Set Up Your Morning Routine

The path is sometimes clear and sometimes not.

This week has been up and down. And this year has certainly been full of uncertainty, and I know you are most likely feeling it too.

I wake up every morning and am appreciative for my health, for without that I could not do anything. Overall, your health is your biggest asset and it is essential to give yourself a break, a time out, a rest day and daily habits that allow you to reboot, recharge and restore. And if you do feel like you are "on fire" and in a flow state now, go with it and allow your good habits to take form without effort.

Wherever you are on your journey, here are a few of habits that keep me going, clear and ready for the day:

1. Before your feet hit the ground in the morning, list 3 things you appreciate in your life. 

2. Make your bed. Feels good and you already immediately did something productive. 

3. Brush your teeth as soon as you wake up, and use a tongue scraper. I assure you this simple tip will change your life. Studies suggest that tongue scraping can reduce bacteria and bad breath even more than brushing. TIP: Brush your teeth, floss and rinse like you normally would, and then stick your tongue out and use light pressure to run the scraper across the entire surface of your tongue once or twice. You may start at the back of the tongue and scraping toward the front. I repeat 5 times, and rinse the scraper in between. I use a tongue scraper but you can use the end of your toothbrush or even the dull edge of a fork. 

4. Enjoy a mini yoga session and meditation. Stretch it out, do a few sun salutations to get the blood moving and a short 5-10 meditation. 

5. Last but certainly not least, have a delicious cup of coffee (or tea, for my London folk), cozy up, get into the day right. Or is that just me?  I do feel great with a cup in the a.m. and then I choose decaf for my second cup. I highly recommend if you "do" coffee to remember it has a half-life of 6 hours, so have your last cup before 12 pm so you can allow your body to wind down at night and get a good night's sleep.

Hope you can use these tips and feel ready to tackle whatever comes! At least you'll be productive, clean, warmed up and caffeinated for you day.