Summer Morning Routine

I love a nice, leisurely morning and I've been having a lot of them since it's summer and I'm not in school. I also love routine. There's something so nice about having a list of things that you want to do nd then taking the time to do them. Here is my morning routine as well as some things that you can easily incorporate into your mornings. I'll do a follow up post once I start school again and have to wake up earlier, but this would be such a good routine for the weekends, holidays, or for all you freelancers that don't work set hours. 

Wake up: I hesitate to put a time on this because I've been waking up at different times different days. I haven't been sleeping all that well since moving and I let my body rest as much as it needs to. Usually I'm up at 8, if not, I'm almost always out of bed by 9:30. 

Bathroom: I use the bathroom and brush my teeth, rinse my face, and apply my contacts. I also like to throw on some workout clothes while I'm in there. I don't like to put on makeup until I get some movement in my day first. 

Hydrate: I make myself a large glass of lemon water. I prefer drinking it cold, but not ice cold. I keep my water filter pitcher in the fridge, so I use that and don't add any extra ice. I try to drink a full glass first thing on an empty stomach, and then refill and sip it throughout the rest of the morning. 

Meditate: I like to get at least 10 minutes of meditation in. On a good day it'll be 20 minutes or longer. I like to sit on my couch, palms up, eyes closed and focus on my breathing. I'm definitely not good at it, but I've found that it helps me manage stress and my emotions much better when I meditate twice a day. 

Journal: It's back to school season and I got myself one of those spiral bound college ruled notebooks to use as my daily journal. I force myself to write one page by hand every single day. I don't use prompts and write whatever comes to mind first. Sometimes it's about goals, othertimes inner demons, or relationships. It really helps me clear out my brain before the day. One quick note, this is not my to-do list. That gets written out the night before. It's more of a brain dump and less of a laundry list of obligations. 

Exercise: My apartment has a gym, so I've been going there and doing a little bit of exercise. Always a little bit of cardio just because it's so good for you even though it is absolutely terrible, and a little bit of weight lifting. If I don't want to leave the apartment (which is more days than I care to admit) I force myself to do half an hour of yoga or some physical therapy exercises with a TheraBand. 

Get Ready: If I went to the actual gym I'll shower, change, and put my makeup on. If I only did yoga in my apartment I usually skip the shower and just get ready instead. I like to pick my outfits the night before so it's a super quick process. 

Then it's off to "work" aka enjoying unemployment for another two weeks! Let me know what your morning routine is like and how you like to set yourself up for success. I think once I start school again, a lot of this will be doable as long as I wake up early enough. Otherwise I might try pushing exercise to later in the day, although my motivation is lacking when I need to work out in the afternoon. Also let me know what other types of posts you'd like to see!

x, S