09/03/2025
✨️Self care and morning routine✨️
Your self care/morning routine does not need to look like this... in fact, this isn't even from today, this was from last weekend. Last weekend when I had the house to myself and an unexpected day off, so I chose to up my morning routine to a full day of ritual and self care... but that's not reasonable for most people every single day.
Today, my self care looked like reading a chapter in my book, doing a round of dishes (because I'd rather have clean dishes to work with this evening than be forced into a mad clean of dishes just to dirty them again for dinner), and took the trash to the end of the driveway with my husband (because we both forgot until he was leaving and it saved him a second trip), and all the while having a simple candle burning in the background.
So when you break that down simply:
*light candle
*read
*chores
For me, simplicity is key, second to simplicity, variety.
I never stuck with morning routines for long. Usually I'd get a couple of weeks in before I gave up entirely, even if it was something I LOVED in the beginning, I'd lose steam, lose interest, and be back to a morning slump feeling drained and unmotivated... but somewhere along the way I realized I didn't need to have a prescriptive self care routine. For some folks, carving out an exact routine to stick to is the way to go, for me, I require fluidity and options.
So somewhere along the way I starting giving myself permission to do what felt right, but what remained constant was the intention to set aside at least 10 minutes after I woke up for self care, what I do with that 10 minutes is up to me. Usually, I read a chapter in a book or journal, and now I usually have to pull myself away from reading or writing to get on with the day, but in the beginning I had to set an alarm and force myself to stick with it. I didn't just wake up one morning, a non-reader/writer, and decide to start reading and writing. It took a long time.
I went through dozens of morning routines before I started settling in on what worked for me. Some were more movement based, some were more nuanced, but what stuck was simplicity.
My general, daily, outline:
*no phone for an hour after wakeup
*read or journal
*gentle movement
To extend on the outline:
*no phone for an hour requires me to focus on myself for a while, it's too easy to hop on the phone to check a notification, then find myself peeling myself away from my phone 20 minutes later, wishing I'd given myself more time in the morning. So it's a general rule. Any notification will be there in an hour. Any news updates, emails, or social media posts will be there in an hour. All of it can wait.
*read or journal: usually I do both, but giving myself the option allows me to take stock each day on what drives me. I have a pile of books I'm reading, a collection of journals, and I let myself choose each morning what I'm feeling more drawn to. Some mornings it's a single book, other mornings I pull a pile and make a point to do a little something from each, it depends on nothing but inspiration, and if I'm not feeling inspired, I grab a book at random and let it tell me what I need.
*gentle movement: this might come as a surprise to some, but I don't do a mat-based practice every morning (let alone every day), I practice yoga every day, but not asana per say. Each morning, I let my body tell me what it needs, and I adjust accordingly. When I wake up and feel like I've been hit by a pile of bricks, I'm not going to start my day off forcing myself to do something wild and physical. Usually, I do chores. Sounds counterintuitive, but "motion is lotion" and "movement is medicine", so finding a task like dishes or laundry is gentle, requires I start moving, and given the nature of doing chores, it makes me feel accomplished (triple whammy self care IMO). But of course, on days I'm feeling better, spicy even 😉 I'll dance or do a physical practice to start the day.
All this to say, self care should be unique to you.
It should honor your interests, needs, and wellbeing. It doesn't need to be cookie cutter, it doesn't need to be exact, it doesn't need to be a life sentence prescribed by a doctor or therapist (which is what it felt like when I was first introduced to the concept). And you sure as hell don't need to go from no self care routine to a perfectly carved out and detailed routine overnight. In fact, it will be far more sustainable if you don't.
Here's an idea of how to start:
*Take some time to think about your current routine (or lack thereof), not from a place of judgement, but from a place of interest and curiosity.
*Then think about self care routines in general, think about posts you've seen and felt inspired by, think about past routines you had (and enjoyed but for whatever reason stopped), and make a list of ideas. This could be in words or using images.
*Take the list and review it. Put a line through items that are not available to you right now and won't be reasonably available in the near future (too expensive, not enough space, not allowed to burn candles per rental agreement, so on).
Put a circle around the items that are available to you or at least are reasonable to acquire in a short period of time (buying a new journal or book, cleaning up a space designated for reading or meditation).
*Finally, look at the options that were circled, you can leave it on the same sheet or transfer to another one, and choose *ONE* reasonably possible task/idea to implement within the next 3 days (ultimately 24hrs to seal the intention)
(Example: when my goal was to "drink lemon water before coffee" I set an alarm to remind yourself of this intention, if it helps you can set out the tea pot and mug at night before you go to bed as a reminder in the morning, but one of the sneakier thing I did to myself to force this, was I deliberately didn't set the coffee maker, so when I woke up annoyed I didn't have coffee right away, it reminded me to drink the hot lemon water while it brewed).
All this to say, get creative, get specific, and take care of yourself out there! You are worth it!
If you're feeling stuck, and need support around creating a plan, reach out to schedule a consultation. Meetings can be scheduled through zoom or done in-home!
Gal.X.e Wellness LLC
