5 practices for more peaceful & intentional mornings

a love letter to the first few hours of the day.

written by sophie klemond

there are few things more beautiful to me than the morning. from the first few hazy seconds in which you gain consciousness and establish that you get to be alive and play around in the universe once again (how lucky!), to the dripping foam of your toothpaste in the sink, to the hum of your boiling water and the creak of your front door as you step out for the first time, i’m nothing short of charmed. i guess this makes me a morning person by nature, something people seemingly strive to be or make themselves through regimented routines and repetitive early alarms. to clarify, this doesn’t mean i wake up immediately energized and cheery every day; in fact lately i’ve found myself struggling to force my eyes open to the sound of my own alarm, bargaining with myself for 30 more seconds, one more minute, of sweet rest before the real world takes over. some days i even wake up inexplicably angry from the moment i open my eyes, or with a heavy heart, or full of dread for the long hours of obligations before me. on mornings like these, it’s particularly valuable to have practices i can turn to for serenity, peace, and intentionality - and to remind myself of the inimitable energy and beauty that i feel in the air during the first few moments of the day.

i delay picking up my phone as long as possible.

if you try one practice from this list, let it be this one. perhaps my most valuable piece of advice, and for so many reasons, is to create as much of a buffer as possible between the moment you open your eyes and the moment you tap in to your phone for the day. let’s be honest: like it or not, the information on your phone holds powerful influence over your emotional state. the string of groupchat texts from your friends making plans for the day, the news updates, the freshly curated social media feeds, your ex’s snapchat story, the (chilling) weekly screen time report; your phone is flooded with stimuli that you cannot predict, control, or anticipate, putting you in a state of immediate reaction. even the opposite, a lonely, empty lockscreen with nothing but the halfhearted alert that low power mode was automatically turned off at 1:57am, is enough to throw your mood off before you even have the chance to check in with yourself. furthermore, it’s a waste of an incredible opportunity: you’ve essentially just taken an hours-long detox from your phone while you were sleeping. how rare and precious that is, in our ever-connected daily lives, to detach for a while. stay a little longer in that sweet free place, even just a few minutes. before allowing outside forces to dictate your mood, i encourage you to try setting the precedent yourself. how do you want to set yourself up to feel, to think, to act today? it helps me to turn the whole thing into a little game with myself. how long can i go before i need to pick it up, to check the weather, to set a timer? how many of the following practices that i share here can be completed before i tune back in to my phone for the day?

i meditate.

i have fallen on and off of morning meditation over time, but recently i’ve picked it back up and made it a priority again. it’s challenging sometimes, particularly on rushed mornings, to stop in your tracks and simply be still for a few minutes. of course, these are also the days when a mindfulness practice will probably serve you the most. to stay consistent, i simply carve out time the night before and refuse to sacrifice it. i can always wake up five minutes earlier to allow for a quick meditation as an act of service to myself. i also thrive on flexibility in my practices; i have no set time frame or place where i have to meditate. some mornings i appreciate the structure of a guided meditation, others i prefer the sound of my own breathing in the silence. recently, on the warmest morning i’ve felt in a while, i stepped outside in my pajamas and was taken by the fresh air, so i followed my urge to lay out in the driveway. i soaked up all of my senses: the sweet february sun on my skin, the warm pavement against my spine, the soft chaos of birdcalls, the oranges growing in the tree above me. unplanned, these moments made up my meditation practice for the day, and i was left refreshed and much more in touch with the universe around and within me.

not every day is so rewarding. sometimes your mind will buzz with thoughts and worries and you’ll struggle to sit still, and that’s okay. be patient, be open, release judgment, and stick with it day after day – you will reap the benefits.

i make my bed.

yes, we’ve all heard it a million times. maybe your parents even forced it upon you from a young age. while it’s true that overly-simplified wellness advice can be annoying and eyeroll-illiciting (‘just drink more water!), there’s a reason why the simplest practices are so popular. in the case of bed-making, it’s a prime example of the snowball effect of good habits. by accomplishing even just one small positive task, you’re establishing a precedent in your own mind to keep making constructive, beneficial decisions for yourself. who knows, maybe you’ll get such a thrill from smoothing out your comforter and floofing your pillows that you’ll feel inclined to tidy up the house, file your taxes, and hand-knit monogrammed socks for your roommates, all before 12:00pm. make your silly little bed tomorrow and ride the ensuing wave of productivity.

i practice gratitude.

another buzzy, popular wellness concept that actually works! i like to make this one my first order of business, rolling over to my nightstand and grabbing a pen and notebook quite literally the minute i sit up in bed when i can make myself. i keep it simple: five things i’m grateful for today. often it’s the safe, beautiful home i live in or my light, airy bedroom that i feel so lucky to wake up in every day, other times it’s my friends and family, and sometimes it’s more irreverent and mundane; in the past year or so i’ve jotted down my gratitude for candles, my car, self-tanning lotion, not being hungover, the ocean, fruit, the sun, dark chocolate, and my deep capacity to experience emotion. nothing is too big or small to appreciate in a world that is overflowing with gifts.

i see the sun.

this is a privilege that most of us aren’t blessed with every day (even in sunny san diego), so when the opportunity arises, seize that thing. as spring draws nearer i eagerly await more mornings like the one i had recently, where i can step barefoot out my patio doors and soak up sun’s warmth and love. even just a few moments of direct sunlight in the morning can do wonders for your mood and circadian rhythm. from a spiritual perspective, i feel my connection to nature deepen when i’m outside in the morning. i picked up the habit somewhere of saying namaste to the sun each time i think of it – a sanskrit word used in yoga that translates literally to ‘i bow to you’, and is also often interpreted as ‘the light in me honors the light in you’ – a little morning reminder of our interconnectedness with all of the universe.

i think of these practices like tools in my kit. i don’t have a strict, ordered routine and i’m forgiving with myself if i miss one. we are often busy, and we are human, and no two days look the same. besides, adaptability and consistency over time will serve you far more than perfectionism. i hope these habits bring you joy, or inspire you to carve out a few moments for your own routines to feed your soul and make your mornings a little more special.

sending love & morning sun,

sophie estelle