My Morning Routine 🌅
Hello Friends! 👋Â
I have been thinking lately about how important my morning routine is. It truly sets the tone for my day and makes me feel as though I have already accomplished things even before I start my work day. Another benefit of a morning routine or just habits in general, is that you can piggyback on those habits when you are trying to adopt a NEW habit. For example, let’s say you’d like to start a 5-minute meditation every day. You can attach that meditation to an existing habit, like making your bed. Â
Here’s how I start my day:
I am an early riser by nature.  I wish I could sleep in on the weekends or on vacation, but I am hard-wired to wake early and that’s ok. I generally get out of bed around 6:00 am. One of my goals is to figure out a system where I do not look at my phone first thing in the morning. It is ideal to look at sunlight before screens, but I have to turn off my house alarm system via my phone and because I have all my kids out of the house, I always check to see if I have any texts from them. But I no longer scroll email or Instagram etc. Baby steps.
I use the bathroom and then wash up and scrape my tongue. I have been tongue-scraping for decades and I use this one. Tongue scraping is an ayurvedic practice that is said to remove the build-up of bacteria on the tongue and may help with digestion, enhancing the flavor of food, and improving fresh breath. Like most of ayurveda, there is no science to back this up LOL, but I love doing it! I might add, I always have an excellent report at the dentist and very good digestion! You can read more here, if you’re interested.
I get dressed in exercise clothes and take Luna downstairs with me. Hubs and I have a deal that whoever gets out of bed last makes the bed. Suffice it to say, he makes the bed almost every day. HA!
I take my trusty 20 ounce stainless Healthy Human travel tumblerand fill it with warm/hot water and a squeeze of lemon. The lemon does nothing more than make it taste a little better, but it is very important to hydrate first thing in the morning and our digestive system much prefers warm to hot. I sip my hot water while I take Luna for a walk. Getting outdoor sunlight first thing in the morning without sunglasses (even if it’s a cloudy day) is one of the most important things you can do for your physical and mental health! Getting actual sunlight in your eyes, for 2-10 minutes triggers the first dopamine release of the day, helps set our circadian clock, promotes release of cortisol which helps promote wakefulness and focus, and can help promote better sleep at night.
While I’m on my walk, I set a few intentions for the day and take some time to think about what I am grateful for.
I exercise on an empty stomach. This is usually a 60-90 minute walk at the beach, a 45-minute yoga session at home (from YouTube), doing a few 7-minute workouts + a video or two from Pamela Reif’s YouTube channel. If I play pickleball, I might have a small bite to eat like an Elemental Superfood Bar. I am obsessed with their new Double Chocolate Bar with Reishi. Â
Time to shower. I usually dry brush my skin and take a quick shower. I do not wash my hair everyday. My beauty routine is very simple. I wash my face with Mychelle Fruit Enzyme Cleanser which I discovered on Thrive Market. I use Beauty Counter Shampoo and Conditioner. And I use Beauty Counter body wash. Desiree Brown is my BC consultant if you want to order anything.
I get dressed for the day and only put on makeup if I have a meeting or I’m shooting videos. I don’t usually wear makeup. My makeup is pretty simple:
My goal is to be in the kitchen no later than 9:00 am to start my day, as if I am in an office. I need to have some discipline working from home, otherwise the day can get away from me! I make my matcha latte with Encha Matcha and homemade almond milk (which I make with JOI almond base) and have breakfast. I guess I do a form of Intermittent Fasting, which I think is more of a tightened feeding window. I like to finish eating no later than 7:00 pm the night before and I generally don’t eat until 9:00 am. But I don’t skip breakfast. It is healthy to give our digestive system a break and it is good for keeping blood sugar stable. Breakfast is simple, usually Greek yogurt and berries, a slice of super grainy bread toasted with almond butter or lox, a bowl of soup from last night’s dinner, some oatmeal fortified with flaxmeal, hemp seeds, cauliflower rice, nut butter and berries. I take a few supplements, but I don’t want to discuss supplements because what I need is not what you need. While I have my matcha, I do Wordle, a word puzzle published in the New York Times. I don’t care how many tries it takes me to get the word, I just want the brain exercise.
Time to start my day!​​​​​​​
xx, Pamela