Living with Mindful Intention
Creating new habits for optimal mental and physical health
If you’re anything like me, chances are you have a set of habits that you tend to do every single day. Some of those habits are likely really good for you (like showering and brushing your teeth) and others may not be so good for you (e.g., checking social media too often or lying on the couch every evening watching T.V.).
A “habit” isa regular and repeated behavior that we’ve done so often that we do it without thought. That’s okay if it’s agoodhabit (like cleaning up your dishes after breakfast) but can become problematic when it’s an unhealthy habit that has simply become part of your day (e.g., reaching for a cookie after dinner whether you want it or not).
The difference between a healthy habit and a not-so-healthy habit often involves intention. If we are very specific with our goals and take small steps daily towards reaching those goals, we can start new healthy habits and get rid of the ones that aren’t serving us so well.
The easiest way I know to improve daily habits is to start with your morning routine. How do you wake up in the morning? Are you startled awake by an alarm or do you wake naturally? Do you jump out of bed and hurriedly get dressed, or do you take a few minutes to breathe and stretch before you make your way to the coffee pot?
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Start a new habit - a healthy morning routine
Here are some tips to start your morning off on the right foot and set yourself up for a more positive start to your day.
Plan to get up a little earlier (about 20 minutes, if you can) than you really need to.
When you wake up, instead of instantly reaching for your phone to check messages, social media, the news, etc. (Which more and more of us are prone to do these days) or leaping out of bed before notice how you feel, take a couple of minutes to breathe. Specifically, take 3 deep breaths and notice how those breaths feel in your body. It’s also worthwhile to thank your body for breathing for you throughout the night while you were asleep.
After you’ve taken 3 deep breaths, stretch your body out long. Point your toes and take your arms up over head. Wiggle your fingers and toes. Continue to notice your breath. Do you have any aches or pains? Gently breathe into those areas.
As you sit up, lightly place your feet on the floor and notice how your feet feel on the ground. Take your arms overhead again and bend side to side. Stretch your arms up to the ceiling. And still keep noticing your breath.
All of the above will take less than 5 minutes.
Next, you could start heading towards the coffee pot, but once the above routine has become a habit, here are a few more things to try:
After you’ve taken your deep breaths and done your prone stretch in bed, before getting up you could add the following:
Close your eyes and mentally think of 5 things you are grateful for before starting your day. For bonus points, you could come up with an affirmation - one word or phrase - to take with you through the day.
Here are some examples of affirmations to get you started: Today I will be….calm, centered, creative, positive, kind, compassionate, etc.
Imagine one positive thing you want to accomplish in your day and visualize it fully, down to the last detail.
Now you can go back up to step number 3 above and sit up on the side of your bed and carry on with the grounding exercise (#4).
You can do all of the above in 10-15 minutes. Try doing that routine every day for a month and it will become a daily habit. If you miss a day that’s fine, just do it when you remember. So often we give up quickly because we think we “failed”. It’s not true – just try again the next day.
On the days when you have more time, and are feeling even more inspired, take another 10-15 minutes and add more slow mindful yoga to your morning routine then do some journal writing.
And remember to start your day with a smile. :)
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I’d love to hear from you so please send any comments or questions to me at sharon@sharonashtonmindfulyoga.com. Feel free to share this email with anyone else who may be interested.
You are also invited to join my free Facebook group The Journey Within Mindful Yoga and Life Change Community where we can connect to share resources and short mindful yoga and meditation practices:
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