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Adopt a Yoga Morning Routine

Practice yoga every day!

A Yoga Morning Routine is, in my opinion, taking the time, giving yourself time to start your day well. It must be adapted to you, to your desires of the moment, your emotions and your availability.

The “morning routine” comes from the book of the American professor/coach Hal Elrod “Miracle morning”, it is a method of personal development which consists in waking up every morning, one hour earlier than planned, to give yourself time for self-realization.

When I read this famous book in June 2018, it clearly wasn’t the right time for me (exam period) although on second thought it might have helped…

But I was less attentive to my needs, I was not yet doing yoga, I was not meditating…

In short, everything the author was talking about I was clearly not sensitive to. So, I put the book away knowing that one day I would return to it.

Why and how to set up a “Yoga Morning Routine”?

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What can a morning routine consist of?

The morning routine can consist of several activities. H.Elrod calls them the “Life SAVERS” : it is the acronym of the different steps of his miracle morning.

S for silence:

Silence with meditation. Meditation has real positive effects on our mind, it reduces anxiety, increases our creativity…

As part of the miracle morning, it allows us to start the day with a blank page, to clear our minds, to leave our worries and stresses of yesterday or the day before aside and to open ourselves to new opportunities.

It connects us to the present moment by focusing on our breath and our body sensations.

But it also allows us to accept our thoughts, to let them pass without dwelling on them as if clouds were passing in front of you.

A for affirmations:

If you are active on instagram you should see inspirational phrases passed on your feed every day, they can be affirmations.

The practice of affirmations consists in defining in writing our wishes, our objectives of the day, the week, the month… We can then repeat them to ourselves to embody them.

So I recommend creating your own affirmations, being spontaneous. At first I used to make the mistake of finding affirmations on instagram, on pinterest and writing them down in my notebook but I quickly realized that they had no impact on me so now I don’t impose this activity on myself.

Some days a lot of affirmations come out and some days not at all, I stay tuned to what my mind is going through.

The general idea remains that the affirmations direct your mind for the course of the
day.

V for visualization:

Visualization allows you to look positively at your future.

It is a matter of taking 5 minutes to visualize in our mind or in writing the life we want, an ideal day, a goal we want to achieve in one or two years.

I’m still struggling with this workout I admit so I’m trying to actively practice it. When I get there I like to imagine myself in my future home in the country, surrounded by animals (including my golden one), in the middle of the forest and surrounded by the people I love, helping people to become themselves, learning more and more every day and then I feel calm, bright, in my place.

E for exercise:

Physical exercise is the best way to wake up your limbs, feel your muscles awaken, and release your vitality.

H.Erold evokes yoga but there is no need to start doing a thousand classes and a thousand postures as soon as you get out of bed, keep in mind that practicing at that time is beneficial if you take the time to listen to your body, refocus on yourself.

A few sun salutations or gentle stretches in the yin yoga style are up to you, depending on how you feel.

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R for reading:

H.Erold advises to read other books on personal development during this miracle morning or on any other subject that interests you.

Personally, since I’ve been reading every morning for 10 minutes, my pile of books is going down and I’m retaining more of the thoughts that these readings bring me.

I no longer force myself to read at night if I am too tired because I know I have my morning reading.

What are the benefits of a morning routine?

The benefits of this practice are so great.

This moment that you grant yourself with yourself allows you to know yourself better, to love yourself more by doing good to your body and your mind.

You add a drop in the vase of your esteem, of your confidence in you.

You can devote yourself to your projects, taking the time to make them real and feasible.

Since I have been doing this morning routine, I can’t do without it, the times I don’t do it I feel like I’ve missed a part of my day because from now on it’s like brushing my teeth, it’s one of the indispensable tasks in my morning. I feel calmer and in line with myself.

I am less susceptible to the Sunday night or Monday morning blues (I work more on Mondays, which helps, I admit).

I think that little by little I am also seeing more clearly what I want and what I do not want anymore.

What are the difficulties in setting up a morning routine?

Let’s talk about the subject that makes you angry: waking up an hour earlier than planned. Especially when you are a “reminder” fan and you put off your alarm clock by 10-15 minutes.

Tell you one thing, it’s not easy for anyone to get out of bed, I think we all enjoy at least once a week or month just hanging out in our cozy bed.

So to remedy all this, we have to find little tricks:
– Prepare yourself at night by visualizing that you will wake up full of energy the next morning;
– Move the alarm clock away from your bed to avoid turning it off and going back to sleep, and stretch your legs, back, and spine to wake up the different muscles;
– Turn on the light or open the shutters;
– Drink a large glass of water: rehydrating after a night’s sleep helps you wake up;
– Prepare all your gear the day before: mat rolled out, incense ready to be lit for the atmosphere, book and writing book ready too.

Here are the three phases you will go through:

– Phase 1 (Day 1-10):

Unpleasant.

If the first days, placed under the sign of the novelty, can be invigorating, the continuation becomes a little difficult and you will have to fight not to give up.

Be aware that this will be temporary and that if you hold on, the best will come soon enough.

– Phase 2 (days 11-20):

This new practice has become bearable and is starting to become part of your habits.

Some days it is even pleasant, but you are still tempted to go back to the previous state.

– Phase 3 (days 21-30):

Irresistible.

Generally, three weeks is enough time to develop new habits. But this last phase is really necessary to really install it in the long term, to anchor it in your daily life. You will say to yourself that you have succeeded, of course, but you will have to remind yourself regularly of the benefits of this practice so that you do not believe that you have understood and that you can stop.

3 examples of complete Yoga Morning Routine

Example of a “hurried” morning routine (15 min):

  • Stand up,
  • Drink your glass of water or a good tea prepared with love,
  • Meditate for 5 minutes (you can
    use the application petit bambou or others if you are a beginner or want to be guided at first to work on your breathing),
  • Write down everything that comes to mind for 5 minutes
  • and finally finish with 10 minutes of yoga (choose the practices according to your desire: Hatha, Vinyasa, Ashtanga …) by lighting a candle or incense, you can also put a playlist of yoga (spotify ; deezer ;
    youtube you choose).

Example of a Yoga Morning Routine

Since a week I bought the book “I don’t have time: yoga sessions” by Julie Dumoulin, the famous creator of the wellness application HappyNgood.

I am a beginner in the practice
(since November 2018), so I needed help including yoga in the early morning while progressing in flexibility and strengthening.

This book is ideal because it proposes sessions between 5 and 15 minutes without material.

It also allows you to organize your session since it proposes practices for flexibility; strengthening; balance and relaxation.

And what I love is that she recommends starting each session with meditation to get into the practice, sun salutations and ending with relaxation after all the posture sequences.

I deliberately chose a book because I don’t like TV much and I didn’t want to put a session/lesson on the spot from youtube videos. In my opinion, this book allows you to create your own session while being guided by a pro.

After my session, I love to take the time to make a fresh homemade juice sequence with my juicer.

My favorite recipe: carrot; orange; ginger and turmeric! Nothing like starting the day with a good dose of Pep’s!

Example of a Yoga Morning Routine by ” Chloée lanchois ” :

Be inspired by people who try to be a better version of themselves every day.

But above all, don’t feel guilty for not doing everything like them, everyone is different, we all have our own life and our own rhythm, don’t judge yourself.

Discover all of Chloe’s tips for building your own guided meditation and making it part of your new habit.

How to build your own morning routine?

My advice to you is to do what you love.

Indeed, if you start your day by forcing yourself to get up early and if on top of that you start doing yoga when you don’t like it, you risk abandoning your good resolution after two days and this is clearly not the goal.

If you live in the country, why not enjoy a ten minute walk in the forest, if you live near the ocean you can go meditate in front of the waves, on the beach floor (I dream about it) and if you live in the city you can take advantage of the silence of the sunrise to enjoy a usually crowded park.

Try things out, fool yourself to find what really fits you.

Personally, it took me a month to find my current routine and I know it will be different again within a year.

Depending on what resonates with you (writing, meditating, etc.) you can then adjust the time of your miracle morning.

For the time of the session, also follow your schedule, the goal being not to get tired.

If you start at 7am and get up at 6am usually you can
take ten minutes to read for example or other by setting the alarm clock at 5:50 am. For the evening, in general on my side it is rather netflix; sport or outings with friends but when I can and I feel the need I can start writing on my balcony.

You can do the “Life SAVERS” in the evening but be careful not to do intensive sports to avoid insomnia.

How about an evening yoga routine?

  • The evening routine can be similar to a meditation session: breathing practices help to remove all the stress accumulated during the day
  • State all the gratitudes of the day: “I am grateful that I was able to express my needs to my boss” or whatever.
  • Focus on the positive before going to sleep!
  • Right now, I can give myself time before bed especially for moon rituals (new moon and full moon). I’ll take the opportunity to write again, but you can for example do some stretching to fall asleep better, you can listen to a mantra or meditate.

How do I reconcile my job as a special educator with my morning routine?

When I first started setting up my routine I felt like I was in a difficult time and I clearly think that it helped me. Until the end of April I was working in boarding school hours (e.g. 7am-2pm or
well 14h-22h30) so it took me a while to find my rhythm. I will admit that when I started at 7:00 a.m. three mornings in a row my routine shrank. I chose to give myself other spaces to feel good, for example with an evening session.

Little by little, over time, I have adapted my morning routine and it has become indispensable to arrive at work. I must admit that since May I have changed my place of work and my hours are much easier (10am-5pm or 9am-6pm).

When I start at 10am I go for an early run (7am) on an empty stomach to enjoy the silence of the Bordeaux quays and I love it.

When I get home I stretch, write and have a good juice. I love to start with this ritual before arriving at work, it’s my own bubble because I know that afterwards I will be solicited during the
day so this miracle morning is my breath of fresh air.

“Your situation depends on the being you were but the direction you take depends entirely on the individual you wish to become.

What’s up? Ready?

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To know the benefits of yoga, it’s here!

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