For the past year I have been an obsessive follower of Yoga with Adriene. Every morning for over 300 days I would follow along to one of her videos because I was too chicken to join a Yoga class right away. I wanted to understand the names of poses and find my own flow before potentially embarrassing myself in front of strangers. You know a favourite pastime of most of us, right?!
After coming home from our December holiday I was a lot more sluggish than normal. I was enjoying the new pace I had set for myself and it didn't include Yoga in the AM. As a creature of habit I find routine super comforting but after 300 days of the same routine I figured it was time to spice it up.
By nature I am a morning person. I spend the majority of my day around other people so I like to relish in my mornings alone. Originally, doing Yoga during at this time made the most sense for me but going into 2019 I wanted to challenge myself in different ways and at different times of the day. My solution:
Focusing my morning on challenging my mind and the evening challenging my body.
These mornings you can find me sitting at my desk with a pen in hand. I spend quality time with my brain asking it hard questions and to look at how I'm feeling. I know that my brain can be a powerful tool and I want to use my for good!
I list my gratitudes from the day before and I set an intention for the day. Doing this type of mind management first thing in the morning prepares me to interact with other people and their emotions and expectations.
Some of my favourite questions to ask my brain:
When I'm trying to solve a problem I ask:
How? OR What would I do if I knew what to do? OR If both options have the perfect ending, which do I choose then?
When I need to switch my perspective about a situation I ask:
What do I need to believe? OR What types of judgements am I carrying around from yesterday that I don't want to carry into today? OR What if I believed the opposite of what I believe right now?
When I'm working on a new project, workshop or anything I ask:
Come up with 10 new ideas
Now that I'm doing Yoga at night I find myself looking forward to it. I think of it as my "treat" after getting through the hardest kind of days. When I hit a wall or find myself in a stressful situation I tell myself to be thankful that I have time in the evening to just be on the mat and breathe it out. I still love doing yoga because It helps remind me of the simple shit, focus on my breathing and only on what I can control.
I have learned that mindfulness is paying attention to your intention
Was mindfulness one of your 2019 resolutions? I want to let you know that you don't have to practice Yoga or meditation to get there.
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So, how are you spending your mornings in 2019? Let me know below
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