How To Create The Perfect Morning Routine (That You Can Stick To)

Published Jan 14, 2025, 8:00 AM

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

In this week’s episode of A Really Good Cry, we're getting into the magic of morning routines. I'm excited to share with you how these early rituals can activate your mind, body, and spirit, and truly transform your entire day. I’m going to share tips and a few secrets on how to craft a morning that feels both empowering and nurturing. 

Whether you’re a morning person or just trying to sneak in a few peaceful moments before your day kicks off, this episode has something special for you!

 

What Was Discussed:

  • 00:00 Intro

  • 02:26 What is a routine?

  • 05:21 Why an early morning routine feels empowering 

  • 07:34 Start waking up gently

  • 09:25 Do this in the morning before you touch your phone

  • 10:29 Morning practices to activate your mind, body, and spirit

  • 20:36 My morning routine

 

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That mindset of starting the day with the things that you choose to do over the things you have to do, makes you feel like you can change your mood for the entire day and the way you see and experience the day. It is the sacred time and space that you create just for you. I'm Radi Wkah and on my podcast A Really Good Cry, we embrace the messy and the beautiful, providing a space for raw, unfiltered conversations that celebrate vulnerability and allow you to tune in to learn, connect and find comfort together. Hey everyone, and welcome back to this week's episode of A Really Good Cry. Today, I actually wanted to discuss something that is very dear to me. I wanted to discuss morning routines. Now. I know, sometimes when you end up seeing people's morning routines online that are so esthetic, so well put together, and so cutesy, it can actually feel really daunting and sometimes quite unattainable, especially if you're someone who's never managed to master your own way routine before. But something you really need to know before even starting this podcast is that a morning routine is such a personal thing you honestly cannot just copy someone else's or mimic theirs, because you need to do what actually feels good for you and nourishes you, and that honestly may be very different to your friend or the thirty second version you saw of someone else's online. I really wanted to call this podcast because I have found so much joy and power in having my morning routine over the past ten years. It has done so much more for me than just change my mornings, and I really want that for you. So I want to talk about how we can create your morning routine, or how you can create your morning routine, and then I'll share mine at the end, just to give you an idea of what it can look like. It is not the most ideal morning routine. It is not the perfect morning routine, but it is a routine that I really enjoy at the moment. And honestly, it chops and changes, you know, like it will change based on what phase of life you're in. And I'm sure if and when I have children, my morning routine will definitely change. I always hear that from parents, so like, you wait till you have kids and then tell us what your morning routine is. So I'm sure that whether it's a different time of life in work, or things that you have going on in your life. Of course, your morning routine will change. Mine has changed a lot over the past ten years, but it's kind of fun changing that part of you too. It changes as you change. So a routine is actually just a sequence of actions that you do repeatedly. So for example, brushing your teeth every single night, getting ready for bed, that's a routine. Waking up at six am or exercising every single morning is also a routine. Listening to a podcast on your way to work is a routine. Even eating chips every single night while you watch your favorite Netflix show is also a routine. So they're all just actions that happen again and again. It's a rhythm in your daily life. But that does not make them all good routines. They're simple routines because you are doing them regularly. There's a really great quote by Aristotle that says we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not to act but a habit. I always find the words habits and rituals are often used interchangeably, but there is actually a difference between them. Habits are things that you do automatically, like checking your email first thing in the morning, or putting your keys in a specific spot when you get home. And rituals are like routines with one key difference your attitude behind the actions. So, for example, taking a walk every day at lunch could be considered a routine if you think of it as something you need to do for your productivity, or it could be a ritual if you think of it as a way to break out of your mundane and enjoy nature. Most routines could be turned into rituals just by a change of perspective. So for example, when you have to walk to work every single day, it could just be a habit because it's something that you do. You know, you have to get from a to be and it's just part and parcel of your daily thing that you do. Or it could be a routine or a ritual when you start thinking, this is actually great for my health. It's a way that I'm going to do something for my body. It's a way that I'm going to be out in nature and experience nature around me. It's a way that I'm going to clear my mind. And so you can take something simple that's been part of your life every single day, and you can turn it from something that feels like a habit into something that feels like a ritual or a routine. And I've actually had lots of things in my life like that, you know, Like I think about when I was growing up, and I had a lot of things that I would do out of a habit because my mum did them. So even spiritual practices. Okay, in the morning, go and light a candle, so I'd like to candle and I wonn't really know why I was doing it, but I would do it because every single day, that's just what we did in the morning. Now, that became a habit for me, and it was something that I did. But when I figured out and I understood the reasons behind it and why I was doing it and what the connection to was it, it became a ritual and a routine. It became something I wanted to participate in, that I was present in, that I wanted to appreciate and participate in. And so there's a slight difference between them, and I think that change of perspective is what changes a habit into a routine or a ritual. So the way I started creating my morning routine was deciding what I wanted to do for my mind, for my body, and for my heart or spirit in the morning, so I would break it down into those three areas, and honestly, tackling all those areas first thing in the morning brings this overall sense of accomplishment and direction to the day. Like imagine you've done something incredible for your mind, for your body, and for your heart before it even hits nine am, before you even get to work. It is the things that you choose to do before doing the things that you have to do. You wake up with different energy. That mindset of starting the day with the things that you choose to do over the things you have to do makes you feel like you can change your mood for the entire day and the way you see and experience the day. At least that's what I've found since I've been building my routine. That's a big reason why I enjoy having an early morning routine. It is the sacred time and space that you create just for you, whether it's five minutes or two hours. And actually for most of us, it's the only part of our day we feel in control of, and so a lot of our day is dictated by other people, and so when you end up having this morning moment just for you, it makes you feel like you're in control of parts of your day like you aren't in other parts, and so you get this sense of self accomplishment, the sense of I have control of my life, and I choose what brings joy into my life. I have the ability to change my mood in the morning. I have the ability to change my mindset in the morning. And that feels really really good, especially when you're doing it before you start the rest of your day. And by the way, it can be five minutes or it can be two hours. You can start with five minutes and end with two hours in like a year, two years, ten years time. Or you could start with five minutes now and decide that all you want to do is five minutes every single morning for the rest of your life. And that's also okay for your sanity, for your health, and for the benefit of everything that you hold dear in your life. You have a right to consciously reclaim the first few moments of your day for you. So rather than waking up and going straight into habit mode, you're going to turn those first few minutes into conscious participating moments that are just for you. So starting off by waking up more gently. So usually we wake up to these like loud alarms. By the way, I don't know why alarms are just so awful, so loud and so aggressive. They do not need to be that way. Waking up more gently allows you to take advantage of important better brain wave states. Now, thetter brain waves occur when you are first waking up in the morning, when the process of waking up, our brain actually transitions from sleep brain waves called delta waves, to setter waves, which is the in between stages, to beta waves. When we end up getting up, get going, our brain starts focusing, its energized, etc. Etc. Now, theeter brain waves are when the brain is actually most flexible and malleable, and it plays a part in our emotional intelligence, our creativity, and our problem solving. But if you wake up and you go straight to scrolling through emails or checking social media and the news, you actually send your brain straight into those beta brain waves. It's literally like someone waking you up suddenly, you know, when someone's like shaking you, or you hear a loud noise and you end up waking up really surprisingly or suddenly and it makes you feel really angry. Well, the difference is you are doing that to yourself. You're doing that to your own brain when you end up switching straight from your sleep waves, from your delta waves all the way to your beta waves without going through thetter. Essentially you have to go through the process. It's like a step by step thing. You do your your sleeping in your delta, you then have to make it through the ceta and then make it to the beat. It's a sequence that actually helps you feel more awake and prepared for your day and more grounded and focused. You know, sometimes when I've woken up in that urgent way, or my alarm's been too loud and it's been aggressive, it really does make me feel more tired when I've woken up. I don't know whether you've noticed that. So sometimes it's just about making your way through the sequence and so trying to have just a short amount of time. By the way, it doesn't even have to be a long period of time. Having five minutes just before you end up touching your phone five minutes, give yourself those five minutes in the morning. It can be three minutes, it can be thirty seconds. But try and give yourself a moment where your eyes are opening, they're starting to notice your surroundings. You know what, try this, Notice five things in your room, look at five things in your room. Process five things in your room before you end up reaching for your phone. That might be an easier way to do it rather than having to sit there counting. Allow your eyes to focus and notice five things in your room before you actually get to your phone, before your hand makes its way to your side table and grabbing your phone. So that's definitely the first place that I started. I've tried to do this. Then, you know what's really helped me is actually doing a quick prep when I wake up, waking up, opening your eyes and saying thank you so much God for this breath, for this life, for this body, and setting an intention for the day. So that's the first thing that I recommend you try to do. But the next part is, like I said, picking one thing for each area of your mind, body, and spirit. If you're starting from scratch, I'm going to give you some examples or ideas for each area. So when you think about your mind, you can think of things like crossword puzzles, making your bed, reading, breath work, journaling, intention setting, all of these things that start to not activate your mind too intensely, but create a process of thoughtfulness. Like you're becoming mindful and thoughtful in the process of doing a crossword. It's stimulating your mind to be more focused than attentive making your bed. It gives you a sense of accomplishment for your mind. You're like, Okay, I got this one thing done. It looks pretty. Everything's keen in my room. Reading can help to build your imagination. It helps you to feel like you are learning. Learning something early in the morning just makes you feel like your brain is functioning well and that you're absorbing information that you can take through the rest of your day. Breathwork is amazing. Breathwork is actually good for a practice for mind, body, and your spirit, but for your mind. There are different types of breathworks that can do different things for your mind. And so there's a breathwork that can help you with focusing and balancing out your left and right hemisphere of the brain, and that is called anulum villum or alternate nostril breathing. I actually have a YouTube video with all of these breathworks on there. I live on breathworks. Since I have learned breathworks, it takes me through my day, whether it's building energy, whether it's trying to get focused, whether it's relieving anxiety. And so there are different types of breath works that can really help to enhance your focus, attention, and calmness of your mind too. Journaling, getting out all the things that are in your mind, circulating, stagnant, whatever it is that you no longer want in there, writing things out so you can start your day fresh with a new mind, so your mind is able to see the rest of your day through clarity rather than fogginess of what has been in the past. An intention setting if you didn't do that in the morning, writing down the few things that you really want to achieve today, whether it is in mind, whether it is a physical accomplishment, or whether it's just like how you want to feel by the end of the day. I read somewhere and this goes back to what I was saying, having those first few minutes of the day in the morning just to yourself. So there's a thing called three minute mornings. I can't of ely remember where I read it, but I'm going to look it up. Again it says, just try it for the first three minutes of your day. Don't look at your phone. Just lay for three minutes. Lay your eyes, get used to being set, your intentions for the day, say a prayer. You can decide what those three minutes contained, as long as it is device free, and that is so good for your mind. And the last thing is I mentioned alarms. Alarms do not have to sound scary or awful. One thing I highly recommend that was such a game changer for me is the Hatch. Oh my goodness is this is not a promotion for the Hatch, nor have they paid me for this promotion, but I have to share it with you because it is so brilliant. It essentially wakes you up with light or sounds of like oceans or birds singing, you know, really gentle, lovely sounds that allow you to go through those different brain waves in the best way possible. And so you give it like a time period that you want to wake up in, and it will gently start to wake up, you say, when you want to be awake by, and it will start to play music or act as essentially the sun rising, so it gets brighter and brighter in your room with this device, and it can't wakes you up just how you should be. So try to, you know, avoid having your alarm clock going off with a terrible sound and switch out for something that's a little bit gender mix up with your body. Now, there's so many things we can do for our body in the morning. My favorite thing is movement, any kind of movement or mobility to get your body stimulated. We have been lying down, stagnant, in a state of slumber for far too long in the even as we've been sleeping, and so what does our body need. It needs to feel stimulation. We need to like get up, feel energize, gentle movements to start the day, getting us ready and prepped, getting our adrenaline pumping, getting our serotonin levels high. All types of movements do that. Moving our body gets our mind moving too, and so any kind of movement movement has been part of my morning for a very long time now, whether whether it was yoga, whether it's boxing, whether it's running, whether it's weight training. Any kind of movement to get your body just energized is really important, and you can move as slowly or as fast as you want. The next thing is drinking water. Now our body's also been dehydrating, slowly becoming a prune overnight as we've been sleeping, the water that we have drunk is being used up in our body and probably released in the morning when we wake up, and so we really have to replenish water. Now. Water our body is what seventy percent water. Our mind needs hydration to function properly. Our organs need hydration to function properly. And so as much as it is something you hear all the time, like make sure you hydrate, I don't think we really realize just how important water is to every part of our body, how essential it is to make sure that we are not feeling tired, to make sure that our organs are able to function well, to make sure that we are feeling focused, to make sure that we're not craving things that we don't want to be craving water and hydration is a key part of that. So maybe it's just waking up in the morning having a lovely cup of hot water. I have this hot water with some spices in it. Such a great practice. I do that just before my meditation, and it's a ritual that I really enjoy sipit. Calmly. Slowly drinking hot water is probably the only time you are forced to do something slowly, and so it's a really nice way to start your morning on the slower side. The next thing here is breathwork. Like I said, breath work works for mine, body and spirit. Breathwork helps to get oxygen into your body. It can actually be classified as movement depending on the type of breath work you're doing. There's one called cup our baty, which is breath of fire. Oh my gosh, you're so energizing. You feel the oxygen bursting through your body. And then there's also a cup our baty which is this skull shining breath. You're going to have to look these up or check out my YouTube for them. But the breath of fire is amazing. I'm going to show it to you guys now just so you can hear it. Well, not show it, make you hear it, and you can hear just how energizing it actually is just by the sound of it. So it goes a bit like this. Essentially, you just feel the oxygen flowing through your body. It increases the amount of oxygen that you're getting in within that time, and so it's little shallow breaths. It's pretty amazing. I'm feeling very energized right now. And also you sometimes get this tingling in your head because of the amount of oxygen that's coming in at one time. Another thing you could do to reset your circadian rhythm. That's our body's clock that helps with sleep and being awake and being optimized in both states. My little niece is actually in the room with me, and she is being very patient and very sweet while I record this, because I'm supposed to be looking after her, and so she's drawing. So if you hear little sniffles or drawing, it's my magical four year old news doing things. So you say hello, she does not want to say hello. So going outside for at least ten minutes, so being under being under the sunshine when it's sunny outside, especially first thing in the morning, really helps to reset your sarcadian rhythm. I also believe that going out at night when the moon is shining helps with that too, but we're talking morning routine, so I won't go into that part. Next up for your spirit for your heart, meditation, prayer and journaling. I've tried lots of different meditations throughout the years. The meditation that I do now is called montra meditation. It is a beautiful practice of using sound, vibrations and mantras and they just flow through your body. Mantras are so powerful. Mon means mind and tram means to transcend or to fixate. And it says that all the meditation practices, whether it's silent, whether it's there's so many different types, right, There's so many differentes meditation, but out of all of them, doing montra meditation actually helps a fit state your mind the easiest. It's like the easiest form of meditation. But also you can get the deepest with this practice too, So there are different mantras that you can practice. You could do it for five minutes, and I started off as a five minute practice ten years ago and now I have a two hour practice of my meditation. It's the largest chunk of my morning routine for sure, and also the part that influences the rest of my day the most too. Prayer, waking up and having a moment where you are sitting in one s case and having a connection to God in the universe, having a connection moment where you are sharing gratitude for every single part of your life, maybe sharing a moment where you're going through something difficult and pouring your heart out. It's almost like journaling, but even better because you feel like you're connected to something bigger than yourself. And then journaling again, we mentioned that before, but this could be about your emotions, it could be about something you're finding really difficult in your life. Sometimes putting pen to paper instead of just saying it in your mind can really help. And so having those moments where yeah, you're just releasing I think a lot of the morning is about releasing the things you don't want to carry with you for the rest of the day. And that's why having a morning routine is really special because you allow yourself the space to do that. You can honestly just expend it how you like and decide which areas you want to spend most amount of time in. You know, I end up waking up at five or five thirty in the morning because I have so much that I want to do in the morning. I have my ara and a half potatoe, our meditation practice, I work out for an hour, and so I need a juicy amount of time in the morning to get those things done. So you can really adapt and change it according to what you want to fit into your schedule in the morning. So I'm going to go through my morning routine with you. Now here we go. Are you ready for it? This is my ideal morning routine. Sometimes things get scared. Sometimes I pick and choose which parts of it I want to but this is generally the ideal routine that I try to stick to. So wake up in the morning and I usually open my eyes and I say a prayer, and usually the first prayer that comes to mind is, Dear God, thank you so much for this breath, for this life, for my family, for every single thing and that you have given me. I have so much abundance in my life, and I hope that I can give that abundantly to other people. Beautiful short prayer that I try and say from the bottom of my heart and truly mean to my core. And then I'll usually take a second, and then, to be honest, I do look at my phone because my family lives far away from me in another country, and I always like checking everything is okay and well, so my mind usually goes straight there after having a moment of prayer. Then I go and I brush my teeth. I use a tongue scraper. If you do not use a tongue scraper, where have you been and your mouth has not been clean for all this time? A tongue scraper is so necessary. So if you're not familiar with the tongue scraper, essentially it is brushing your teeth before your tongue. It takes out all the you think about it, You've been sleeping all night long, accumulating all the toxins that your body has been processing, and they show up on your tongue and so instead of swallowing it back into your mouth and using a tongue scraper helps to release them from your body. While I'm doing that, I actually stand on a marma mat. Now marma mat is a wooden or a plastic mat which has little spikes on it, and you stand on it and it really helps to regulate your nervous system. It helps with your circulation. Your body's been stagnant. Essentially, it just like stimulates your entire body. The bottom of your feet is where all your nerves end, and so it is linked all the way up to the rest of your organs and your body. So just by stepping on this murma mat you are also stimulating so many different parts of your body. Next up, I get ready changed from my meditation practice, usually put on something comfy. I have the same outfit that I wear to my meditation room every single day. And then I go and I warm up my hot water and in my hot water where I put something called C C F coriunder seeds, cumin seeds, and penel seeds. Now, this trio of spices are like the Queen blend of spices in our vader. They are considered a beautiful digestive blend grape for all body types. Cuman seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, all in equal You can put a teaspoon or half a teaspoon of each into your boiling water, let it simmer for a little bit, drain them and drink that water. Or you can make up a little batch or a mix in equal parts of one cup one cup, one cup, and then you just take a tablespoon of that mix and put it into a hot water and drink that. It helps to do everything from detoxing your body, distiminating your digestive system, to reducing acid in the body. There's just so much that it does, and it is also very delicious. I then take that water or that tea to my meditation area. I have a little room that I like to meditate in. Picking specific spaces helps. Having a space for a particular thing ends up carrying a specific energy. So you car body nose when I walk into this room, this is what I'm going to do. Just like when you walk into a toilet, you know that that's where you're gonna go to the toilet. And so when you walk into a meditation room or even have a meditation pillow, which I used to have when I lived in New York, we didn't have much space in there, so I used to just have one pillow by the window, and I knew when I sat on that pillow, it meant it was meditation time. So I will do my monto meditation and my breastwork and that goes on for about an hour and a half and then it's time to go work out. I've been sitting doing my meditation, that was time to get hyped up, and so I'll usually leave for my workout. I wait train three times a week, three to four times a week, and then I alternate between boxing and runs in between those days, and you know that movement in the morning is just I can't even imagine my life with that movement in the morning increases your blood flow, releases then dolphins strengthens your body, makes you feel like a beast first thing in the morning, and it just prepares you for the coming day and it makes you feel like anything is possible once you have all that good energy in you. And I come home, I shower, give myself a good scrubber dub dub, But after sweating it out at the gym, I usually do a little body oil massage quickly when I come out the shower, just because I like to hydrate my body like that. I'll do it in the morning or in the evening, but usually after having a shower, I will do that. Do my little skincare routine. I love a skincare routine. Ones that's smell really good. Some of the products that I love right now, Doctor Dennis Gross or a navet her saffron oil delicious. Doctor Nigma who is my dermatologist, Oh my gosh, some of her vitamin sea serum delicious. So many good things. I don't even really make up on doing the day because I work from home, get myself ready, feel a little bit cute in whatever I decide to wear, and then it is finally time for breakfast. By this point, I'm so hungry, and it's when I have my protein shake, maybe a snoothie, and then whatever I fancy making off to that. So that essentially is my morning routine before I start my day. A little bit of bully, a little bit of mind, and a little bit of spirit. So I hope this was useful. I hope this encourages you to start your morning routine. Like I said, do not compare your morning routine to anybody else. That's just make sure that it is something that inspires you, nourishes you, and gets you ready for your day and puts you in the right mindset. And you can start as small as you want. Let me know if you have any questions, DM me on a really good cry. I would love to hear from you, hear your thoughts about this, and I really hope when you do second morning routine you let me know just how could you feel. I hope you have such a wonderful weak sending you so much love, and you can need to have a really good cry, have a really good cry