Give yourself the best start to the day
Quarantine, social distancing - whether you take it seriously or not, Coronavirus is here and it’s changing the way we live and connect. Last week, I shared on social media my tips for starting the day in the best possible way as a means to preserving not just your sanity, but also your creativity. And it seems even more pertinent now that more and more of us are staying at home.
In these times of heightened fear and uncertainty, how we show up for and look after ourselves will make a huge impact on how we get through this crisis and come out the other side. Now more than ever, we should be caring about our communities and leaving judgement at the door. When we wake up cranky and stressed, we can kiss that idea goodbye and that’s why it’s so important to keep that freshly-wiped slate clean before we even put a foot out of the bed and onto the floor.
So, here are my tips for giving yourself and your family the best start:
Leave Your Phone Alone
What’s the first thing you do in the morning after switching off your alarm? For most of us, it’s to check our mobile phones. Reading messages and emails have come through overnight, opening social media or news apps - catching up on events we slept through. Why is it a problem?
I like to think of the mind in the morning being like a fresh piece of paper. The day hasn’t begun yet and anything is possible. We can still choose where to go, what to say, what to think (even if you have a strict morning routine we can still choose what we do - do we drink coffee or tea, do we pee before or after brushing our teeth). We have no outside influence on our decision making or mood. But as soon as you start reading messages, checking the news or Facebook status updates, you start filling that blank piece of paper with the words of other people. And most of us soak it up like a sponge.
Keeping your phone on flight mode for even just the first 15 minutes you’re awake can make such a difference in anxiety levels, reducing the pressure to be or do anything more than we need to at that moment. We can process how we feel, what we want to do and where we want to go for ourselves, with our own intuition instead of someone else’s.
Morning Pages
This is a great practice for those mornings when you wake up feeling foggy, have your dreams still running around in your head or wake up thinking of all the hundreds of things you need to do that day. It’s especially helpful if you wake up feeling panicky or anxious. The premise of morning pages is simple - take 3 A4 pieces of paper and write every single thing in your head. And I mean, everything. Some mornings this will be easier than others. There might be times when you get halfway through page one and are convinced there’s nothing more to say. But there is.
When we write stream of consciousness style, it might not even make sense. You might literally write blah blah blah. It doesn’t matter. Morning pages aren’t to be read by anyone else, it’s simply an exercise in clearing the mind of junk to leave it clear and open to whatever needs to come that day. Think of it like a huge exhale and word vomit onto the page.
Honestly, this is one of the practices that I can really, truly feel makes a difference to my day, especially whenI wake up feeling out of sorts. It helps to get all the mud from the mind and leave me ready to be present for the day ahead.
Leave The News Alone
Back in the day, I used to have the TV running as I got ready for work - BBC news normally. And if not the TV, then the radio. I wanted to know the weather, transport updates and catch up on what had happened that day. What I definitely didn’t want but got anyway, was a lowdown of all the awful things happening on the planet.
Look, we all know bad things happen in life. But do we have to ingest it all with our breakfast? It’s sad fact that the news rarely reports good things and right now, with the Covid-19 virus, listening to the news or radio first thing in the morning is likely to induce feelings of fear and panic.
Almost all of us have smartphones. The internet. We can actively choose when to receive news updates and from which sources. So give your nerves a break in the morning by checking your weather and transport updates with a dedicated app, and catching the news a bit later on.
There’s no denying life is hard right now, but we can make it easier on ourselves with a little self-care.
If you’re curious about how coaching can help, you can schedule a free 30min call with me or check out my coaching space.