15 Morning Rituals Ideas

The key to a morning ritual is consistency. In order for something to indeed become a ritual, one must be consistent. In this case, consistency means doing at least one or more actions every morning. What action you take can differ day to day.

Intention is also very important. Why is a morning ritual important to you? For me, I was sick and tired of literally jumping out of bed, into the shower and out to the car in 60 minutes to make it to work on time. I desired to ease into my day and have a little (or a lot) of 'me-time'. I've made some really big changes to my daily routine (in general) which has afforded me the time to establish my morning flow and rituals.

I recently attended a Self-Care Yoga event at Daybreak Yoga where Denisha Parker, a mother of 5, Intervention Specialist and Barre3 Instructor shared her story of carving out a morning routine that starts at 4:30 AM every morning. She dedicates this hour to strictly herself and it's completely non-negotiable. She says this has been a life-changer for her and is the most important part of her day. Can you relate? I sure can!

With that being said, here are my favorite 'grab and go' morning rituals I used. Remember, you don't have to do ALL of them; simply listen to your intuition and body and go from there.

1. Breathe. Before doing anything (aside from opening your eyes), simply breathe. Take a deep breath in through your nose, really filling your belly up with air (feeling your lungs AND root chakra expand), hold for 4 seconds, then exhale ALL the air out through your mouth. Do this at least 4 times.

2. Stretch. Wiggle your toes, roll your shoulders, flex your back, roll your head, pull your knees to your belly and rock right to left. Stand up and stretch to the ceiling while gently lifting onto your toes and then back to the floor.

3. Give thanks. Simply saying “Thank you for another day” is powerful. You can also expand by thinking of more and writing all what your grateful for in a daily journal.

4. Pray. Use this time to pray for guidance, insight and protection. Ask the desires of your heart. Pray for yourself and others. Acknowledge what you’re grateful for.

5. Keep a dream journal. If you’re one to recall your dreams in the morning, write them down! Dreams have hidden messages that can be used to guide us in our waking life. These messages come from our subconscious mind and the spiritual realm. Seek a professional for an accurate dream analysis. My go-to person is Certified Astrology and Dream Interpreter Riva Moore of Celestial Percipient.

6. Set intentions. What do you want to accomplish today? How do you want to feel? How do you want to help someone else? I’ve set intentions to laugh hysterically. I mean tears running and stomach good ole laugh. And the universe delivered; a colleague share the funniest story with me and I was able to laugh uncontrollably. Ask and it is given.

7. Wake with water. Have at least 8 oz of water bedside to drink upon rising. Room temperature water helps to awaken your organs and systems without the shock. Get fancy and infuse with lemon.