21 Ways To Create Beautiful Mornings

Create Beautiful Mornings: The First Chapter of Everyday!

How do we create beautiful mornings and what makes a morning so special? Each day is a new chapter of life and morning is the first chapter of everyday. An opportunity we always take for granted but it is a gift in the truest sense. Morning is the first hour of the day which brings with it a promise of a new beginning. A fresh new page to write upon and leave our impressions. Ever heard the birds sing at dawn?

The ‘dawn-chorus’ as is known could start anytime from 3:30 am to 4 am and last until several hours, well past sunrise. This is when the sun is yet to rise and the stillness of the night sky is illuminated with the melodious crescendos of the birds singing. It is during this time of the day that their songs are the liveliest and most energetic.

Why do the birds create this dawn chorus and how does that have any connection to us? It is an idea worth exploring. An idea that has the key towards beautiful mornings. The early hours of the day is a harmonious period which has the potential to infuse energy and liveliness in all who are willing to experiment it out.

Just as the dawn chorus is not restricted to any particular species of bird or geographical location, the same is applicable to all of us seeking a beautiful start to the day.

Successful People Equal To Powerful Mornings

A beautiful morning is a powerful morning, one that guarantees a balanced and successful mindset. Most successful people across the globe have had one thing in common always, they have all been early risers. It is a common misconception that almost 90% of people believe in, the more we achieve success, the more we want to rest and take it easy. What is true is however just the opposite, the top 10% achievers around the world are indeed very very early risers and they do it consistently with conviction. This top 10% believe in staying ahead in the game and recognizes just how much important and valuable the early hours are.

Being Busy-Busy

The days just seem to be so busy is a chant done by all of us, be it working professionals or home makers. Whether we step out to work each day or stay within our homes, the days are equally busy and have a tremendous tendency to slip by. One busy day blends into another busier one and we keep rolling on in the tides of being busy, busier and busiest until we ourselves find it difficult to keep a track of all the busy-ness around.

Does being busy really guarantee the satisfaction quotient in life? Are we to keep riding the waves of being busy and never strive to take charge of things that matter most to us? Being busy is often a mindset game with two characters, the victim and the victor. As long as we play the victim card, we will always find it difficult to achieve things that really mean the most to us. And claiming the mornings is the first step towards the transition to victory.

Especially important for working professionals, who commute to work and are really pressed for time during the day, carving out an hour if not more in the mornings can lead to being the game changer. The precious morning hour can effectively help in staying ahead at work, in planning for the day, or brainstorming ideas to apply at work. More importantly, it could help providing a sacred time for self care. The same rules apply to home makers and busy parents as mornings are the precious hours which most of us let go without much realizing the amount of value additions it could bring to our daily lives.

Mornings help attain goals

Life is a journey and more often it happens when we look back at life, we regret things we did not do or could not do. We often rush through life without having clarity regarding our goals in life, and mornings help bridge this gap and connect within. It is the best time to journal our thoughts and spend some time reflecting on life and our goals. Taking the time to regularly review our goals help make important decisions easier. Life without clearly defined goals is like a rudderless boat which travels a lot with no clear destination in sight.

Mornings help to stay focused and grounded. It is also the best time to practice meditation and clear the mental clutter. A calm, collected and rested mind is so much more powerful to take on all the challenges of the day. It is the proactive approach to the day instead of being reactive that makes the difference. Find it difficult to meditate? Start the practice with just sitting quietly for few minutes, focus on your breath, do not chase thoughts, instead acknowledge the thoughts as they pass by. The moments of calm and stillness work wonders to help achieve deeper thinking, better planning and strategize priorities in our never ending to-do lists.

21 ways to create beautiful mornings!

Want to enhance your personality? Invest in many ‘good’ mornings. Sounds cliche? Well not really! Be it to exercise, read a bit or practice writing, learn an instrument or sing a melody; the mornings are proven through ages to have that magical quality to enhance and uplift the soul. Mornings are the prized ‘me time’ which is a rare find during the rest of the ‘being busy’ days.

For the ones who seek, here are 21 awesome ways to create beautiful mornings:

• Take baby steps: Never been an early riser? Take it easy. Go slow and steady. The best way to creating your own morning time would be to start by waking up 5 to 10 minutes earlier than your usual wake up time. Do this practice for a week. Include a small activity that you would like to do in this extra time, consider it a gift to yourself. It could be anything from watching the morning sun to singing a song or reciting a prayer. Once this routine starts getting comfortable, increase another 5 to 10 mins to your morning routine. Continue with this for another week and voila, in a matter of a month you would have easily carved out an entire hour for yourself.

• Prepare early: An ideal way to ensure hassle free mornings is to prepare early. Keeping the yoga mat handy or a change for workout clothes, the shoe to go jogging, soaking almonds and black raisins are rituals to be done the night before. These are small things which have a big impact on a smooth and well-planned morning. A morning that seems to be chaotic can really be a dampener for the mood and an absolute no to start the day with.

• Wake up with the morning light: A special way to wake up without having to setup alarms is to do it with the morning light. Keep your windows open to let in the streaming early sun and fresh air in your room. The fresh air, chirp of birds, early sun rays do help the body’s natural rhythms to get in sync with nature. Waking up does not feel like a chore rather it becomes a celebration of life.

• No snooze option..really? Well, if waking up with the morning sun is not an option for you, your alarm clock can be your best friend. But snoozing is totally off limits. Try setting the clock farther away from easy reach. ‘Let me sleep for just 5 minutes’ can turn into a full hour and that would mean a missed morning.

• Do something you really love: What do you enjoy doing the most but never seem to find the time? Using the morning time for such enjoyable activities can be the greatest motivator. Life is often about going with the grind where we find it difficult to just unwind and connect with things we enjoy most. Therefore, mornings need not be crammed with activities, keep it simple and focus on the things that you enjoy doing the most.

• Pleasant thoughts, light and free: Treat yourself to pleasant mornings. Emails work or personal, social media feeds, watching or reading the news are an absolute no-no in the morning hour. Most people are obsessed to check their emails first thing on waking up and this can really weigh down upon the quality of thoughts. Keep the emails for a later part of the mornings.

• Prioritize morning space: One thumb rule for creating beautiful mornings is to remember not to utilize the time for doing some more work. This time is not about ‘being busy, busy’, instead choose things to do that give you joy and happiness.

• Meditate: Spend few moments in silence observing your breath. In today’s busy world, it is a luxury to just sit and do nothing. So experience the stillness within. Just a few minutes can feel wonderful and is a great way to connect to the inner self. It brings clarity of thoughts, helps build self confidence and most importantly it starts nurturing the zen state of mind.

• Yoga and Exercise: When creating morning routines don’t give yoga and exercise a miss. These are powerful mainstays for a healthy mind and body. Try out some morning stretches, few yoga poses and do your weights too, the same way you would do cycling or cardio exercises. Having a blend of all makes the activities interesting and thereby lesser chances of boredom creeping in. Exercise stretch bands are great tools to build resistance and get a full body workout.

• Gratitude, all the way! Cultivating a grateful mind reaps untold benefits. It has the power to attract more goodness in life. Say a gratitude prayer or a simple ‘thank you’ for one good thing in your life each morning. The more we develop gratitude the more we find things to be grateful for! How does this work? It is like linking one good thought with another and before we know we have created an unending string of beautiful thoughts to brighten our days.

• Create morning rituals that work for you: When starting the day, just as you wake up, create your own morning rituals to begin with. It could be like drinking warm water + lemon + honey, washing your face, and taking a quick shower. Creating rituals bring an easy flow and help to us get started without indulging in brainstorming each morning.

• Journaling ideas for success: Keep a journal to pen down your thoughts, achievements of the previous day or life goals. Keep a journal to spend some time with yourself, and yes, do use a pen and a notebook because it helps connect better than a journaling app, which would be on an electronic device and could offer distractions. Morning times are just for you and journaling is one of the most powerful tools to express ideas and record experiences.

• Practice being an orator: Mornings are a great time to practice your oratory skills. A self image booster, the ability to speak before a crowd is something sought by many but possessed by few. How do you start? Practice speaking on a subject that is close to your heart, be it talking about your pets, or sharing some scientific data from the field of astrophysics. Stand before a mirror to observe your posture, keep the hand movements minimal and avoid leaning on to the wall or a support. Like any good habit, build this skill gradually and find the difference in your speeches before an actual audience.

• Read a book: Read a book, the ones in paper, a paperback or the luxurious hardcopy. A book in hand means no gadget use, no electricity, and is easy on the eyes. Feel the texture and indulge in the book distraction free. Reading not only expands your vocabulary, it also is a great stimulant for the brain. Holding an actual book connects you to the content much deeper than reading it from a device.

• Practice your handwriting: a lost art: The importance of having a good handwriting cannot be overlooked. It is a gift to oneself as it speaks volumes about the personality and makes you more attractive. It also helps engaging the brain more actively. It is a great idea to practice in the morning space, a few lines each time. So pick up that fountain pen and a book and write something on it. Happy handwriting!

• Connect with nature – staying home: Gardening, nurturing few plants, maintaining a bird feeder, providing a bowl of water for thirsty birds are great ways to welcome nature while staying at home. These enhance the beauty of mornings. Keep some potted plants and watch the transformation of your window sill to a gorgeous miniature garden with butterflies fluttering around. Plants also keep us rooted and give the opportunity to stay connected to the earth.

• Connect with nature – going out: Going for a morning walk? It need not be brisk. Just go for a stroll, to soak up the morning sunshine. Let the air wash your face. Morning walkers get so tuned to the rhythms of nature that come sun or rain, missing out on a single morning is unthinkable to them. So have those walking shoes on and get set go.

• Sleep early: Well, how do we do these beautiful things in our morning hours? Of course, by sleeping in early. Yeah, that’s right! To get a beautiful morning, a good night’s sleep is a must and we can do this by modifying our daily routines to sleep early. Small tweaks in our day-to-day routines can help majorly towards an earlier bedtime, which results in lesser stress and help make the day feel not so stretched.

• Celebrate yourself for being consistent: Celebrate the wins and only the wins. Go steady, go slow, be consistent. What is more important is be kind to yourself. If you miss a few mornings do not stress, rather pick up the next morning to get your sacred space. Mornings are only for celebrating life and should be filled with joy. Guard this space to keep it untouched by the stressors of the later day. Immerse in yourself, rediscover and connect within, life is a journey after all and a beautiful one.

• Smile back at a New You: Use the morning time to do some self care and grooming. It could be conditioning the hair at bath or trimming the beard, or painting the nails. Small things but these make a great impact on our appearance. These are the yardsticks we ourselves use to ascertain the appearance of others and yet often miss out on it for ourselves.

• Have a good breakfast: Before the rush hour begins, have a good breakfast. All the goodness of a special morning hour will fade off considerably without a hearty breakfast. Breakfast as the word goes is to break the fast from the night before, so, stock up on some healthy breakfast options to make sure you do not skip it.

Create Beautiful Mornings – For a better life

The desire to create beautiful mornings is a desire towards self improvement. It is a commitment to a better life and living experience. It is also a powerful tool for achieving success in life. This is the same you reaching out to a newer persona who is more balanced and happier in life. Increasing the happiness quotient reflects directly on our personality and makes us all the more attractive.

Find the article a good read? Do let me know your thoughts on which you find the most appealing.