A Morning Routine is a vital step in setting yourself up for success for the day. I have found it to be one of the key tools in eliminating stress in my life. Rising early to achieve a short routine to optimise your health and well-being will be one of the best things you can achieve! I have also found a link between how long I have for myself for my practices in the morning and my productivity and clarity throughout the day – more is more.
I wanted to share with you some of the Sanskrit terms around a morning routine.
- Brahma Muhurta; the hour of Brahmin, the totality. The time of day that black of the sky begins to become faintly grey, and it moves into blue light. The time when it’s no longer night nor day, it’s on the leading edge of dawn, the Brahama Mahurt is revered in spiritual practices as the best time to practise yoga and meditation. It is approximately 90 minutes before the sun rises.
- Navaswan; is the little breeze that moves continuously around the Earth as it turns, and the sun sits in its glory and pushing ahead of the sun is a wave caused by the approaching warm air.
- Brahama Mahurt precedes Navaswan. Then comes Surya, the sun.
What’s happening is that the Earth is continuously rolling, and the warm earth that precedes the warmth of the day, and it meets the cool air where the night has just been, a wave that is continuously travelling across the face of the Earth. Yogi’s rise to meet the many layers of the approaching dawn.
There are those who are up and able to enjoy the breaking of dawn. There is a yoga salutation to welcome this, Surya Namaskara (also known as Sun Salutations), and it’s much more than a few yoga moves. It’s a demonstration to the day that will be. When a person does Surya Namaskara, Surya the sun, as well as the Earth bows to him.
Here is a little diagram of Sun Salutations that unlock the body and get the mind into flow. We recommend sitting for your Integrated Meditation or one of our ENHANCE Meditations directly after.
My personal program is very fluid, and usually involves and in a revolving order, stretching, a Zen tea ceremony, Integrated Meditation (I save my ENHANCE Meditations for the afternoon when I need them and pick which one I need based on each day!) and getting into nature (the benefits of having dogs, where getting out is forced!). Incense, candles, reflection, reading the Tao Te Ching and Meditations by Marcus Aurelius also make up my mornings.
Start with experimentation and build and adjust as you need. Ritual and Routine doesn’t mean you have to do the exact same sequence every day!
Sent with love,
Jac x