3 Ways To Practice Self-Care EVERY Morning Before Starting The Day

As I've said multiple times, I'm not naturally a morning person. Waking up at 4AM every day is a work in progress that I can confidently say has changed my life for the better. One of the best things I've implemented in my Morning Routine is the practice of self-care, first thing in the morning. Without self-care, your quality of work quickly diminishes and productivity flies right out the window.

I learned this the hard way at the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. After the wild pump of adrenalin wore off, I found myself burnt out and uninspired for a full year. It was extremely frustrating to feel unending pressure to create content I wasn't proud of - and it showed as the quality of my work lacked. What began as a profitable passion project soon turned into an overwhelming black hole sucking all of the energy out of me - so much energy that I became too exhausted to even do simple tasks like get out of bed, cook healthy meals, exercise, visit friends, and nurture my mental health. When I wasn't overworking myself, I was literally sleeping; and when I struggled to sleep for days, I was creating horrible content. It was an unhealthy cycle I knew I had to break.

Self-care is so important because it creates the mindset that YOU are the most important part of your life. When you begin to put yourself first, every other aspect of your life - your career, your relationships, your finances, your health, etc. - flourish as well.

3 Ways To Practice Self-Care EVERY Morning Before Starting Your Day

In my search for a lifestyle that promotes self-care, I adapted three overarching tasks into my morning routine that helped put Me first:

• Do Something For The Mind
• Do Something For The Body
• Do Something For The Soul

The moment I wake up in the morning, this is my To-Do List. I don't let myself answer e-mails, write blog posts, design social media content, or answer comments until these three things were done. When you jump right into work first thing in the morning after you wake up, you are unintentionally telling yourself that WORK is more important than your wellbeing - and I don't want to be that kind of person. Having a strong worth ethic is so important and is the backbone to success - BUT putting your work life over your wellbeing is not worth potential illnesses or burnout.

Do Something For The Mind
I love starting my morning immediately by doing something for my mind. We use our mind all day long and it's constantly running - but very few of us take time to warm it up or exercise the brain. This is an amazing way to get the blood flowing while helping you wake up. It also helps us exercise our memory, focus, information processing, comprehension, etc.

• Brain Training Apps
• Puzzles
• Cross Words
• Word Search
• Listen to an Inspirational Podcast
• Read a Book
• Learn A New Skill
• Practice A New Hobby

Do Something For The Body

This, especially, has become a favorite of mine. There is just something about getting my blood pumping and my body moving that makes my day 10x better! Before I started exercising in the morning, I found that I always had excess energy bottled up inside, which usually translated into anxiety or stress because my body wasn't sure what to do with all of that excess energy firing up within me. Now that I started exercising and eating healthier, my sleep is better regulated, my body feels stronger, and I feel a lot less stressed out.

• Eat a wholesome breakfast
• 30-minute outdoor walk
• Early morning yoga class
• Relax in the sauna
• Weight train at the gym
• 10-minute stretches in your living room
• Swim some laps at the pool
• Drink a full glass of water

Do Something For The Soul

I think this is something that many people overlook. When we talk about wellness, most people instinctively think about eating healthy and exercise - but not a lot of people talk about soul-wellness. We live in a culture that continuously pushes us to work harder and harder, then call us "weak" for needing time-off to regenerate. I like to refer to the soul as a watering can - It begins filled up but as we water jobs we don't enjoy, relationships that are toxic, and overwhelming situations that stress us out, our water quickly runs dry. Suddenly, we no longer have any water left for everything we do love and want to see grow. All of the relationships that we hold dear, passion projects we poured our hearts into and time spent practicing a positive mindset are just left to wilt. But when we make time to refill our watering can every morning and water the things most important to us first, we can finally dry out all of the negative things that no longer serve us and have more water for all of the things that light us up inside. 

• Reflect on things you're grateful for
• Brain dump in a journal (Morning Pages)
• Enjoy a rush-free coffee with your spouse/partner/best friend
• Spend some time cuddling on the floor with your dog
• Practice Guided Meditation
• Create an artsy masterpiece
• Work on a passion project
• Spent some time in nature
• Do anything else that lights you up inside!

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The idea is to take care of the three main pillars of your life - mind, body, and soul. Some days I choose to do one for each section; some days I implement multiple tasks from each pillar; as I mix and match them.

I think its also important to share that these tasks don't have to take a whole lot of time. To many people, time is limited - I get it. But doing something as simple as waking up 30 minutes earlier to dedicate 10 minutes to each practice could be life-changing!

Most importantly, do what feels the most fulfilling and fits your lifestyle best!