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Morning Routine
ThePensum
Explorer
How important is your morning routine? What is your morning routine? Do you ever think about it?
I used to get up quite early - by my standards, by no means early by universal standards. As a result I got into the habit of attempting to scrounge every last wink of sleep. That meant sleep till as late as possible, and condensing the morning wake up routine as much as possible. As soon as the alarm went off, everything had to go like clockwork: shower, xx minutes, breakfast yy minutes, shaving zz minutes. No margin for error, and not time to relax into the world out the slumber. No time to prepare, shall we say meditate, for the day to come.
Since moving to a new role, I don't have to get up quite so early. However, I adapted the same philosophy, scrounging every last minute of sleep possible, and condensing the morning routine.
A week or so back I decided to switch the routine up a bit. Instead of setting the alarm clock as late as possible, I set it to about ten minutes earlier than usual. I spent a few minutes stretching, and then went about the normal routine. I found that with the knowledge of a few extra minutes in my back pocket, I didn't have to rush, didn't have that internal clock ticking and driving every instant.
I don't know - but so far, it seems to be working. I'm more awake at work, sleeping better, and breathing better.
It wasn't that previously I was in a consistently bad, or stressed, or tired state. Nevertheless, so far, there seems to be a notable difference.
Thoughts?
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Perhaps the time right after you wake up is your most important time of the day, as it will set the mood for the rest of your day.
I used to get up quite early - by my standards, by no means early by universal standards. As a result I got into the habit of attempting to scrounge every last wink of sleep. That meant sleep till as late as possible, and condensing the morning wake up routine as much as possible. As soon as the alarm went off, everything had to go like clockwork: shower, xx minutes, breakfast yy minutes, shaving zz minutes. No margin for error, and not time to relax into the world out the slumber. No time to prepare, shall we say meditate, for the day to come.
Since moving to a new role, I don't have to get up quite so early. However, I adapted the same philosophy, scrounging every last minute of sleep possible, and condensing the morning routine.
A week or so back I decided to switch the routine up a bit. Instead of setting the alarm clock as late as possible, I set it to about ten minutes earlier than usual. I spent a few minutes stretching, and then went about the normal routine. I found that with the knowledge of a few extra minutes in my back pocket, I didn't have to rush, didn't have that internal clock ticking and driving every instant.
I don't know - but so far, it seems to be working. I'm more awake at work, sleeping better, and breathing better.
It wasn't that previously I was in a consistently bad, or stressed, or tired state. Nevertheless, so far, there seems to be a notable difference.
Thoughts?
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Perhaps the time right after you wake up is your most important time of the day, as it will set the mood for the rest of your day.
0
Comments
I'm thinking of going to bed earlier to get up earlier to do some meditation; but that's not easy for me.
At the moment I have a project with a tight deadline so I am spending most of my time working and working in illustrator/photoshop.
Relating to buddhist practice I always keep in mind certain teachings such as letting go of things, nothing is permanent etc, but meditation still I cannot find time for. I am waiting for October when the meditation centre in my town starts classes again, I think this will benefit me greatly.
A relaxed less clockwork entrance to the day seems to suit me, a working stiff :-)
Leave for the train to work between 6am and 7am. I spend almost an hour on the train and use that time to meditate and / or read up on the dharma.
Makes me actually look forward to my commute which I can't say I always have.....
It gives some energy perk, but maybe that's more placebo than anything.
I'm glad you posted your comment as it's made me think about my morning routine and how grumpy I am first thing. That's great that you can get up 10 minutes earlier. Maybe I should try that tomorrow and see how I get on