You’ve seen the YouTube videos and blog posts for how to create the perfect morning wellness routine. Maybe you’ve even tried them in recovery and gave up after a few days. It leaves you feeling disappointed you’re not able to commit to a morning wellness routine. After all, it was perfect. So it should have worked for you, right?
Not necessarily. Someone else’s perception of perfection may be the complete opposite of yours. Which is why I’m going to help you create your perfect morning wellness routine in recovery that you’ll actually enjoy. By answering some questions, you’ll be able to create a tailored routine in just a few minutes so you can find comfort and solace.
What we’re going to cover:
- Why create a recovery morning routine
- Creating a routine that works for you
- Mindset shifts to help you commit
Recovery is about rediscovering who we are and in that process, we shed layers of toxic paradigms, find what happiness means to us, and learn to love ourselves.
The amount of work we’re doing on ourselves can spiral into stress easily. Recovery isn’t a linear process. One minute we’re floating on cloud nine. Ten minutes later, we may be in the depths of despair having an existential crisis.
Through the process, it’s important to create healthy new habits so we can learn to control how we react to our emotions so they don’t control us. Which makes creating a morning routine that works for you an ideal place to begin.
Our mornings set us up for the day we’re going to have. If we wake up late because we hit the snooze button too many times, we’re starting our day stressed out. And that carries us throughout the day. On the other hand, if we wake up at the same time with a dedicated morning routine, we feel in control of how our day is going to be. The more we’re in control of ourselves, the less negative influences we’ll fall into.
Morning wellness routine in recovery
Before we can create your routine, take a few minutes to answer the questions below. This will help you tailor a routine based on your wants and needs. It’s ok if you don’t have the answers just yet. I’m going to be working alongside you so you’ll see my answers along with my routine below the questions in case you need some guidance.
Questions to ask yourself:
My goal for creating a morning routine is…
My favorite simple pleasure is…
If I had a wellness morning routine, I would…
I want my recovery to look like…
My ideal morning routine looks like…
Why these questions:
- Goal- so you know what you’re working towards.
- Pleasure- so you can infuse your routine with something you enjoy.
- Routine- so you know how you want to feel.
- Recovery- so you know who you aspire to be.
- Ideal- so you can create reality from desire.
Now that you know the why behind the questions, you can see this isn’t just about establishing healthy habits. It’s about us actively engaging in personal development while having a morning routine.
My answers:
- Consistency
- That first sip of tea
- Be calmer
- A life I’m proud of- transcending pain into pleasure while building an immunity to suffering, forgiving myself and others, committing myself to hobbies I actively engage in and anything that enriches my life.
- Sipping on my morning tea, yoga and meditation- slowing easing my way into my day without distractions.
What my morning routine looks like:
- Get up and make tea.
- Savor my first sip of tea while expressing gratitude to the Universe for what I have.
- Do yoga and meditating while listening to music or a motivational video.
Creating your morning recovery routine
You’ve got your foundation so you can begin building a routine you’ll have fun doing.
You can see from my routine, it’s aligned with the answers to my questions. The added bonus is that because I enjoy it, it helps me achieve my goal of consistency.
On a side note- the routine I currently have took a few years of adjustments before I was able to create something that worked for me. So don’t think you need to have everything figured out right now.
Goal
The objective is to keep your eye on the prize so you know exactly what it is you’re working towards. If you haven’t figured out the goal yet, the answer will come with time. Just focus on the other answers for right now. You can even make it your goal to figure out why you’re choosing to create a morning routine.
Simple Pleasures
This is a must do for your morning routine. The point is to wake up looking forward to doing something for yourself. It’s also about finding gratitude for the little things in life that may otherwise go unnoticed.
Your simple pleasures may not be easily accessed every day so think outside the box.
TIPS:
- If your favorite simple pleasure is the smell of burning wood and you don’t have a fireplace, get a burning wood scented candle for your morning wellness routine.
- Maybe it’s the sound of thunder. You can listen to thunder sounds on YouTube each morning.
- Or it’s the leaves changing colors in fall. Find pictures and create a photo album or a collage so you can see it.
Get creative with this so you’re able to enjoy your simple pleasure everyday.
Wellness Routine
We want to build an intentional routine based on how we want to feel so keep that in mind when you’re crafting your routine.
HERE’S WHY:
- If spirituality is your primary focus, you may not be too apt doing a HIIT workout first thing in the morning.
- If you want to feel like you’re in control of your life, you may want to steer away from creating a routine where you’re going to burn yourself out at the beginning of the day.
- Maybe you’re unsure of what your emotional goal is. That’s ok. We don’t always know what we want. Go for something like listening to your favorite music.
Life in Recovery
Recovery is our chance to become the people we’ve always aspired to be. So incorporate aspects of that into your morning wellness routine in recovery.
TIPS:
- Maybe your goal right now is to stay sober so you haven’t thought of who you want to become. Trying something to help you look on the bright side of things may be just the thing you need. Like a gratitude list in the mornings.
- If you’re looking to catch up on all the things you haven’t learned, taking online courses may be something that would interest you.
- Or if you want to quiet your mind, a few minutes of silence may be the thing that best suits you.
Ideal Morning Routine
This is where we get to create something good for ourselves while bringing our wishes into reality. So don’t skip this step.
TIPS:
- Maybe your ideal wellness morning routine in recovery is sipping cafe au lait at a patisserie in Paris. But your life is here in the states. Bring Paris to you in the mornings. Make yourself a cafe au lait while listening to French music.
- If your ideal morning looks like hydrating yourself, getting a sweat in, and becoming the CEO of your life, try adding one glass of water first thing when you wake up along with a quick workout, and a personal development video.
- Or your idyllic routine is you being at peace with yourself. Journaling a few minutes each morning will help you purge repressed emotions.
How to succeed in your morning wellness routine
In just a few steps, you can make sure you’re aligning your intentions with your goals.
Start small
Maybe you can only dedicate ten minutes each morning to a routine. That’s much better than nothing.
Or you’re not really digging the idea of a morning routine. Do two things- your simple pleasure and add one thing from your ideal morning routine list. This way, your morning wellness routine is pleasurable. Once you get the hang of it, increase the amount of things to add to your morning routine.
Be proactive
Getting yourself set up the night before to keep you ahead of your routine will help you to accomplish each morning.
- If vitamins and supplements are a goal, lay them out the night before, like next to your coffee machine.
- Is yoga your dream morning routine? Lay out your yoga mat the night before.
- Is drinking more water a part of your new routine? Keep a filled water bottle in your bedroom so you get hydrated first thing in the morning.
Be flexible
Routines require discipline but if you find that you’re dreading your morning routine, make adjustments.
We change. What may interest you today may bore you tomorrow. You may find right now you want to take it easy with your morning routine but three months later, you want something more energizing.
Your recovery is about growth and evolution. So your values are going to shift. Be flexible and allow yourself to make changes along the way.
TIP: Each time you want to refine a routine, come back to the questions in the exercise above. You’ll learn more of what you do and don’t want. Experiment until you find your happy medium.
- Your morning wellness routine doesn’t have to look exactly the same every morning. It’s okay to improvise on days you’re not feeling up for it.
- You may wake up one day preferring to listen to music while doing restorative yoga in bed instead of your usual HIIT workout.
- Or you may be craving a cup of coffee instead of your go to English breakfast tea.
Routines aren’t supposed to be boring and absolute. Do what’s going to bring you pleasure.
MINDSET SHIFTS
Now that you’ve created a routine that’s going to work for you, we’re gonna tackle some different ways to think about them. Because how we approach our routines can make the world of a difference.
Rituals Over Routine
Routines sound like something we have to do- boring, monotonous, dreaded responsibility.
Rituals, on the other hand, sound calming, peaceful, something we enjoy doing. There’s almost this ethereal quality to a ritual. And it sounds much more laid back and mellow, doesn’t it?
Decisions Over Intentions
Intentions are hopeful. Decisions are absolute.
Don’t just set an intention for a new lifestyle. Make the decision that you’re committing to a new morning ritual.
Heart over mind
- Our heart is 60 times greater in amplitude and 5,000 times more powerful than the brain in the electromagnetic field. (SOURCE)
- The heart also has 40,000 neurons that think independently from the brain, with its own nervous system. Which makes the heart the little brain. (SOURCE)
- Our heart sends more signals to the brain on how to feel than the brain to the heart. (SOURCE).
So when you’re in a rut, connect to your heart. Instead of forcing your mind to jump on board, listen to your heart to find what it wants.
HERE’S HOW:
- Place one or both hands on your heart.
- Wait until you feel warm, tingly sensations. It can take a few minutes, but you’ll feel it.
- When you do, ask what it wants.
- It’ll give you a very short and direct response- it may even cut you off before you can finish asking.
- That’s your answer.
Now that you’ve created your routine, all that’s left to do is do it. You may not be motivated everyday. You may skip a day. That’s perfectly fine. What matters is that you keep showing up for yourself.
How is this new way of approaching your wellness morning routine in recovery helping you? Let me know in the comments below.
Know anyone who would benefit from this? Please be sure to share it with them.
I’ll see ya soon…in the meantime, love yourself so much that even a Hallmark Christmas movie would be jealous.
