A quick check-in for you before you even start your day or your morning routine.
Wake up
What does today feel like?
Did you wake up naturally or by external stimulation, if so what form? Did you rely on modern technology or another form of stimulation?
Are you groggy or energetic or you don’t know what? Was yesterday active? eventful? chilled? Were your mind, body and emotions heavily stimulated yesterday? If so, how? Artificially? Is today supposed to be active or eventful?
Did you sleep longer than usual or shorter? Are you aching from a physically intense day? Is your mind instantly flooded with worry over a long-standing problem?
What does the temperature feel like? What are the light levels like? Is it dry? Are you cold? warm? sweating? Is it the environment calm or chaotic? Has your environment allowed you to awake peacefully or have you been called to action?
Are birds singing? Is it raining? Are the kids shouting? playing? sleeping? Is someone making breakfast? Can you hear traffic? Is the traffic busier or quieter than usual? Are the neighbours being recklessly loud?
Is it still dark? Are the street lamps shining through simulating an artificial sunrise? Are there more sounds of nature because they haven’t been drowned out by human interference?
Did you have a dream? A nightmare? Can you relate it to something in your life?
Is this too much to consider?
From the moment we wake up our body and minds are subjected to dozens if not thousands of stimulations and thoughts, both internally and externally. Fortunately, there is no need for filling out an internet questionnaire to tell you what you are everyday, because you already possess one of the most complex calculators in the universe - a smartphone. I’m joking, it is of course your body and it is fantastic at making simultaneous and complex calculations with little conscious effort.
Morning routines are important, but for those of us that cannot robotically pursue this routine everyday, at least checking in with yourself can be useful. And for those that have a strict regiment, it can be helpful to stop and smell the roses once in a while.
All these questions don’t need an answer that makes sense or an answer at all. They are for you to take a moment to observe the world as you are born into it each morning. To help guide you whether it is to take it easy today or go full throttle. To show you that the world around you supports you but you must respond to it. This comes before you decide to have a lie-in or go for a run, or to start writing.
Hone your practice
Take a minute or ten for yourself and observe your world.
After doing this for a few days you may be quite surprised at how connected you are to the world around you in an indescribable way, and first thing in the morning when your mind is not fuelled by external influences is a great way to observe it and respond to it.
Notice whether it is an external influence which is making you feel a certain way, or an internal voice.
But I already practice gratitude and mindfulness...
Gratitude is a necessity, but likewise those things that are not serving you will be the fuel for change. Whether a physical change or a shift in perspective that is for you to feel out, but we must also observe our disturbances to avail growth.
There is always a sunrise but you can’t always see it. So when the day doesn’t start like a Disney movie, embrace it for what it is. This is likely to be the only opportunity throughout your day where you are unencumbered by external influences and can tune in with your nature, so that you spend less time battling with it all day.
Have a nice day!
