Good Morning Ritual

Join me for a brief morning ritual that will start your day off right by reconnecting with your body and breath, practicing gratitude and self-compassion, setting a gentle intention, and connecting to each other and the intelligence all around us.

Transcript

So welcome, This is a morning ritual that I do live every Monday morning here on Inside Timer. And I want to share this with you, Because when I started to do this ritual, It really quite dramatically changed my life. It sounds really like dramatic, But it is. I started this ritual at a time when I was burnt out in a corporate role and I felt very deeply. Uninspired and had a hard time literally even getting out of bed. And participate in my life in any shape or form. And so. I put together this ritual based on things that I knew I wanted to invite more of into my life. And ended it a bit more woo-woo than I was used to, Really asking the universe for guidance. And it was fascinating how the universe responded. And that's what I want to share with you as well. But I don't want to make this about me. I want this to be a ritual for you that you can adapt, You can adopt. Make it your own, See what pieces you like. My hope is that it too could. Set your day off differently, Help you recalibrate. And that's why I also do it on Monday mornings live, Because I think it sets the tone for the day, For the week. But this is intended for you to be able to do on your own at any time as well. And so. It is always the same in terms of the sequence of things. Obviously, It's not scripted, So it's always a little bit different, And I do comment a bit on what's going on in the world or who's here with me live. The idea is that it is always the same. So that's what makes it a ritual because it, Your brain and body will start to recognize the repetitiveness of it. And the repetition will help just to immediately ground yourself and like, Oh, This is what we're doing here. This is why we're here. And we can get right back into it. So that's the goal here today. And. . . I do have a recorded version, An audio version of this as well. It's a bit shorter though. So the goal very much with that is that you can fit it in no matter what. So you can fit it in even if you just have less than 10 minutes, Even if you just do it while you're getting ready, That's better than not doing it. Whereas this one, My goal is to have it a little bit longer so it can be a bit more supportive when you have a bit more time, But also you feel like you need a bit more than just a quick walkthrough and really get some time to think about the aspects and the elements of it. So we always start by just settling down and if you are. In bed still, I do recommend that you sit up because if you tend to fall asleep. When you meditate, Especially early in the morning, I do too sometimes, So it helps to just be seated and signal to your body that we're here to awaken to our lives and to the moment rather than be asleep or fall asleep. It is potentially relaxing, So relaxation might happen, So that's okay. But it is not actually the goal. The goal really is to awaken to the moment, To yourself, To the present moment, And to how you're feeling. So to start, I invite you to sit up. And just ground yourself here. See if you can feel into your body how you're doing this morning. I like to have my hands on my knees with my palms facing down. And just kind of rub my knees even just for a moment, Just to feel into my body, Feel the warmth that it generates. And the hands, Palms facing down. Are a grounding gesture. So from the yoga traditions or even just You might have heard this before, That this is like a way to ground yourself, And that's what we want to do. We want to arrive in this moment. Arrive in your body, Arrive just in your own presence here. So what we do first is a mini body scan and typically body scans we do feet up. But I like to do this top down because it is so short. Because we're starting with. The face and the head and the shoulders, Which is usually where we hold most of our attention. So I invite you to just kind of like as if it was a medical scanner. Scan your body down top to bottom and just see what comes up for you. Notice any tension. Maybe between our eyebrows, Maybe in our cheeks. The jaw holds a lot of tension. The neck, The shoulders. And if you come across tension, Just see if you can soften it a little bit without. Judging yourself without too much effort to see if you can let go a bit, Soften. And scan down your chest. Notice if your breath can flow freely. And into your belly. And notice. How you see that, Notice your. Hips, Notice your weight against the surface, Gravity's effect here on you. Feel into your legs. And all the way down to your feet. To see how you're doing today, How you're feeling this morning. Awaken to your own. Body your own. Physical manifestation here. And have some appreciation for all that your body does for you. Carrots. That takes you through. The world. At any time, You're welcome to close your eyes. That feels safe for you. It can help us kind of go inward, But. For some people, We can actually hijack them if they close their eyes. So just see what feels right. If that's you, Just see if you can lower your gaze. So that we can turn off the. Very active sense of sight a little bit. From here, We're going to move into an equal breathing pattern of breathing in and out for a count of six. So I'll guide you through that a few times. And then you can go at your own pace. I invite you when we breathe out, So do it through the nose if possible. You can breathe out through the mouth if that feels better. Better for you and as we breathe out and invite you to engage your core and your pelvic floor. So this is like a Kegel if you know what that is. And essentially just helps us activate our core and get some heat going, But also just that's a lot of strength, A lot of fire here. So breathe in for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and out and engage. One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, And again in. One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Out. 1-2-3-4-5-6 in 2-3-4-5-6 And out and engage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Just keep going a few more times at your own pace. You can count out, That can help sometimes if you're counting to one. See with it, You can slow it down a bit if you like. One more round. And after your next exhale, Just take a deep breath. Return to your regular breathing pattern, Just your regular breath without any effort. And see how that feels in your body. Notice if anything came up. And know that if breathwork is something that you're new to. It can actually be quite stimulating and even aggravating. So if that's the case for you, Just know that that's normal. It doesn't mean you're doing it wrong or that it's not for you, It's just. . . Something new that your body's not used to. So just. . . Be compassionate with yourself. Be gentle with yourself. Know that it will come with time. And perhaps next time you do it, You can just do a breathing pattern of four, Four instead. Or even just exhale longer so every time we exhale like extend our exhale so if you like we're breathing in for four and I exhale for six for example we always that's an activation of the parasympathetic nervous system the vagus nerve as well so that's activates your rest and digest mode that can help you shift out of stress mode. From here, Bring your left hand onto your heart and your right hand on the top of your belly. This is where your stomach is and anatomically, This is your solar plexus as well, Inside of that philosophy. So these really are these two energy centers we have. In our bodies, And that's really very intentional that we're connecting with those two, Sort of closed circuit, If you will, Of these two. And the first thing we're going to do in this connected. Posture. Is connect with gratitude. So I invite you to think of someone that you are grateful for. Bring their picture to mind. And then say silently or even out loud, Thank you to this person and what they bring to you and to the world. Just note it what it feels like to. Say thank you. See what comes out. And then I'd like you to think of something that you are grateful for. This can be a physical thing, It can be a concept. Can be a quote, Something you read, To something more intangible. And again, Say thank you for what it brings to you and to the world. And finally, I invite you to express gratitude for a wish as if it had already come true. And say it in a positive tense, So truly as if it has already been said. As if it was already true, It had already come true. And once again, Say thank you for what it does to you and gives to you and to the world. And let you think of something. Whatever comes to mind first is probably. . . Just right. And see how it feels in your body too. Express gratitude. This is not a case of toxic positivity. It is cultivating. Some positive energy from the good in our lives, Because there is always so much good in the world. It's also recognizing that we as humans tend to have a negativity bias. We tend to focus on. What's not good in our lives and that has served us well. We wouldn't be probably have survived for this long if that wasn't the case. But it tends to. Ruin our day-to-day if we always just focus on the negatives to see if you can cultivate some positive energy from gratitude, Not to accept it. Something that isn't working, But to actually cultivate the positive energy for you to move forward. However that might look. And now keeping your hands on these energy centers, We're going to be moving into metta practice. This is a loving kindness. Compassion cultivating practice. So I invite you to just repeat after me. May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I live with ease. May I be at peace. See if you're feeling anything after. Expressing these wishes for yourself. One person once said to me that this is the nicest thing they've ever said to themselves. And that was both beautiful and sad. Now think of someone you love. It can be two people. If you have two children, You don't need to pick your favorites. And. . . Pick someone that it's easy for you to feel love for. Not someone you feel like you should love, But someone you find it very easy to love. Feel love for perhaps the same person that you express gratitude for, Someone different. And repeat again, May they be happy. May they be healthy. May they live with ease. May they be at peace. See how that feels again in your body. Perhaps there's some warmth spreading. And now think of someone you feel fairly neutral about. So this could be. Someone you recently met, Someone you just know from passing. Perhaps someone who provides a service to you. Maybe your mailman or your bus driver or your barista. Bring them to mind and express those wishes to them as well. May they be happy. May they be healthy. May they live with ease. May they be at peace. See how that feels. Notice if you find that more challenging. And finally, Bring someone to mind that you feel slightly negative towards. So I usually suggest not to pick someone. Who was causing you or in general active harm. Simply because that can bring up very strong feelings that can be better suited for a one-on-one session with someone. Or if you're in the right space, Absolutely you do that, But know that it can bring up really strong feelings. I wouldn't want you to do that and then leave you alone with it. But bring someone to mind who's irritated you recently, Maybe someone who's challenged you. And we will repeat this one more time. May they be happy. May they be healthy. May they live with ease. May they be at peace. Just notice if something comes up for you. Notice if your body tensed in some way. Notice if your heart rate increased. And all that can be normal. And understandable and it's untypical of us. To well-wish someone. That doesn't maybe well wish us. And it is important to know this is not about excusing bad behavior. It is simply about. Building our own capacity for compassion. It is knowing that. We don't know what most people go through. But we do know that hurt people hurt people. And so we're trying to find the common humanity in all of us. And who knows, With enough well-wishes towards someone, Maybe they will arrive there. And transform. Now bring your hands into a gentle prayer position in front of your chest. We're going to be setting an intention here. So that word sometimes trips people up because they don't know what it means or they may associate it with something, But it's really just a word. What I mean by setting an intention is, What do you want to invite more of? What is something you want to feel? What is something you want to cultivating your life and that's the word or phrase that comes to you based on this is just right. Give you a moment to think of that. What do you want to invite more of? How do you want to feel? Whatever word or phrase. Comes to you, Know that that is. The right thing for you today. Now bring your hands back onto your knees. This time, Have your palms facing up. So this is a gesture of receiving, And this is what we want to do. We are opening ourselves up here. And I like to call upon the universe here. This is, Again, My practice. If you. . . That word doesn't resonate for you or if you believe in a different higher power and you'd like to substitute that with a specific word. DAT, You are welcome to do that. You can also just leave it out or something like. Intuition, Love. Wisdom, Mother nature, The Tao. Ultimately, I believe all of that is the same. Source that we're tapping into, Whatever name we have, Again, Those are just words. They're always limited by the human experience and what we're tapping into here is bigger than humans. So I invite you to repeat after me one more time. Universe, I am here. I am open and ready to receive. I trust that what is meant for me will come to me. Thank you for your guidance today and every day. If you like, You can bring your hands to your heart to close the practice. And trust that you have received more of yourself today. You have set something in motion. The work is done. If you had your eyes closed, You're welcome to open them again. Maybe just feel into yourself for a moment. See if you feel differently than when you arrived here. Notice if there's any shift. And it doesn't necessarily have to be positive. I'm noticing that I'm a bit uncomfortable sitting up straight today. I've tweaked my back a little bit, Just notice that. And allow it to be. It just is. And as you move through your day and through your week. Know that you can come back to this ritual at any time. Trust that it has. Served you. And you can come back to the intention that you have created here. And the energy you're harnessing from it at any time. I do this live every Monday morning, So if you'd like to join me another time, I'd love to see you there. And I also have a Wednesday session, Which is slightly different. It's based on a different course that I have here on InsideTimer called Leading with Presence. So it's more around a bit more general topic of that. So there's always different. Sub topics based on that. So I'd love for you to join me in one of those live one time. And I hope you enjoyed today and I look forward to seeing you again another time. Bye for now.