Week 3 Morning Ritual

 “Genius is eternal patience.”

- Michelangelo

The way you start your day matters. Even as a working mother, I maintained a morning routine that I now recognize was a ritual. I chose to get up before everyone else so that I could set the tone for my day. I learned that when I gave myself that gift of time, I treated everyone else with more patience. Twenty to thirty minutes can make the difference, in the day. Where will a day go that begins with rushing, impatience, and at times overreaction to minor annoyances? What you focus on grows, it would be difficult to come back from a hectic start.

My ritual was to practice meditation for twenty minutes in the traditional transcendental practice. This worked for me and is not for everyone. Each person needs to discover their own method to begin their day. This discovery of an AM ritual can be viewed as a time of learning and process, hopefully finding joy in the exploration.

As I have written about before I believe it is critical to wellness to start the day with a mind/body connection. This can take the form of breathing, meditation, movement, journaling, gratitude, listening to a guided meditation, or reading an inspirational piece of writing. This week explore, get up a little earlier, or set aside some of your morning for even as little as 5 minutes to try a different kind of wake-up call. Then notice what it does for your day. As in any practice, it is the practice itself that causes change. It will not be an instant gratification change, but one that extends its benefits into your day and the people in your life over time.