Daily rituals · Morning routine

I can promise you that establishing a morning routine that I enjoy has changed my life lately. For a couple of years now I’ve been trying to find a routine that would stick with me, and I tried many many things, until I found what really makes me feel good - and that is the key to making this practice happen on a daily basis.

So what is a morning routine and why have one?

Everybody has a morning routine of some sort, from the way you wake up, to the things you do before you go out of the house, like brushing your teeth, shower and all that. You could say these are the things you do for your physical body to look, smell and feel good so that you can start the day.

But what about your mind and energy?

When you wake up in the morning, have you ever noticed the first thoughts that are going through your mind? Have you noticed how you feel? What emotions are present? What I have noticed is that the first thoughts that are going through my mind when I wake up are very often quite negative; like what I haven’t been able to accomplish yet in my life, or my weaknesses, or the things I don’t have that I really want, and the list goes on. This is called negative self-talk, and it happens to all of us. These negative thoughts in the morning are basically downloads of the programs you hold in your subconscious mind; these programs you picked up from your early childhood, through parents, culture, society and religion and they have to do with whatever the collective consciousness and value systems these people/institutions abide to.

We all run on these programs, or put it different, they are running our lives without us realising, as they are subconscious thought-forms. These negative thoughts, when they are present, they turn into worry, and then all kinds of negative emotions - fear, despair, depression even, and that is a reason why you just don’t want to get up from bed at all some days. Things like bad weather and little sunlight - which are commonly thought to give us a bad mood especially in winter times, they just add to the negativity that is already there coming from the subconscious patterns, but they’re not the cause of your bad mood.

The reason behind this subconscious downloading in the morning has to do with the frequencies the brain emits. Under awake states the brain emits frequencies in the beta state (13-30 cycles per sec), and when we sleep those frequencies go down - when dozing off and falling asleep between 12- 5 hz (alpha and theta state) and when we are in deep sleep below 5 hz and close to 0 (delta). And so during that time that you fall asleep or wake up, your brain operates in the alpha state, and within this state is when the subconscious part of your mind is accessed. You typically stay in the alpha state for up to 2 hours after you get up from bed - that’s a long time! - which means that what you choose to do during this time is either validating the existing patterns or reforming them.

When I used to live and work in London my morning routine would look like this: wake up, shower, dress, out of the house, and all that within 10min. Within the first 30min of leaving the house, running down the street along with everyone else and fighting my way into and out of the tube, I would arrive at the office feeling exhausted and kind of depressed; and this would be the tone of my day. You can imagine what this does to you on a regular basis for extended periods of time; hello depression and burnout.

Two years on and I have now thankfully changed my life so that I don’t have to commute like this every morning, but even if your life is still somehow like that, there are ways that you can break this cycle of morning negativity by engaging in practices that can change your chemistry and can make you feel good and think positive in the morning. This is why in spiritual practices you typically wake up in the early morning to meditate and engage in energy practices - because during this time is when you can change the patterns of your subconscious from negative to positive ones.

My basic morning practice:

It’s taken me a couple of years to establish a morning routine that is super nourishing and makes me feel great, and it is changing with the seasons and depending on how I feel on the day. Here’s what I do as a base every morning:

Dry skin brushing

First thing I do when I get up is get completely naked and start brushing my skin with a natural bristle body brush; this is a typical nordic spa tradition but also common in Chinese traditional medicine. There’s a lot on the internet about the benefits of dry brushing, and in a few words it opens up the pores of the skin, and when done on a regular basis it facilitates the detoxification process of the body. Besides this, what I experience every single time I’m brushing in the morning is that it makes me feel great! I mean really great, there have been many times that I’ve woken up feeling very low and I’ve forced myself to get up and start brushing, and after a couple of minutes my energy changes and all of a sudden I feel good and positive. It’s really incredible, and you should try it as it’s an instant mood enhancer. I have one with a handle for the back and another smaller one to travel with.

Cold shower

Now this is the real deal! Many people are afraid of the cold, and it’s understandable as it can feel very uncomfortable in the beginning, but the benefits are so staggering, plus it feels so good afterwards, that it is really worth it. I can’t stress enough how much it is worth it, my whole life has changed because of this daily practice. We are so conditioned to believe that the cold is dangerous, and that is why we are so afraid of it. When you actually convince your mind that it is ok to be under cold water, then the initial shock and pain can turn into a blissful experience (after a couple of min I’d say). We do this a lot in nature with @intothewild.within and it’s a very special thing to do as you get all the benefits of grounding at the same time. But for at home, the simple cold shower is more than enough to make you feel amazing in the morning, and I never skip it apart from when I’m on the first 2-3 days of my period. More on the cold shower wonders on a next post; for now, here’s what Yogi Bhajan said about this practice (ishnaan in yogic terms).

Kundalini yoga

Since last September I’ve been a complete devotee of Kundalini yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan, and my every day life has changed on so many levels as an immediate result. Practicing for about an hour every morning makes me feel so good, positive and super energetic. This is a complete workout that doesn’t just work the body, but it totally renews the energy and restructures the mind. You have to try for yourself to get into it, but I have to tell you, it can get very contagious! You need to find a teacher that resonates, and there are many videos on youtube to get started. I personally follow guru Jagat, but this is definitely very personal, and as with any yoga style, you have to find a teacher with the vibes you like. Even Russel Brand is practicing kundalini yoga on youtube in case you like that style, I think he’s pretty cool! If you’re totally knew to yoga, or kundalini yoga, I would advise you to go to the class physically, somewhere near you, as it is always better to practice in a group. Then as you get more accustomed to the different exercises you can start doing more things online at home. More on my kundalini practice to follow on next posts.

Other practices

I like that I do depending on how I’m feeling on the day:

vocal toning • as a trained sound healing practitioner and yogini for quite a few years now, I’m particularly interested in sound and especially when that is the voice itself. Immense healing there is here to be experienced, and I love to explore the sound of my own voice and its effect on my body, mind, emotions. I’ve written a little about this in my post about ways to ease in to your meditation practice.

gratitude • the practice of feeling gratitude is a very powerful one, and I use it often when I’m feeling down. just bringing to mind what I’m grateful for in the moment, and staying with that frequency of the feeling of joy that comes with gratitude can seriously elevate your mood. Sometimes you need to just think of one thing and others you need to write whole pages, depends on how deep a dip you’re in.

intuitive movement • I love moving my body intuitively, another way to say free flow dancing while deeply sensing the body and how it wants to move. Modern lifestyle including sitting for too long, whether that is on chairs, sofas, cars, and the like, our bodies are starved for movement. When moving in ways that we don’t normally move a lot of stuck energy is released from the bodies pockets, a few minutes of free flow movement can lead to great feelings of elation - I recommend high vibe yogic mantra music like the incredible White Sun.

morning pages • or in other words, intuitive writing, can be extremely relaxing and clarifying as when putting thoughts down on paper is like dumping all the excess content out of your mind onto somewhere else, doesn’t that sound great! Plus you may start seeing patterns when doing this practice, like things that come up often, or come to important insights, as in this practice you’re directly channeling your higher consciousness.

Tips for success

(meaning consistency)

Find practices you really enjoy

..and by that I mean try out many different things and become super conscious of what you like and what you don’t like, and why. We’re all unique beings, what works for some doesn’t for others. You need to find what works for you, and that is by feeling the way a certain practice makes you feel.

Wake up early

If your excuse for not having a morning practice is not enough time, then you need to wake up earlier. Shifting from sleeping and waking up late to sleeping & waking up early has been a huge upgrade on my energy levels and general mood and outlook on life for me. Biologically speaking, sleeping between 10pm to 2am is when the body really needs to be asleep for the best quality rest, and although it requires some changes in lifestyle - especially around social engagements, your body will really thank you for this shift to a more natural sleeping pattern. Plus you will have more time in the morning for your practice!

Dress for success

Putting on some nice and comfortable clothing that makes you feel amazing, specifically for your practice - for me that’s my kundalini yoga, is a great way to get into it! Yes you could also just do your morning practice in your pjs but I guarantee it won’t have the same effect as changing into something more special. Even better, a great excuse to go shopping for something you really value as your morning practice attire! I love my beige waffle turban and snow white leggings for my practice.
I’m also a huge proponent of conscious shopping and utilising material pleasures in a way that is spiritually elevating.

It’s ok that you don’t do it every day

Really, it’s ok! Establishing a habit like this takes time and effort, it’s near impossible to happen from one day to another. Don’t judge yourself for not being able to stick to it, just keep trying different practices until you find the one that really suits you. And that can change with the seasons, phase of your life, who you live with, where you live..it’s all ok, you don’t have to answer to anyone about how often you do your practice or what you do and how you do it, this is for you by you. Enjoy this precious time of much needed self-care.

Looking for some guidance and inspiration?

I recently launched new online portal and community - the Home Practice - which contains many of the practices of breath, sound and meditation I teach in my workshops and expeditions in nature.

Accessible on your phone and laptop through a super easy and beautiful digital portal, here you can find short duration 10-15min breathing and sound toning exercises intended for daily practice, as well as longer duration 30-60min deepening journeys for self-exploration and healing.

As part of the membership you get a monthly live practice session guided by me and my man, Joren de Bruin.

Shoot me a question if you have any here.

ABOUT ELENA STAVROS

Welcome to my online portal!

I am a former Googler reborn as conscious & self-aware living advocate.

I’m a speaker, writer and coach passionate about helping people live their best lives by tapping into the Source of their truth, power and true desire.

I offer individual mentoring and online programs, and I lead transformational expeditions in nature.