What Is Your Morning Routine? Do You Have One?

[Marina]

Hello everyone!  I believe it was in his video called "A Vision For The Self-Actualized Life" where Leo stressed out the importance of creating a strong morning routine. I am in the process of developing it. One of the things I definitely want to include in it is my daily meditation. It gives me a lot of energy and focus and I can't fall asleep for a while if I do it in the evening lol So I'm moving it to morning hours.

Assuming the routine would be different for everyone, I would really appreciate you guys sharing yours. Please go into as many details as you wish, I really want to hear what works for you (and what doesn't, for that matter). Thanks in advance!

[jasonjp1016]

I start every morning with 30 minutes of meditation.

[Truth]

Meditation has been the best habit I've put into place, the more I do it the more I realize its importance.

I recently started doing it in the mornings, I wake up, look at my values/ goals/ journal, meditate for 30 minutes, I recently started a reading habit so I read for about 45 min to an hour, highlight and take notes, then go to the gym for 35-45 min, then the rest of the day I focus on doing things I value and that I feel are important. the more I do it the more I love it, it feels good keeping myself disciplined, backsliding was a real problem for me, it was so easy to just sit and watch Youtube, or browse Facebook, I've never been the routine type, but that has completely flipped. Integrity is at an all time high for sure.

[Marina]

18 minutes ago, jasonjp1016 said:

I start every morning with 30 minutes of meditation.

Thanks for the response!

2 minutes ago, Truth said:

Meditation has been the best habit I've put into place, the more I do it the more I realize its importance.

I cannot agree more on that. I've been meditating for 1 hour every day using two of the techniques Leo has shared (strong determination sit + do nothing) and I witness my mental clarity improving more and more. Like, there's less and less of the "brain fog". 

I'll try out reading in the morning - that would be really new to me. I always read in the afternoon/evening. Will be interesting to see how the switch works  

Thanks for sharing!

[Truth]

7 minutes ago, Marina said:

Thanks for the response!

I cannot agree more on that. I've been meditating for 1 hour every day using two of the techniques Leo has shared (strong determination sit + do nothing) and I witness my mental clarity improving more and more. Like, there's less and less of the "brain fog". 

I'll try out reading in the morning - that would be really new to me. I always read in the afternoon/evening. Will be interesting to see how the switch works  

Thanks for sharing!

I want to get to an hour in time, they say it's best to focus on one change at a time, and Leo talks about not discounting the power of  focusing on making one change.

Strong determination sitting + do nothing technique has given me deep insights into my body/resistance/control that I have(or think I have), if you haven't done the 2 hour determined sit I really recommend it, that really blew my mind.

[Leo Gura]

Don't forget to start the day off with a super-clean, preferably raw veggie or fruit meal. No wheat or corn or refined sugar crap.

I do a healthy smoothie.

[Soren Solevad]

I've been following this morning routine for 4 months now, and it does absolute wonders for my day and week!

I'll start by saying I go to bed 21.30 and already have prepared the most before the next day (lunch for work, clothes etc.) I always go to bed with the window wide open to get lots of fresh air (and since I live in Denmark and it gets very cold in the winter-season, I sleep with a lot of warm clothes and 2 duvets and a blanket - you'll get used to it).

Now for the morning:
I wake up at 05.30, and start by making my bed, which helps me not to feel like jumping back to sleep haha. Then I do a very short breathing exercise for 5 minutes, then a very short but energizing morning yoga. Then, as I am comitted to Leo's Life Purpose Course, I evaluate my values and strenghts shortly.
  Then I go drink half a liter of water with lemon (this is a must - you must start doing this!) Then I take a quick shower in which, if I remember it, I try to do some sort of death-contemplation. Afterwards I go out for a quick walk and do some sort of affirmations like "I am abundance, I am growth, I am consciousness" etc. It's really nice so early in the morning, especially in the winter when it's still dark enough to see the stars and milky way (I live in the country-side, so there's no city light to ruin the beautiful picture).
After that I go inside and have a healthy smoothie and few oatmeals with rice-milk and fruits on top - sometimes also a cup of coffee.
At 7.20 I ride my bike to my job which is 8km away (about 5 miles(?))

Edit: if I feel like I have time, I sometimes read while eating breakfast. I don't know if I should recommend this or not. It good for the reading-part, but I don't really dig into the idea of splitting your focus. 

Edited February 8, 2016 by Søren Solevad

[Marina]

7 hours ago, Truth said:

Strong determination sitting + do nothing technique has given me deep insights into my body/resistance/control that I have(or think I have), if you haven't done the 2 hour determined sit I really recommend it, that really blew my mind.

Yes, absolutely! Don't know if I'm ready for the 2 hour sit yet..Later on, I will be increasing the time to 1 hr 15 mins, then 1 hr 30 mins, etc. But then again, you never really know what you can do until you push yourself. I've started meditating for 1 hour from the "beginning" of my meditation path (just because Leo said "Try to sit and not move for 1 hour" in the video where he talks about the marathon monks). I was like, "I want to see if I can do it". And I could, maybe because I wasn't thinking in success/fail categories in that moment. It always strikes me after the meditation is over though.. It seems as if I was outside of time. Like, yes my mind understands that it has been 1 hour, but it feels like it's been just a moment.

Well thanks for mentioning the 2 hours sit, that's super inspiring!

26 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Don't forget to start the day off with a super-clean, preferably raw veggie or fruit meal. No wheat or corn or refined sugar crap.

I do a healthy smoothie.

Oh Leo, I tried that multiple times when I was vegan for about 6-8 months.. Yet I don't know what the issue is, but raw veggies/fruit in their regular or even liquid form in large quantities used to make me SO bloated. I would have a veggie + fruit smoothie in the morning and it would make me bloated for hours. It's is something I've had since I was like 12. I recently got Dr. Blum's book since you mentioned bloating in your audio review for it. Will see how that works. And thanks!

[Marina]

20 minutes ago, Søren Solevad said:

I've been following this morning routine for 4 months now, and it does absolute wonders for my day and week!

Wow, that sounds absolutely amazing!! Thanks for all the details, I should try out some of that!  And I gotta say that the fact that you've been doing this for 4 months is so inspiring.. Do you do that on weekends as well?

[Dhana Choko]

Marina, bloating connected with veggies is usually a sign that bowels are quite in a bad shape. Not enough good bacteria and a lot of junk stuck. Literally the bowel can not move the faster digesting things (like vegetables) onward since your bowel still holds othet material before it. I know it is a bit yucky  Many people are in the same position and quit eating vegetables due to those experiences but it is not that vegetables cause problems but all the other stuff eaten before them. 

[Marina]

1 minute ago, Dhana Choko said:

Marina, bloating connected with veggies is usually a sign that bowels are quite in a bad shape. Not enough good bacteria and a lot of junk stuck. Literally the bowel can not move the faster digesting things (like vegetables) onward since your bowel still holds othet material before it. I know it is a bit yucky  Many people are in the same position and quit eating vegetables due to those experiences but it is not that vegetables cause problems but all the other stuff eaten before them. 

Not yucky at all, it's all part of life so it's fine, thanks for sharing the knowledge  Yes, I've heard that so many times before.. And I've also heard that it may be due to too much fiber.. I don't have any issues with lightly cooked veggies or with kale marinated in lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, for example. Fruit is alright, it depends on the fruit and the quantity too, for me. Could it be that raw veggies are just way too fibrous for me to digest easily..? Also, I had my gull bladder removed when I was 19; maybe that's part of it too?

[Soren Solevad]

Hahaha Marina I'm sorry my respons is taking so long, I just honestly have no clue what so ever on how to reply directly to a specific message on forums??? I'm not the greatest internet-user of the 21th century hahaha  

Anyway I'm very glad that it's inspiring to you! What you write about your meditation habit, on the other hand, is very inspiring to me! 
About the weekend: I do everything but go to the job-part, and usually, I wake up at 07.00 instead... 

[Marina]

2 minutes ago, Søren Solevad said:

Hahaha Marina I'm sorry my respons is taking so long, I just honestly have no clue what so ever on how to reply directly to a specific message on forums???

I don't know that either, that's why I keep quoting people! lolol

[Soren Solevad]

1 minute ago, Marina said:

I don't know that either, that's why I keep quoting people! lolol

Ooooh, this is excactly what I was looking for haha!

[Marina]

Just now, Søren Solevad said:

Ooooh, this is excactly what I was looking for haha!

But there's a way to reply to someone directly, without quoting them; I've seen people here doing that but I have no clue how to do that myself..

[Soren Solevad]

Well then we must develop ourselves enough to one day finally take part in the mystical secret of direct reply!

[Marina]

Just now, Søren Solevad said:

Well then we must develop ourselves enough to one day finally take part in the mystical secret of direct reply!

Oh goodness, I literally lol'ed 

I also wanted to say that I really loved the part about the stars. I don't see them, since I live in a city.. I live right next to an embankment, I should start doing morning walks there.

[Psychonaut]

Drink a glass of fresh water, straight from the tap.

Shower.

Now that I'm refreshed, medidate 30-60 minutes.

 

I think I could still add making a plan for the day or something like that. So I don't spend the day aimlessly. And eating something would be also good, I usually only eat lunch and no breakfast..., verrrry bad.

[Davidus]

I run 6 kilometres (3,7 Miles) as fast as I can and then come home and meditate for 30 minutes. While meditating I use bineural beats. I've been using it for several weeks, I haven't seen any results yet.

Edited February 8, 2016 by David :)

[Enizeo]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

Don't forget to start the day off with a super-clean, preferably raw veggie or fruit meal. No wheat or corn or refined sugar crap.

I do a healthy smoothie.

Is that the only thing you eat in the morning? Or what else do you suggest to eat in the morning?

Edited February 8, 2016 by Enizeo
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