Creating a spiritual morning routine has been life-changing for me! I will be honest, it wasn’t an easy habit to put in place, and often it is not the easiest habit to keep. But, it will add so much value to your life, and it will help you achieve a level of contentment that you have never known.
In this article, I will be providing some easy-to-follow steps to the perfect spiritual morning routine. And good news, you don’t need an hour to two to make it worthwhile.
If you want to get started right away, you can click here to get my FREE quick guide and morning journaling prompts to help you.
I will also be sharing some expert advice on why early morning routines help to make you a more productive and happier person, along with telling you a bit of my back story on how and why I went from a night-owl to never missing my daily morning routine.
I think this quote explains it best.
“The way you start your day determines how well you live your day.”
Robin Sharma
This has been true in my life. I know if you are looking to bring more contentment, productivity, joy, and wellness to your everyday life, starting a spiritual morning routine can help you do that.
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Creating a Morning Ritual When You Are Not a Morning Person
I totally get this, I have never been a morning person! I was the girl that snuck into class or work five minutes late nearly every single day of my life. I hated mornings, I hated waking-up, and I 100% considered myself a night-owl.
Having a morning routine that included a spiritual routine was never an option for me because I struggled just to make coffee and brush my teeth on time.
Putting Yourself First
At some point, I realized that I was lacking something in my life. I had spiritual practices, but I was continuously showing up to life each day already running on empty.
Without an early morning routine for myself, I was starting each day for everyone else. I was rushing to get out the door for work, sitting in traffic, then sitting at a desk for 9 hours before I did anything that resembled “me time” or felt like it filled up my contentment cup.
It was the same scenario when my husband and I began having children. My focus went not to my job but to caring for babies from the second I got up to the moment I went to bed.
Finding Daily Morning Spirituality
I started to ask myself these questions:
- Where was the time for connection to my higher self?
- Where was the connection to God that I could carry with me throughout the day?
- Where was the inspiration to do my work whether at a desk or in my home in a way that made me feel fulfilled in my role?
The truth was it was seriously lacking. I realized that without a morning spiritual routine, I would not be able to find the joy and contentment in my life’s work that I desperately wanted because I was on empty all day long.
I made the hard decision to MAKE myself wake up early and fill up my cup before I did anything else. This was a game-changer for me.
I always talk about starting an early morning routine with all my wellness counseling clients. It is simpler to do than you think!
So let’s review how to go about it.
Steps to the Perfect Morning Spiritual Routine
Before starting a daily spirituality routine, it is important to make sure you are setup for success. Below I am sharing the steps you need to take to prepare yourself for peaceful morning routines.
Step 1 – Prepare for the Morning the Night Before
Preparing for your early morning routine is simple and it can make or break your morning time. There are a few ways that I like to prepare for the morning before going to bed, so I wake-up ready for my morning ritual.
Step 2 – Get that Coffee Pot Ready on a Timer
There is absolutely nothing I love more than walking down my stairs in the stillness of the morning while it is still dark outside and smelling my coffee waiting for me. It is such a simple pleasure but it feels so good and makes me wake-up and greet the day!
It also saves me time. Time is precious in the morning. Taking ten minutes to make and brew coffee wastes some of your precious time. In a world where we may only get 10 minutes to ourselves, this can be huge.
Check out coffee makers with timers and automatic starts here!
Step 3 – Set Your Alarm for the Same Time Everyday
Even if you go in later to work on some days, get your body on a routine. As much as an extra 30 minutes in bed seems like it is worthwhile, our bodies respond really well to routines.
I have found in my own practice that after just a few weeks of waking up at the same time every day, I stopped even needing the alarm. My body would wake-up at 5:20 am ready to go – ten minutes before my alarm went off.
It is a glorious feeling to allow your body to wake up on its own. I NEVER in a million years thought I’d get to that point in my life, and now I do. There is hope.
Step 4 – Stop Opening Social Media Apps First Thing in the Morning
I want you to just pay attention to how often and easily you pick-up your phone first thing in the morning. We are so stuck in a routine to see either the notifications on social media apps or those little numbers on our email app. We feel like we must check them immediately.
The truth is this takes you completely away from yourself immediately. We are pulled into the news, the drama, into other people’s lives, or even into work as the first thing in our day.
The purpose of a morning spiritual routine is for connection to your truest self. The place where God lives within you, so that you can live in that space throughout your day.
Be with yourself first. Then go find your friends on social media!
Step 5 – Create your Sacred Place
Pick a spot! That is as simple as can be, but there is something in our brains that triggers when we are faced with our routine places.
If you have a place that is designated as your quiet space, many times your body will automatically respond emotionally and mentally to where you are and prepare you for this time.
You do not have to get fancy or spend money. My sacred place for my morning spiritual routine is sitting on the daybed outside on my patio each morning.
I like to be outside in the early morning, because I feel my most spiritual when I am connected to nature. For you, it may be a certain comfy chair or even just rolling out your yoga mat on the floor each morning.
The idea here is to pick where your spiritual morning routine will go down each day, and then stick with it.
My Spiritual Morning Routine
Next, I am sharing a sample spiritual morning routine with you . Feel free to do this exactly as it is laid out here, or tweak it a bit to fit your lifestyle.
1. Start with Prayer
I start my routine in prayer. You do not have to be religious or recite a certain prayer in order to pray.
But prayer is a simple way of connecting with God or your higher Spiritual Power – who I believe is all the same. This connection is key to make first thing in the morning, so you lead your day in that connection.
If you aren’t used to praying then start with something simple like, “God, I am here to connect with You today. Help me to know You. Help me to feel You. And help me to live in a place of love throughout this day.”
I personally love to use the Our Father prayer. This is a beautiful prayer that hits all the notes of what it means to live in connection with God.
If praying on your own is difficult, find and pick a prayer that speaks to you and recite it every day. You can also try a daily devotional or soul quotes with a short reading and prayer.
2. Meditate for At Least Five Minutes
I know meditation seems scary, but stillness, before we go about our day can be life-changing. When I first started meditating I thought it was a bit “woo-woo” and I didn’t know what to expect while I tried meditating.
As I started meditating more I did find there are four core feelings you can expect to feel during meditation. This can be helpful for new meditators to be aware of as they are learning.
If you need meditation tips and guidance for starting a meditation practice, I highly recommend starting with my introductory Release & Let Go class. You will get easy access to videos to help with breathing and meditation, plus a calming Spotify playlist and a list of yoga postures for relieving stress and anxiety.
You can also try to just sit still for five minutes with a timer set. Sitting still on your own can be super hard, even for just five minutes, but I promise you will get the hang of it.
3. Journal, Read or Move Your Body If There is Time
If you have time, this is the next step. There is a lot of scientific studies that have proven that moving your body in the morning is most beneficial. I say, if you don’t have enough time that is okay, and I would add these things later in my day.
If you need one, here’s my favorite journal to use in conjunction with meditation. Now as far as movement goes if you need help with that, then my bundle of online Yoga Workouts, Postures, & Breathing is perfect.
It’s a great jumpstart for the practice of yoga, journaling, and self-reflection. I walk you through how to combine these three practices in less than 30 minutes a day, so you can begin to create your own movement program and add it to your routine.
4. Write Your To Do’s – Including Acts of Self-Care
Make your list for the day so you get everything out of your head and put it into motion. I have noticed lists do wonders for me, especially as a person with diagnosed ADD and anxiety. And these to do list notepads are super helpful for me too.
I used to think I could keep lists in my head, but then I would jump around and forget, then remember again. It made me feel overwhelmed.
I also never used to put my self-care or self-love to-dos at the forefront of my list, but these are JUST as important!
Another way that making a list helps us is that our writing has emotions locked into them. When you write out all your things-to-do, you can look it over and notice how you feel about the things on your list. Ask yourself:
- Is there anything on there that brings you dread and anxiety?
- Is there anything you do often that you can streamline?
- Do you have balance on the list of things that bring you joy with things that are necessary for living?
- Is there anything on the list that you honestly don’t need to do and can pass along to someone else?
5. Make Yourself Breakfast and Sit Down to Eat
EAT! This is so important.
The hormone cortisol is highest in the morning. In order to help get things in check we want to eat a well-rounded morning meal with protein and healthy fats.
If you are looking for a little more guidance for meals then you are in luck. Check out my FREE 3-day hormonal balance diet plan with links to recipes to jumpstart healthy eating.
6. Read Your Mission Statement in the Mirror to Yourself
Creating a mission statement for myself is something I am so happy I did. I tell my clients to try just starting with some “I am” statements. Paste these on your bathroom mirror and read them to yourself every day as a reminder of who you are authentically.
What the experts say about daily spiritual morning routines and daily schedules
There is one thing that so many of my favorite spiritual, wellness, and higher-living experts all have in common, they all practice a morning routine that they keep at the forefront of their lives.
Their methods are sometimes different than mine. Some of them are a bit longer and more extreme, but the point is they mindfully start their days and put their health, mind, body, emotions, and spirit first.
Once I noticed that many of the people I looked up to for guidance and inspiration in my own life were following a morning spiritual routine, I decided that it was something worthwhile to add to my life – even if it was really hard to get started.
It’s now time to use the tools and information above to get started creating a spiritual morning routine for yourself. But before you go, be sure to grab your FREE morning routine checklist and journaling prompts! Just fill out the form below.
