8 Morning Rituals to Improve Your Life – Even When You’re Traveling

I’ve always wanted to be that person that woke up early, got shit done and felt super accomplished at the end of the day. And I have been that person — a time or two. I’ve dabbled with adding positive rituals to my routine here and there, but it never stuck. I’ve tried running every single evening, journaling every morning, making a smoothie every day, but none of it was sustainable for me.

This year, I’ve finally found the motivation to create a morning routine (out of sheer willpower or heartache??? I’m not sure…) I’ve somehow managed to stick with it for almost two months. There’s really nothing like a break up to make a girl become the best version of herself possible. If I was still in my relationship, none of this would even be happening! Funny how life works. And the improvement I’ve seen in my life from adding these morning rituals to my day has been enough to make me want to continue with them and improve my life even more. I want to share with you the parts of my morning rituals that I feel have made the most impact.

I’ve been traveling during a lot of this time too and I’ve learned the importance of rituals when you’re not at home. They keep you feeling more grounded, especially as a digital nomad, that is something that I really need to feel more of at times. The rituals I’m sharing with you are all doable when you’re traveling, all you need is a journal, pen and cell phone.

If you’re feeling low energy, or sad or unmotivated at all, like I was feeling in January, then maybe adding even one of these could help you out too! I started with just a couple and slowly added more.

1.  Wait to Check Your Phone

1 hour

The first thing you do when you wake up, I’m guessing, is check your phone. Am I right? It’s ok, I’m still guilty of this sometimes. But it’s time to stop being a slave to our phones. We’re addicted. And since I’m always traveling, I use my phone for my alarm clock. But if you’re at home, get an alarm clock or have Alexa wake you up. Don’t use your phone because it will push you to check it first thing and automatically become a slave to it. This makes you base your day off of reacting to what’s happening to you instead of deciding for yourself how you’re going to go about your day and what’s important to you. Be proactive, not reactive.

2. Journal

5 minutes

I like to take two different methods to journaling. And I usually do this while I’m still in bed. The first one is to write whatever is on my mind, especially if something heavy is weighing it down. This almost makes it feel like a release to my mind and heart to get it out. It also helps you to process what and how you are feeling about things. I don’t do this freehand-type of writing every day, but more when I’m feeling inclined to get something out.

The second method I take to morning journaling is about writing down my dreams. I try to remember my dreams because they really are trying to tell you something. The second I wake up and remember it, I write it down. The more you do this, the more you’ll remember your dreams.

You might say, “But I never dream.”

Not true. Everyone dreams, you just aren’t remembering them. If you consciously tell yourself you want to remember your dreams, you will start remembering them. Once you remember your first tidbit of a dream, write it down, even if you wake up remembering it at 5 am. Otherwise you probably won’t remember it again when your alarm goes of a couple of hours later. The more you do this, the more you will remember your dreams. I’ve even been having dreams where something seemingly mundane happens and then it comes true in real life.

The other day I dreamt I met my roommate’s brother who stopped by her apartment (which had not happened before). Nothing out of the ordinary, it actually felt like a rather lame dream when I thought about it. The next day, exactly what I dreamt would happen, happened and her brother stopped by and I shook his hand just like in my dream. Was meeting her brother an important milestone in my life? No. But it made me feel like I was on the right track. Plus, if I can have a premonition like that happen, it makes me tune better into myself and my psychic powers. The more I practice this, the more it can happen.

3. Gratitude List

2-3 minutes

As soon as I’ve finished journaling, I write down my gratitude list. The more grateful you are for what already have, the more abundance you will receive. It’s the law of attraction. If you focus on the good, more good will come. This list always includes my parents, my job and my home. I also add little things for each day, like the sun that’s shining, my morning coffee, a new shirt I’m wearing, even the fact that I got my laundry done. Reminding yourself of all of the little things and how special they are can really raise your vibrational levels.

Here’s an example of my gratitude list.

4. “I Am” Affirmations

5 minutes

The next thing I do is think about an intention I want to set for myself for the day. Some examples:

I am strong.

I am where I’m supposed to be.

I am successful.

I am lovable.

I am a goddess.

I am beautiful.

Now take that one affirmation and write it down on a page in your journal over and over to really set your intention. Go back to it later and read it if you feel like you’ve fallen away from it as the day has gone on.

5. Make Your Bed

1 minute

You’re instantly setting your day up with a feeling of success or a win. Even if it’s a small win. I never used to do this, but once I started, I really liked how it made me feel. You’ll feel clearer when your bed is made and your space is tidy. Plus, you’ll love coming home to a clean area with less stress. Once you’ve made your bed, you’re more apt to do follow through with other, bigger things. I heard this quote about making your bed once. “How you do the little things is how you do everything.”

6. Positive Mirror Talk

2 minutes

This is a new one added to my morning ritual, but I’m loving it already. Go in front of your mirror and talk to yourself out loud. Tell yourself how amazing you are and how much you love yourself. I will literally touch every part of my body and tell it how much I love it. I look at myself and tell myself, “You are a complete goddess and deserve nothing but the best.” Literally, just like that. I’ll even give myself a hug.

It may sound cheesy and you may feel weird doing it at first, but it can really only increase your confidence levels and self-love.

7. (Detox) Water + Vitamins

5 minutes

I still don’t really know where I stand on the whole vitamin debate, but I do know that I’m not always the best at eating enough veggies and consuming other important nutrients. Because of this and the fact that I don’t want to get sick while traveling, I like to take them just in case. I like a daily multivitamin, ester C (better than regular Vitamin C), fish oil and a probiotic.

Along with the vitamins, I try to drink an entire glass of water when I wake up. I really don’t “like” drinking water. I’ve always had a hard time with this, so I kind of make myself consciously down it at once to rehydrate from the night before. This helps flush out your system, which is mostly water anyways, and even helps clear your skin. If you put fresh lemon juice in it, even better!

If I’m home or can go grocery shopping, I like to drink this detox mixture that’s proven to help stimulate your system, improve your metabolism and kick sugar cravings for the day. Basically to help improve your overall health. Here’s the recipe.

Morning Detox Drink

3 parts water to 1 part cranberry juice (the real, tart stuff)

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

half of a lemon

aloe vera juice (if you have it)

8. Meditate

10-20 minutes

I use a free app called Insight Timer to meditate. Sometimes I do it from my bed, but sometimes I fall back asleep that way so I try to get up and meditate after I’ve journaled. On this app, there are literally 1,000s of amazing meditations you can listen to or you can do it on your own with their timer. I prefer a guided meditation because it helps me focus and be positive. There are ton of meditation on there designed for the morning (just search “morning meditation” on the app) and getting you set up for a great day.

I really believe that these morning rituals are helping me to become more level-headed, clear-thinking and a healthier, overall more positive person. It’s not always easy to keep them and there are some days where I have skipped out on them.  Just keep trying the next day and remember, it takes a month to form a habit so don’t give up! It truly took me a month to make this a real “thing” in my life and I’m hoping to keep it up!

Do you have any other morning rituals that help your overall wellbeing? I’d love to hear more ideas!

XO,

Kristin