep doing, don’t try to do everything at once!

Try a few things out and do what feels good and over time you will find what works. Also, don’t be scared to change things around, play with it and have fun. More than likely if your having fun and enjoying this process you will keep it as a daily practice.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVE?

What was your favorite part of your morning? Do you have a practice that you hold near and dear to your heart? Share it in the comments below or tag us @livesimplynatural or #livesimplynatural so the LSN community can get inspired by it too :)