I have always been a morning person. Over the years, I have come to appreciate the morning calmness more and more. It is my absolute favorite time of the day and the time that I try to protect the most. If my mornings are off, typically the rest of the day feels out of rhythm and sync.

So what’s so important about mornings?

For me, it’s the time when I get to be selfish. It’s the time before meetings, calls and daily tasks steal my attention and time. It’s the time when I feel the most rested and have the power to think deeply.

Perhaps what I love most is the natural world unfolding around me as the sun comes up. Even if it’s raining, the light of the sun through the clouds wakes up the wildlife and world around me. The stillness of the morning starts to unfold, giving way to a beautiful dawn.

Pillars of wellness to support each day

Everyone has their own morning routine. I go through ebbs and flows but generally speaking, my routine consists of three different parts:

Mental and Emotional Wellness: This is typically how I start my morning, with stillness and clarity. Reminding myself of the many things I am grateful for, meditating on decisions that I need to make or finding space in my thoughts to send warm thoughts and vibes to others. This stage of my morning routine is usually accompanied with a hot green tea, hot water and lemon and or an espresso (the absolute best espresso machine that has literally kept me going).

Physical Wellness: I find that I think better when I add some type of physical activity to my morning. I love to mix in yoga, cardio and light weights. Each morning is a little different and I’ve found that I enjoy a combination of that routine.

Environmental Wellness: Call me crazy, but I tend to think better when my desk is clear and clean or when I have a beautiful scented candle lit. In the mornings I’ll make sure my desk is ready for what the day has ahead. I find that if I can make my environment a little more cozier, a little more straightened up, that it pays dividends throughout the rest of my day.

4-step framework for setting an intentional day

Throughout these areas of wellness that I practice in the morning, I am running through a framework to help bring mindfulness to the day ahead. I’ve tried several frameworks (and no frameworks at all!) and where I’ve netted out uses this 4-step thought process:

1. Gratefulness – Determine what you’re grateful for and clearly articulate what exactly it is that you’re grateful for. I tend to think of these things as long-term parts of my life such as access to healthcare or feeling gratefulness to have experienced joy in my life.
2. Thankfulness – What are some of the things that I’m thankful for? I tend to think of these items as the shorter term items such as feeling thankful for the dentist appointment that I have later today or thankful. There’s no right or wrong way to think about thankfulness or gratefulness so please dive in with meaning!
3. Identifying Anxieties – This one might feel a little off to you but hear me out. I take time in the morning to identify what about my day is making me feel anxious. Then, what are the things that I can do to address those anxieties? Perhaps there’s nothing much I can truly do but often times I find having a purposeful think about small things I can do to remove anxiety is truly helpful.
4. Purpose and Activities – Finally, I go through a list of activities that support my overall purpose in this life and make sure that I have them prioritized. This one can be tough for a few reasons. For quite awhile, I did not fully know what my purpose was which in turn, made it challenging to know if the time I was spending on my tasks and activities made sense. Another challenge is prioritizing your activities. With the day-to-day hustle and bustle, it can be hard to double down on your purpose especially when your time and attention is required elsewhere.

Download a daily framework template here

I find that I’m more mindful about these 4 areas if I journal about them everyday. I used to wing it. Hope that I would use the framework flawlessly (let’s face it, it’s only a 4 step framework, how challenging could it be) but overtime, I realized that documenting progress and various thoughts that came up through this mindfulness framework required additional attention.

Think about it,

MJ