Mindful Mornings
Trade in once-a-year resolutions for daily action
Welcome to the first issue of 2024!!
As we embark on the new year, we are propelled forward to new beginnings and positive change. We set resolutions ranging from “read more books” to “drink less alcohol” and everything in between.
We want to get up earlier, work smarter, work harder, eat healthier, be more patient with our kids, do yoga every damn day, etc. etc. etc.
Unfortunately, even with the best “New Year New Me” intentions, excitement dissipates fairly quickly. Studies show that as many as 50% of people abandon their resolutions within the first two weeks. The rest have a 50% chance of making it to February.
What gives? Why can’t we stick to our resolutions?
Well, most of us overestimate our willpower and underestimate the difficulty of the goals we set. We make unrealistic resolutions and set ourselves up for failure.
I’m writing this on January 2nd and I have already succumbed to this trap.
New Year, No Phone
Lately, my relationship with my phone has felt toxic and compulsive. Especially in that notorious week between Christmas and New Years. I had long, leisurely days, with no schedule or structure, and spent most of my time lost in an online abyss.
By December 31st, I was stewing in a haze of overstimulation, guilt and desperation. Fed up with my addictive behavior, I deleted almost all the apps from my phone and made a resolution to “Only use my phone for calling and texting in 2024”.
Can you guess how it went?
The first thing I did, when I woke up on January 1st, was reach for my phone, redownload all of my apps and scroll. This isn’t even something I typically do, but I woke up tired from the late night festivities and wanted to linger bed for a while.
Eventually, I got up and did my morning routine. Then I sat down at my computer and focused…for about five seconds before picking up my phone again. Sending me into an all too familiar spiral: scroll hole, guilt, throw phone across the room, go get phone, repeat.
By the time evening rolled around, I had spent an ungodly amount of time on my phone and, frankly, I was ashamed of myself. I failed before I even started.
Obviously, willpower alone wasn’t going to work. So, I pulled myself together and regrouped. I watched a few YouTube videos about minimizing phone use (oh the irony!), got inspired and made a more manageable plan.
I ditched the impossible timeframe of “an entire year” and set aside a few phone free hours in the morning. No scrolling before noon.
And you know what? It worked! I started my day with a measurable step in the right direction and it set the tone for everything that followed. I feel good about myself for accomplishing my goal and encouraged to do it again tomorrow.
Scaling Down to Level Up
Are you one of the many people who set big, overblown resolutions and struggled to stick to them? Maybe, like me, you already gave up…or didn’t even start.
I have good news for you! You don’t have to wait until next year to try again. You have the opportunity to reflect, adjust and start over tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.
Every day, when you wake up, you have a clean slate. You can choose subtle change and take incremental steps that lead to big results.
And you can do it first thing in the morning. In fact, you should do it first thing in the morning.
Mornings are prime time for self care and creativity. These early hours, before we fully enter the world, are special moments of calm and stillness. We can use them to center ourselves, prepare for the day ahead and work towards goals and dreams.
A few mindful moments, every morning, will get you a lot farther than one, big burst at the beginning of the year.
Which is why the theme for January 2024 is “Mindful Mornings”.
Put it Into Practice: Part I
The First Hour of Your Day
Over the course of the next month we are going to take stock of how we are spending our mornings, get intentional about our time and introduce new habits and practices that set us up for success…every single day.
A morning routine creates space to engage in the behaviors that help us thrive, like yoga and meditation, and others that we simply enjoy, like reading, journaling or working on our passion projects.
For the first week, I’m inviting you to notice how spend the first hour of your day.
What is the first thing you do when you wake up? Are your mornings rushed and chaotic? Do you do anything to nourish you body, mind and spirit?
Pay attention to what’s working and what isn’t. Identify moments in your morning where you can remove unhealthy habits and introduce new ones.
Write down what time you get up, your mood/energy level and how you spent the first one to two hours of your day. Be honest and include as many details as possible. It will look something like the graphic below — a log of how I spent the first 90 minutes, of the first four days, of the year.
Next week, we’ll begin the process of creating a new morning routine. For now, we are simply noticing and bringing awareness to our existing habits.
This period of observation is crucial.
I used this approach to prepare for my phone usage resolution. During the last week of December, I made a conscious effort to monitor the mindset, behavior and circumstances feeding into my problem.
I started asking myself “why?”, every time I felt compelled to look at my phone. What times of day was I most likely to scroll? How did I feel before, during and after I used my phone?
Creating awareness prepared me to take action when the New Year arrived. When my first attempt failed, I used my observations to regroup and redirect my efforts.
We will use all of the information we gather this week, to take informed action next week.
Put It Into Practice: Part II
The year is young! We are a mere 7 days into a 365 day stretch. Last week, I shared New Year Challenges to keep you busy on your mat for the entire month.
This week, I’m sharing a couple of stand alone New Years classes to try.
Yoga for the New Year | Grounding Ganesha Practice for 2024 | Allie Van Fosson
26 Minutes | All Levels
If you are interested in moving beyond asana and exploring yogic philosophy, this class is a perfect introduction. Yoga is a way of life and classes like this are great reminders of the reason behind the practice.
Allie’s class is active, but simple, and she offers plenty of modifications with props. This class is doable for any level and will be a nice challenge if you’ve been opting for gentler classes lately.
I personally loved this class and I’m a very lazy yogi :)
New Year Yoga Nidra 2024 | Allie Boothroyd
37 Minutes | All Levels
It is absolutely not too late to set some intentions for the year ahead and this Yoga Nidra session is the perfect way to do it.
Allie has been my go to teacher for Nidra lately and her latest offering, A New Years Yoga Nidra for 2024, is delightful!
I think you’ll like it too. Grab some pillows, blankets, eye covers, headphones, and whatever else you want, then cozy up and practice this excellent class.
Final Thoughts
Alright Friends, that’s it for this week. I hope you engage with the practices offered, then come back next week ready to reflect on your observations and take action in week two!!
Next week, we’re going to lay the foundation for our morning routine and get in the habit of showing up.
Please share this post widely and encourage anyone (everyone!) to jump on the “Mindful Morning” bandwagon with us. Let’s start a movement!!
See you next week!!