My Daily Routines
I find mornings hard. All my life I’ve found getting up early difficult. But when I implement these yogic and Ayurvedic practices into my daily routine they’ve helped me feel more awake and energized for the day.
The Ayurveda system says that a daily routine helps to establish balance in one’s constitution. It also regularizes a person’s biological clock, aids digestion, absorption and assimilation, and generates self-esteem, discipline, peace, happiness, and longevity. (1)
Here’s my MORNING routine.
Gentle Stretching
Can’t jump out of bed, no problem. I’m not even sure that’s even a good idea. I surely don’t. I prefer to do some gentle stretching before I get out of bed. Just like when we come out of Savasana, I start by wiggling my fingers and toes, I then rotate my wrists and ankles. Then I give myself a big stretch. Add in some Cat Stretches can be good too. I follow this with a few deep long breaths.
Intention
Next is I set an intention for my day. A create a positive affirmation on how I want my day to be. Sounds crazy? You can be the master creator of your life. I get real creative here, I believe skies the limit. I think of the expression God is in the detail, which means that attention paid to small things has big rewards. So details, details, details!
Bathroom Routine
- I first splash my face with cold water and rinse out my mouth. As I am splashing my face I wash my eyes water and massage my eyelids by gently rubbing them.
- I then gently scrape my tongue 7-14 times from the back forward with a stainless steel tongue scraper, I use the Dr. Tung’S Products: Stainless Steel Tongue Cleaner
. This stimulates the internal organs, helps digestion, and removes dead bacteria.
- To further remove the bacteria that has built up over night I brush my teeth. I don’t use toothpaste since I just want to remove stuff.
- I then gargling some water for a few seconds.
My mouth now is refreshed and ready to eat.
Nasal Wash
Days when I feel a tad more congested I turn to my Neti Pot™. A neti pot is a container designed to rinse debris or mucus from your nasal cavity. This can treat symptoms of nasal allergies, sinus problems or colds. If you choose to make your own saltwater solution, it’s important to use bottled water that has been distilled or sterilized. I have this kind Himalayan Chandra Ceramic Neti Pot
Cold Shower
When I have time in the morning I take a cold shower. I try to do this a few times a week or month. I learned about this through the Kundalini yogic tradition. It’s called Ishnaan, The Science of Hydrotherapy. There’s a science to it. When we run cold water over certain areas of your body it effects certain organs in our body creating a miraculous healing experience.
Water
Before I eat anything I like to drink a glass of room temperature water. This is good because it washes the GI track, flushes the kidneys, and stimulates peristalsis.
Essential Oils
I like using natural scents like essential oils to cultivate a certain mood for my day. Depending on my needs I will use different essential oils to bring about more calmness, focus, relaxation, joy to my mind, body and spirit. I do this every morning by inhaling a particular essential oil or a personal blend I created. Check out my article Methods and Benefits of Inhaling Essential Oils
I’m now ready to start my day!
Here’s my NIGHT routine
We all know that if we don’t get a good night’s sleep then morning will be even be tougher to face. When I take the time at night to add in a relaxation routine I experience a better sleep and I feel more alive in the morning.
Devices
I try my best to get off any electronics at least 30 minutes before going to bed. There’s more and more proof coming out lately that the light from our devices are effecting how we sleep. As well TV can create overstimulated minds making it hard to fall asleep. Here a good article on the Scientific America website about the effects of Blue Light on our sleep.
Relaxation
When I do some slow gentle yoga, long deep breathing and meditation before bed my mind and body become more relaxed. These release my mental activity, stiffness from sitting all day, plus they help me let go of my day so I don’t end up bringing any it with me into my sleep.
I have personal proof it works. I’m not super disciplined by nature. I have many times gone straight from the TV, computer or device to bed resulting in a terrible night sleep. But when I take even 5 minutes do some of some of my relaxation routine I notice the difference in my sleep quality. Here’s a great short kundalini yoga set that I often do before sleep.
When I have had one of those super hectic, stressful days where I end up having a really hard time falling asleep, mind full of worry, anxiety, and even when I’ve done the relaxation routine, I then turn to these two techniques.
- Breath awareness. This is a mindfulness exercise that focus on bringing awareness to the process of breathing. Following my breathing can be super relaxing.
- Body scan relaxation. This is when you systematically move your focus of attention around the body inviting relaxation to that body part while observing sensation. Here’s the basic instructions to help get you started.
Power of my Subconscious Mind
This is a recent addition to my night routine. It started when I began reading the book The Power of Your Subconscious Mind
So I decided to try out one of Mr. Murphy’s techniques. So I created a prayer, which is just like mantra that would reprogram my subconscious mind with the intention to work on my sleeping patterns. So I came up with this prayer which I say at night in bed 10 times just before I fall asleep. ‘I’ll have a great sleep. I will sleep through the night undisturbed. I will wake up feeling fully refreshed and energized for the day”. Well I’ve become a strong by sleep has improved.
Thank you for taking the time to read my article and I hope you will give any or all of my sharings a try. Here’s to better sleep and awake time.
Blessing and Gratitude
Jennifer <3
