Crafting a zen morning routine can spark a magical day. Plan ahead, rise early, hydrate, practice mindfulness, prioritize self-care, tune into good vibes, detox from screens, and plan the day ahead. Stay flexible and follow these steps to set the tone for a fabulous day filled with zen, mindfulness, and productivity.
Transform Your Day: Create a Zen Morning Routine in 11 Steps Read More »
There was a time when I watched the news faithfully at least twice a day, and often more than that. I had a need to know what was unfolding in the world. But lately I have stopped watching the news faithfully. I get news alerts on my phone so I am still plugged in, but now I only watch the news a few times per week. I don’t know when, but at some point the news become trauma porn for me. It was primarily negative, ALL the time. Heartbreaking images of Black people being shot by police, people in other countries ravaged by war or natural disasters, and politicians using divisive rhetoric on a constant loop became too much for me. So I stopped. It was taking my peace from me. I didn’t just stop ingesting the steady diet of negativity on the news, I changed my morning and evening routine. As many mornings as I can, I get out to watch the sun rise. It is a peaceful way to start my day. And every morning while I am watching sunrise I record a video to share with my followers on Instagram. It’s nothing long, but it is a small way that I can contribute to adding something positive to someone else’s day. I am not into toxic positivity that all but demands that people look at the bright side of things all the time. That doesn’t make sense to me. We are whole humans and we feel a range of emotions so I can’t see how staying positive 100% of the time is natural. I know that life is out here wringing some of us dry. So that 11 second video of the sun rising over water is my way of contributing some peace to someone else’s day in spite of what life has on the menu that day. I also try to catch as many sunsets as possible, and I also record and share a short video of the sun setting over water on my Instagram page as many days as possible. These are two small ways that I try to contribute peace to folks in my circle. It’s easy to do, since I’m already out enjoying the sunrise or sunset myself. Recording and sharing the videos also brings me joy. Now I have a Google photos account chocked full of sunrises and sunsets which is a great bonus. To be honest, I don’t know if posting those videos is helping anyone, but I do it anyway. I don’t get a lot of likes and I honestly don’t care. I do it because it’s my way of hopefully reminding someone that in spite of what the world throws at you, there is still beauty in the world. My hope is that the videos allow folks a few seconds to pause, exhale, and acknowledge the peace and beauty of a natural occurrence. My hope is that the 11 seconds a person takes to watch the video changes their mood for the better and either allows them to start or end their day on a better note. It does for me; and doing the recording allows me to refocus for a few minutes at the start and close of the day on pouring into someone else. I was once told, life is a series of choices. I am being intentional about the choices I am making. Contributing is one of those choices. It feels good. Try it out.
A Contribution of Peace Read More »
Other people’s perceptions. Whew. They are ever present and are always informed by their own experiences. When a person sets a boundary they are likely to experience other people’s perceptions, perspectives, opinions. What to do with them is always the money question. If you qualify as other people, this post is for you. At some point in our lives we are all ‘other people’. There are a couple of assumptions I will make about people who set boundaries. The first is that they thought through what was important and prioritized what were must haves and what were nice to haves for both health and well-being. The second is they weighed the cost of both setting and not setting the boundary. The third is they are/were willing to pay the cost of whichever action they choose. What that means is that while we (other people) are entitled to our thoughts and feelings about someone else’s boundaries, before expressing them it’s probably helpful to understand why we have that perspective. Are you reacting to and prioritizing your own wants/needs/issues/traumas? I will give you an example. Someone I love deeply chose a boundary for themselves and I was upset by it. But when I dug deeper I realized that I was processing their boundary as a rejection of me. I was centering myself. When I figured that out I was able to honor the boundary. Once you understand your why, you need to make a decision about what you will do with that perspective. You don’t always have to share it! Weigh the cost of both sharing and not sharing and decide if it’s worth it. And by that I mean, will sharing it help the other person or just you? Sometimes it’s worth it and sometimes it’s not. If you are sharing only to make yourself feel better, interrogate that before you act. In the example above, what I ended up sharing was the journey I had taken to honor the boundary, as opposed to my initial self centered perspective. For some people, doing the work of setting the boundary is hard emotional work and when it is verbalized there are still residual doubts or fears. If sharing your perspective will unnecessarily exacerbate those, is it really worth it? The other thing to remember if you are other people in this context, is that leading with curiosity could help you to understand why the person needed to create that boundary. Now curiosity is not the same as nosiness. You don’t need to know someone else’s whole life story to honor a boundary. What I mean by curiosity is how have they been impacted by not having the boundary and how will having it improve their lives. If you are the boundary setter, sharing your rationale with people upfront could help them to better understand your need and increase their investment in honoring your boundary. For other people in this context, please be empathetic. This work is not easy.
Other People’s Perspectives Read More »
Sunrise is always special to me. It heralds the beginning of a new day, new hope, new opportunities. I prefer to start the new day with hope. Even if I know it’s going to be a hard day I still prefer to hope for the best. Sunrise has become a symbol of hope for me. I watch sunrise as often as I can. I love the way that sunrise teases its debut with yellow and orange hues prior to the sun’s featured appearance. Sometimes I brew myself a cup of tea and sit quietly admiring the unfolding of the show it creates in the sky. Sometimes I say my morning prayers while watching the sun rise. Sometimes I take photos. Regardless of how I choose to acknowledge it, sunrise helps me to start my day with a smile. While I was always a fan of sunrise, it was not always a part of my morning routine. There was a time when I used to turn the news on first thing in the morning. I wish I had learned earlier in life that what I was putting into my mind impacted my mood. But now that I am aware, I intentionally curate my mornings. An alarm of birds tweeting instead of music or sounds. Prayer instead of scrolling through social media. Beauty instead of news. Exercise instead of laying in bed longer. Fruits instead of carbs for breakfast. But most importantly hope and gratitude instead of worry and dread. Now that I intentionally curate my mornings, I am better able to manage my anxiety. It grounds me to start my day this way. Although I still have challenges, my perspective has changed. I feel hopeful now, which allows me to be more grateful, which allows me to be more gracious and so on and so on. Intentional curation of my mornings has been a game changer for me. How do you intentionally curate your day? What benefits have you found?
Intentional Curation Read More »