What has you get excited to wake up in the morning? Many of us think about the alarm clock going off in the morning and cringe. I was one of those people & yet, in Groundhog Day style, I would hear my alarm clock go off again…& again…& again because I was a chronic snoozer. I would sometimes snooze my alarm clock for a full hour or reset my alarm clock for as late as I possibly could or just plain sleep through or ignore my alarm clock.
As I am speaking in past tense, what altered my way of waking up to the world? I began with the baby step of recording my dreams before I even left my bed in the morning. As soon as the alarm clock went off (& sometimes before or without an alarm clock), I would begin to awaken & be witness to my dreams. I felt so connected to recording those dreams & not wanting them to dissipate in the full sharp rationality of stepping out of bed (What do I need to do today? What will I eat for dinner? Who is on my calendar?), I felt motivated to record my dreams in that precious space of half-awakening.
I added non-dominant journaling to my dream recordings. (I wrote about this in a previous blog post: http://possibilitiesunlimited.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/focus_grasshopper/ ). That brought in some conscious & intuitive creation of my day. What are my priorities for the day? What is most important to me today? What would I like to complete today? What values are being reflected in my chosen plans for today?
My intention for some time has been to have a morning meditation. That felt like the next natural baby step in my morning routine. I began with a very brief meditation, following the dream recordings & the non-dominant journaling, brief as in 5 minutes. It gradually extended to 10 & now 15 minutes. It seems to expand & contract, depending on how long the other items take & what I feel into that day.
The final item I’ve added is a pulling of cards. I have a number of different card decks, a Power deck, a Goddess deck, a Self-Care deck, in addition to traditional tarot decks. I think of 3 items in my day, usually me, today & the evening thing I am doing (whether it be connecting with one of my heart people or going out on a date with a new person), & pull one card for each part of my day. I have chosen to pull the cards either before or after journaling & definitely before meditation. (I may add yoga to this mix – & I just realized that I have a yoga card deck, so I could pull a card & do that yoga pose. YES!)
It amazes me that after 3 decades of not being excited to wake up in the morning, of being a chronic alarm clock snoozer, of burying myself under the covers begging the universe for just 5 more minutes of precious sleep, with these little baby steps of dream recording, non-dominant handwriting, pulling cards & meditation (that can take less than 1/2 hour), I have transformed my morning awakening.
Please comment on this blog with questions, comments & sharing of your own personal experiences of morning routines.
Much love, Jodi
