Recipe for the Perfect Healing Morning Routine

A realistic and easy way to reach your healing goals

Photo by CreateTravel.tv on Unsplash

“She woke up every morning with the option of being anyone she wished. How beautiful it was that she always chose herself.” ~ Tyler Kent White

Do you want to have the vision of having a beautifully fulfilling day? A day when you feel purposeful, impactful and ready to take on those big dreams…but you just can’t get out of bed with the right frame of mind or energy??

Believe me, you’re not alone. Come on, let’s face it, leaving the comfort of a cozy bed in the morning (with a huge to-do list to tackle) isn’t exactly the best thought to start your day.

A few years back, almost every night for months and MONTHS, I would promise myself that the next morning, I would get up early and go about my lengthy morning routine that I carefully planned in my mind. At that time I wanted every morning to start off with yoga, a walk, journaling, meditation, intention-setting, a thorough workout, AND reading. (bit much eh..phew!)

And for most of those months, every time my alarm clock went off, it felt like there was an invisible force dragging me back into the comfort of my bed and asking me to just cozy up and sleep.

Sound familiar?!

First, let's get into the benefits of actually having a morning routine:

1. Increases productivity throughout the Day
2. More time for yourself
3. Improves your mood and mental health
4. Improves your physical health
5. It makes you more focused and organized
6. More time to plan and prioritize your goals
7. Its a dedicated time daily for your healing.

How to Create a Healing Morning Routine

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

Well after months of this on off and no morning routine I had finally had enough! I knew that engaging in a morning routine would make me feel happier, healthier, and more productive, and I was committed to overcoming my tendency to repeatedly hit the snooze button.

I was then finally able to develop a morning routine that is flexible, fulfilling, and most importantly, that I can actually stick to with a few key steps.

If you’re finally ready to get into action and consistently partake in a healing morning routine, keep reading. I am going to share my recipe for the perfect healing morning routine, as well as some tips for morning routine success.

Recipe for the perfect healing morning routine

I discovered a little secret while researching morning routines and engaged in a little self-experimentation.

I got realistic. I knew that there was no way that I could actually complete the same exact morning routine every day. It was not sensible to expect myself to do the same set of things every morning regardless of the day’s or week’s circumstances, nor would I want a boring, stale and inflexible routine anyway. I wanted a healing one!

Therefore, I needed a healing morning routine that –
a) I could seamlessly adjust depending on how much sleep I got(which is now imperative to my peri-menopause stage), what my mood was, and what time I had to begin work.
b) had some consistent structure that would allow me to build healthy healing habits.

For that reason, I created a morning routine RECIPE(because it literally was something I metaphorically cooked up after intense self-experimentation) that allows me to sub in and out different activities depending on how much time and energy I have to spend, while still maintaining the same general sequence of events i.e. structure.

So here goes:

Step 1. PUT IT ON PAPER

When you are feeling good, sit down to list out anything you think you might want to include in your healing morning routine on a piece of paper. Understandably, if you’re reading this post, you probably already have a list of morning routine ideas in the back of your mind.

Your list could look something like this:

• Exercising
• Meditating
• Hydrating
• Practicing gratitude
• Journaling
• Visualizing
• Healthy breakfast

Step 2. Categorize: MIND, BODY & SOUL

What categories come to mind when you think of healing yourself holistically? Personally, my favorites are Mind, Body, and Soul. But if those don’t work for you, feel free to choose others. I’ll share some examples below.

As your categories get clear, sort your potential healing morning routine activities so that they each fall into a specific category. Every category will include ideas that vary in time commitment. In other words, some activities will take longer, and some may only take a few minutes to complete.

My categories look like this:

Mind

• Quick thoughts and ideas jotting (3 min)
• Completing a puzzle (15 min)
• Reading a non-fiction or personal development book (10–20 min)
• Journaling (15–30 min)

Body

• Drinking 2 glasses of water (2 min)
• Doing a few stretching exercises (5 min)
• Yoga (15–30 min)
• Going for a walk (30–45 min)
• Eating a healthy breakfast (15–20 min)

Soul

• Reading 1 or 2 pages of an inspiring or spiritually-oriented book (5 min)
• Meditation (10–15 min)
• Gratitude journaling (10–15 min)
• Reading Sacred Scripture (20–30 min)
• Prayer (a daily non-negotiable)

Some activities may feel like they belong to more than one category. That’s okay! It likely just means that you’ve really tuned in on what is important to your healing, and that your groupings and activities reflect these values.

Step 3. THE FUN SECRET RECIPE

Ok now let’s get to the fun part. I call it the “switcharoo” 🙂

As per your day and energy levels and time, you can mix and match activities from each category. For example, on a day where I only have 15 minutes total, I may complete a ‘Quick thoughts and ideas jotting’ (3 min) list (mind), drink 2 large glasses of water and do a few stretching exercises (body), and meditate (soul). On a more calmer and relaxed morning(usually a holiday), I might read a personal development book (mind), go for a nature walk (body), and enjoy some journaling (soul).

The point of this is, that regardless of which of the activities I complete, I am always still working on healing my three core areas. After all, consistently feeding these different aspects of myself leaves me feeling balanced, empowered, and ready to begin my day.

Now that you know the secret recipe for a perfect healing morning routine, let me leave you with a few positive tips to ensure your success on your morning routine journey.

Positive Tips for Morning Routine Success

Photo by Amanda Lins on Unsplash

Tip 1: Just get enough sleep.

It sounds SO basic, and you’ve definitely heard it before. I know. But how important it is to actually get enough sleep cannot be overstated. I won’t go on about it for too long, but the jist is, if you’re getting less sleep, you’re going to feel crappy, unclear and unmotivated. If you want to wake up feeling energized and ready to take on the day, the first thing to look at is your sleeping patterns. (writing another post on this very soon)

Tip 2: Select the RIGHT morning routine activities for YOU!

Your morning routine should be for YOU and not for some unrealistic version of you. Be gentle and kind with yourself when choosing the right activities for your routine. While I have shared parts of my healing morning routine, your routine and desired activities may look totally different. And that is ok. Take as much inspiration as you want from others, but don’t be pressured by what you think you “should” be doing. Closely reflect on what you find joy in and what leaves you feeling satisfied and empowered.

Tip 3: Small Steps

I shared with you above how I used to dream of completing an elaborate daily healing morning routine. And while the idea of spending 2 hours every morning on self care and personal development work sounds amazing… we all know it simply isn’t a reality for most mere mortals like us. If you’ve struggled with morning routines in the past, be sure to start a really small routine that is just about 10 minutes. You can always add more in later once you’ve built up on the healing morning stamina.

Tip 4: Be kind and flexible with yourself

Remember this is a healing routine! It's not meant to stress you out or overwhelm you. If you fall off track for a few days, start back again with greater enthusiasm. If you find that you are repeatedly giving up on your healing morning routine, examine why that may be. It could be that the activities in your routine aren’t right for you, or that your expectations of your mornings exceed what your daily life really allows for. Don’t let “perfection” hold you back. Something, anything is better than nothing.

Wishing you success, well-being, and love along the way!

🩷If you’d like 1-on-1 counseling sessions and spiritual guidance with me, come on over here.

With Love, Zeenat Merchant Syal, M.A, M.Sc
{Counseling Psychologist|Spiritual Counselor}