Morning and Evening Routines

I absolutely love taking a little bit of time for myself every day. It's refreshing, and allows me to recharge and then I'm also able to give more to those I care about and work with. Having a nice morning routine, and a nice evening or bedtime routine allows me to begin and end each day on a positive, relaxing note. Here are a few things that I like to do...

In the Morning.....

I set my alarm for 6am.....no one else is awake yet, and I usually get 30-60 minutes all to myself. During this time, I go into the kitchen and drink a big glass of water. I refill my glass of water, bring it into the living room, light my meditation candle and set the timer on my phone so that I get a solid 15-30 minutes of meditating. At this point I'm already feeling pretty awesome. I get up and go back into the kitchen and make myself a nice hot cup of organic Chai tea and then open my laptop and read some positive and uplifting emails that I get in my inbox everyday. My favorite is The Daily Love by Mastin Kipp. I highly, highly recommend it. Mastin blogs everyday (7 days a week!) about an interesting and relevant topic regarding self growth, and he also features 3 other blogs by other amazing people within his blog. It's truly uplifting and it always speaks to me....about this time my family is starting to wake up, so my morning routine is all over, but I'm ready to take care of everyone because I've taken this time for myself. (This is also a great time to practice a little yoga, play Just Dance on your Wii or go for a walk and breathe in some fresh morning air and watch the sun rise).

In the Evening....














I think it's incredibly important to get a good amount of sleep every night. 7-9 hours is recommended for adults, and I say, find what works best for you. Now, in order to set yourself up for a good night's rest, you need to do a few things beforehand. Like, turn off your TV, computer and phone.....I know, I know, it's really hard. A lot of people like to watch TV right before going to sleep and myself, I like to play with my  phone...I'm completely addicted to Draw Something and StumbleUpon. I also downloaded an app that plays relaxing music and shows an image of a fire burning, or a beach with waves crashing in, or I could choose from many other soothing scenes. However, the big problem with all of these things: the TV, computer, and phone is that the light that they emit prevents you from producing those happy sleep hormones and you will not fall asleep and stay asleep like your body needs you to. So, unplug everything an hour before you want to go to sleep. And instead of filling that time with staying connected to the virtual world that we're all so plugged in to during the day, meditate, take a warm bath or shower, read a nice, easy to read book, snuggle with your partner, have a hot cup of sleepytime tea and gaze at the stars out of your bedroom window, or, another one of my favorite me-time activities-write in your journal. Maybe a gratitude list-jot down some things that made your day super awesome....even if you had a rough day, you can write about that. Cleanse your mind from the things that may keep you awake.

Leave a comment below about what you do to help yourself in the morning or evening....I love getting new ideas....and you just may help someone else figure out what will work for them....have a great week!!!