"Me Time" Mornings

How you start your day can project how you will manage your day. I’m not saying that how you start your day will change how it will unfold. Of course, not everything is under our control. But when we consistently choose to spend time alone in the mornings, we can practice how to better respond to those situations that are out of our control. 

Spending time alone with a practice that connects you to your internal landscape will strengthen your emotional resilience. And here are three things that you can do to build that emotional strength. 

Breathing exercises: if you are new to these, start with a four-part breath. Inhale for a count of four, hold that breath for a count of four, exhale for a count of four, and hold the empty breath for a count of four. That’s one round. You can plan to do a few rounds or set a one minute timer. This intentional breathing helps you to wrangle in your thoughts and eventually you may begin to notice when your thoughts are taking over again, rather than you being in control of them. 

Mantra: this can be a word or a phrase that helps you to, again, notice how often your thoughts take control over you. I like to use laṃ (pronounced lum) which is the seed syllable for the root cakra as it feels really grounding for me. You can chant your mantra out loud but the practice of silently repeating it will be a better tool to assist in harnessing your mind as you can easily get into a rhythm of chanting yet still be thinking of a million other things.  

Gratitude: get yourself a journal that you can write in every morning and list three things that you are thankful for at that moment. Being in a state of gratitude is an invitation for more of that energy to enter your life. When we constantly dwell on what we don’t like about our situation, we continue to live in that vibration and invite more of that which we are focusing on into our lives. 

When practicing yoga, it is paramount to have a sādhanā (a daily spiritual practice). These methods listed above can be a part of your morning ritual and can assist you in building your emotional resilience. The better relationship we have with our internal landscapes, the better we can stay in control of our emotions when things hit the fan. 

Stephanie