How To Craft A Morning Ritual To Shift The Energy Of Your Day
It’s taken me years to understand the importance of a morning ritual. I find it important to make the distinction between ritual and routine. When I think of a routine, it feels heavy, another thing I have to check off my list. Whereas when I think of a ritual, it feels fluid, something that can grow with me instead of boxing me in.
While we can do anything, we can’t do everything. Our time is valuable, which is why a morning ritual is crucial. Understanding what you need to begin your day has the power to completely transform your life. You don’t have to make big changes to feel more fulfilled and connected to your purpose.
Remember, you are the leader of your own life. You may not be able to quit your job or move to Bali, but maybe you can wake up 5 minutes earlier or give yourself permission to start your day doing something just for you. Small changes can have a major impact. You can completely shift the energy of your days simply by implementing a daily morning ritual.
Signs It Might Be Time To Change Or Implement A Morning Ritual
Over the years, I’ve ebbed and flowed through consistency with my mornings. I’ve noticed a few signs that tend to show up indicating it’s time to reevaluate or reinstate a morning ritual.
You Dread Waking Up Before You Even Go To Sleep
If you find that the only thing getting you out of bed in the morning is your coffee, then it might be a sign you need a shift. Recently I decided to take a job teaching Pilates. I thought it was going to be a fun way to build community and share something I’m passionate about. Instead, I found that teaching two days a week filled me with dread. On the days I wasn’t teaching, I would be counting down until I had to get through another shift of classes. I would go to bed filled with unease and not wanting tomorrow to come. As soon as I let go of that job, I felt lighter. I wasn’t counting each hour passing, and was able to be more present.
What in your life is weighing you down currently?
Can you find the courage to name it?
You Revenge Procrastinate At Night Before Bed
Revenge procrastination is a byproduct of joy scarcity in our days. It usually happens when you don’t have enough time in your day just for you, or you’re disconnected from your deeper why. You find yourself staying up later than you’d like scrolling on social media to avoid going to bed even though you know it’s going to result in a snooze (or two) of your alarm in the morning. If this is happening more often than not, it might be your sign to implement a morning ritual.
You Feel Like You’re On An Endless Hamster Wheel With No End In Sight
Does your life feel like you’re on a rinse, repeat cycle? If all your days are feeling the same and you find yourself counting down to the weekend, then it might be time to make a change. As someone who craves consistency, I don’t want all of my days to feel the same. When I first started working for myself, I struggled to understand my own rhythm. At first, I tried to follow a strict schedule and when that didn’t work I went to the other extreme and didn’t schedule anything for myself. I also would try to create my schedule to avoid being out during peak times. It took years of experimenting to really understand how I worked best and what I needed from my days. Now I know that while I don’t work a traditional 9-5, I find that I enjoy being part of a collective rhythm. I like my Saturdays to feel fun and free. I like the energy of a fresh start each Monday. You might not have the freedom to create your own schedule right now, and that’s okay. Small changes can create significant impact.
Your Days Feel Like They Lack Purpose And You’re Feeling Disconnected Or Unfulfilled
Do you feel like you’re just going through the motions? You have your checklist and you’re a pro at getting things done, but maybe your actions lack meaning or you feel disconnected from what is most important to you. It’s easy to get swept up in the current of life and forget why you’re doing what you’re doing. Connecting to your purpose might look like completely changing your current life, or maybe you just need to reconnect with what’s most important to you.
Crafting Your Ideal Morning Ritual
The way you start the day sets the tone from which everything else unfolds. Morning rituals aren’t meant to be rigid or binding; it’s a tool to help you shift the energy of your days and ultimately move closer to your dream life.
The 3 Most Important Elements Of Your Morning Ritual
There is so much noise on the internet surrounding this particular topic. Everyone seems to have their own version of the perfect morning routine that will optimize your life and increase productivity. Looking at someone else’s morning ritual can be a great way to get started if you’re feeling stuck, but I would encourage you to turn inward and look to your own innate wisdom.
What works for someone else might not work for you. It’s important to understand what you’re hoping to get out of a morning ritual. Crafting a ritual that actually supports you is what will move the needle forward.
I invite you to use the following principles as a guide as you begin to craft your morning ritual:
1. Keep it simple
A supportive ritual doesn’t need to be complicated. Simplicity will make it easier to stay consistent.
2. Create from being rather than doing
Ask yourself “who do I want to become” versus “what do I want to do” and the actions will follow.
3. Stay rooted in joy
What do you love doing? What makes you lose track of time? How can you incorporate this into the start of your day?
Look To Your Human Design
Human Design is one of my favorite tools to help understand how energy moves through you. This can be especially useful when creating your ritual.
Are you someone who finds ease through consistency and structure, or do you need more freedom and flow? You can look at your Determination (the top left arrow in your chart) and it will tell you. If your arrow faces left, then your soul craves more consistency and routine. If your arrow faces right then you thrive with a more spontaneous and free-flowing schedule.
I also like to look at my Environment in Human Design. It can help you find where your morning ritual might take place and what elements you invite in. Vaness Henry is a great resource to help you use your Environment to design different spaces in your home.
Looking at your Energy Type will help you better understand how you’re meant to spend your time and what kind of rhythm works best for you.
Looking at your Personality Profile will connect you to your purpose by helping you understand the journey you came here for and how you engage with yourself, others, and the world around you.
There are so many elements in your Human Design chart you can look to for inspiration and information. The few I named are just a jumping off point. You can find your Human Design chart using your birth information here.
Use Your Intuition
You already know what is best for you and what you need. Sometimes what’s aligned with our true nature gets muddled with productivity hacks, what we think we should do, or what others want from us. Sometimes we create distractions for ourselves in order to avoid what is calling to us on a soul level.
Your own inner wisdom is the most potent advice you can tap into because it’s created from you, for you and is uniquely tailored to exactly who you are and who you’re meant to become. Find space to get quiet and let those little nudges come through. If you’re having a hard time connecting, you might try journaling or using tarot cards. I’ve also created a course, 111 Questions to Ask Your Inner Voice, to help you strengthen your connection and deepen your relationship with your inner wisdom.
Most importantly, trust what you’re feeling and the instincts you have.
How To Keep Your Morning Ritual Sustainable
Creating a ritual that supports you is important, but it won’t truly be supportive unless you’re able to stay consistent.
Stay Consistent While Remaining Flexible
Hopefully your new morning ritual is something you feel excited to show up to. If you find that you’re not enjoying what you’ve created, maybe you experiment and make adjustments until you do. The ritual that will be most supportive is the one you’re able to show up to consistently. I like to hold consistency with the permission to be flexible. That might look like skipping a day when you need to, or maybe you show up for only a couple minutes. Allowing yourself to be flexible and truly honor where you’re at is going to be the key to a sustainable ritual.
Allow Yourself To Experiment and Change With The Seasons
We’re not meant to stay stagnant, and neither are our routines. Different seasons of life will require you to show up differently which means the support you need and how you spend time might change.
I live in a place where summer days are long, while winter means shorter days with more darkness. I like to lean into the energy of the season I’m in. My morning ritual during summer usually starts with a long early morning walk. The sun rises earlier, so I tend to wake up earlier. During winter, my mornings are much slower. I give myself more time to just be, and my ritual starts with stillness and journaling.
Seasons aren’t always bound to what’s happening in nature. You might be going through a busy season of life where the demands on your time are high. Or maybe you have more space in your schedule. Can you be brutally honest with yourself about where you’re at and what you need?
I recommend checking in with yourself as the seasons shift. Ask yourself if what you’re doing is still supportive and energizing and make any necessary tweaks. Let your morning ritual be a fluid and evolving practice.
Connect To Your Deeper Why
It’s important to understand how your morning ritual serves you on a higher level, otherwise you might find yourself simply going through the motions. How does this practice support your overall vision for your life? Is there a dream you’ve left behind that keeps calling to you?
If you understand what is most important to you, then it becomes easy to figure out how you want to spend your time. When you start your day with what’s most important to you, then you shift the energy of what comes next.
I’m excited for you as you embark on the journey of creating your unique morning ritual. I know that you’ll make something supportive and magical for yourself. If you’re looking for support as you dive in, you might…
Connect to your north star using my FREE Intention Setting Worksheet.
Book a tarot reading to clarify what elements make up your perfect morning ritual.
Cultivate inner calm and ignite more wonder by downloading this visualization.
Discover how you best connect to your inner wisdom by taking this quiz.
Kim Kogane is a writer and intuitive guide helping you navigate the tender in-between seasons. She lives in Seattle, Washington with her dog, Cauchy, and three cats. Learn more about Kim.
