My Top 3 Morning Habits
Via | Jessica Wilkins | November, 21, 2023
1. MEDITATE!
Meditation has taken my experience of life to a whole new level and all my clients who have committed to it would likely say the same thing. I have worked up to meditating for at least 30 minutes per day, but even a few minutes to start can be a game changer. I started with doing 5 minutes on the app Headspace. I now use an app called Insight Timer for guided meditations as well as for a nice meditation timer. Meditation always helps me to start the day with the clear intention of presence and peace. And science shows that meditation can reduce stress and anxiety, enhance quality of life, and even help with memory and attention span.
2. GRATITUDE
If you have the habit (like I did in the past) of waking up in the morning and immediately going into what I call ‘hamster-wheel syndrome,’ cataloging all the things you have to do and launching your mind into the future or the past, this is your antidote. Gratitude is one of the greatest determinants of happiness (there is research on this) and generally, we have to train ourselves to practice it. The reason why is because it is human nature to focus on what’s NOT going well in our lives more than the opposite (this is called the negativity bias in psychology). So as soon as your alarm goes off, rather than allowing your mind to get pulled into the chaos tornado of to-dos, take a deep breath and direct your attention to three things that you’re grateful for – for an extra bonus, share them with your family, text them to a friend, or write them down in a journal.
3. DRINK A TALL GLASS OF WATER
This is how it goes for me: Wake up, think about 3 things I’m grateful for before getting out of bed, go to the bathroom and scrape my tongue (an Ayurvedic practice), down 16oz of warm, reverse osmosis filtered water with a little sea salt and lemon, and go meditate. After 7-8 hours of sleep the body is dehydrated! So the first thing we can do to take care of ourselves in the morning is drinking a big glass of water…and no coffee doesn’t count. Drinking water in the morning does many wonderful things for your body including kickstarting your metabolism, increasing energy and cognitive performance, improving mood and mental clarity, flushing toxins from the cells and blood, improving the condition of your skin and joints, and so much more. Give me all these things plz!
So there it is – my top 3 morning habits!
Love and light, Jessica
Jessica Wilkins
Jessica has been in the health and wellness field for over a decade and is an experienced plant-based nutritionist and coach. She has taught a diverse group of people in a variety of settings including her own private practice, fitness centers, a functional medicine clinic, a diabetes program, a corporate behavioral health organization, the world-renowned Dean Ornish Heart Disease Reversal program, and even a prison. She is an avid yogi and meditator, practices that have transformed her life tremendously. Jessica believes in the power of holistic healthcare, targeting every aspect of the person including mind, body, and spirit. Her mission is to help others to heal themselves so that together we can work to make the planet a healthier and more peaceful place for the benefit of all beings.
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