Five Ways to Keep Your Morning Sacred with Jill Thiry

Learning to savor the first moments of the morning can set the tone for a great day. Jill Thiry teaches Tips for a Magic Week at The Ranch, teaches classes on setting intentions and mindfulness, and is the founder of Club Change. Many of these tips she learned from Rancho La Puerta Co-founder Deborah Szekely. I asked Jill how to keep my morning alarm from being a start gate and use it as an opportunity to relax and find gratitude for the day. She shared these five ways to keep yourself and your morning sacred.

1. Saying “good morning” out loud to yourself when you wake up puts you in the reality of now. Something about the vibration of those words and statement is powerful when you hear yourself say it. It’s empowering and it greets the day in gratitude and honoring you in it!  The first word is GOOD.  Choose to make it intentional.  You’re saying good morning to yourself, to the day, and to each present moment.

2. How about giving a gift to yourself and starting your day with self-love and gratitude? It’s easy for many of us to spend time in self-criticism, yet totally enjoyable to be in gratitude. Consider saying thank you to your bed for a night’s rest. Thank your body for waking up as “me.” Start the day with compassion for yourself and say, “thank you” to you and the life, or even the smallest things that support you.

3. Create a sacred space first thing in the morning.  The first 10 to 20 minutes of the day are for you. If your phone is your alarm, turn it off when it wakes you and set it down. It might be preferable to buy a good ole alarm clock and have your digital life be far away from your resting place.  Give yourself the gift of time and space and mindful presence to start your day by avoiding the news or messages from any devices.

4. Move before breakfast. Stretch, walk, practice deep breathing, or offer a sunrise salutation before your morning meal.  You might even do some stretches and twists right in your bed!  Moving your body, and all or its systems, give them a gracious chance to wake up and support you through your day. Allow the miracle that is you to wake up energetically and honor all that is within you.

5. Break your fast by hydrating and then eating foods that are close to the earth. Breakfast is an easy meal to avoid prepackaged foods. Eating local and fresh foods brings nutrients, better fiber, and a better life-giving force. Eating local and organic is also The Ranch way. Enjoy what the earth provides. Food is a gift of the earth and the work of many people to form a blessing to your day.

See a few other tips for managing information overload here and see our Mindfulness class offerings.