My morning routine is becoming something I really look forward to. It seems to start the day off on the right foot.
First, I wake up around 7am, drink a big glass of water, and walk the dog. Then I start the water going for my coffee and do 10 minutes of meditation. After that I drink some coffee, stretch, and go on a run… so far I am only running 1 mile or so at a time, but that will increase as my half marathon training increases. I want to start off slow.
After the run is my favorite part, cooking breakfast. I really want to have a few solid “go to” recipes that I can cook for friends and couchsurfers when they stay with us. My current love is a tofu vegetable scramble with avocado toast and a piece of fruit. It is so delicious and the act of actually making a meal over a stove is really appealing to me. It makes me appreciate my food more and, in a way, respect it more. I don’t worry about how many calories I eat in the morning, instead I eat until I’m mostly full and drink lots of water. Because I’m vegan, there are not a lot of dense foods in my diet. I can eat a giant bowl of the tofu scramble and it is really only 350 calories and because it is fiber rich I feel full a really long time.
Anyway, after food I sit down and eat in either a meditative or social fashion. If I am sharing a meal with someone I focus more on the conversation than the food and eat slowly as we talk. If there is nobody to share a meal with I make sure my computer is off and meditate on each bite, I enjoy the flavors and take my time. I make sure I put my spoon down after every bite and not take another bite until the one in my mouth is complete. These actions also seem to increase my appreciation of the food and slow my consumption to a healthier (for me) level.
After breakfast I clean all the dishes, which I enjoy doing, and then I sit down to do a blog post. Usually an blog idea pops into my head during meditation, running, cooking, or cleaning and I’m able to let it marinate during my morning routine.
This is the first time I’ve really had a routine that is under my control. I don’t have many “rules” about the morning, except no Facebook and no email until the morning ends and I am sitting down to work for the day. I’m sure there will be some tweaking as my life changes but right now I am excited about it.
Wandering Oak 