There’s a lot of talk about morning rituals and how important they are. There’s plenty of claims about how all successful people have a morning routine (usually the same sort of thing) and how morning rituals are key to setting yourself up for success. 

Here’s the thing. There’s a difference between a routine and a ritual. A ritual has three key stage elements: an opening, a liminal phase where change is effected, and a closing. So, for example, a wedding is a ritual which opens, unites a pair of individuals and formally declares them to be a couple (the change), and a closing. Without that change as part of those three stages, whatever it is you’re doing is not a ritual. 

So if you start your day with meditation, exercise and creating your to-do list, while all that stuff is really, really great and supports your mind, body and spirit, it’s not a ritual, it’s a routine. 

Which means you’re probably not going to be too surprised when I confess that I don’t have a morning ritual. I have a routine. And I’m not a huge fan of the emphasis on morning rituals as being the best/only way to achieve anything. Sure, they’re awesome if they work for you, but as with anything else, there’s more than one way to achieve the same goal.

I am not a morning person. I never have been. And to all those people who reckon that you can turn yourself into a morning person just by regularly setting your alarm earlier every day, five years of office work getting up at 6am every day did absolutely nothing to reprogram how my body functions. I remember one boss observing that I didn’t do anything useful before 11 and it’s true – I didn’t. But when I got started, I generally got far more done in my day than most people. 

And that’s still the case. Some days I don’t start work until 3, 4, 5 in the afternoon, but once I get going, my productivity is high and I chew through my to-do list. Personally, I would argue that rather than deciding that the morning is the most important part of the day, it is better to work with your own energies and strengths. I view that opinion as being driven by a society still shaking off the hangover of being an agricultural nation when early starts were non-negotiable. But these days I don’t think it matters when you start work (or whatever it is you have to do) – it only matters that it gets done. And if your brain is at its most effective in the evening, do your important tasks then rather than getting them done first thing in the morning. If you’re anything like me, pushing yourself to do things in the morning just because it’s the morning ends up with me being less productive, not more. 

So rather than feeling pressured to get All The Things Done in the morning, release that expectation from yourself and instead look at your lifestyle and your own personal preferences to see how you can work with them to best effect. If you have small children, early starts are a fact of life. (Trust me – I had 5 children under 8 at one point, so I know first hand how hard those early years are!) If you have to be at work for a certain time, that’s not going to change. (Unless you have an understanding boss who is willing to let you start and finish later.) Some things cannot be changed, so you need to work with them rather than against them. 

Then look at your own personal preferences. What would you like to do every day? (Not do you feel you should do every day – what would you like to do.) What improves your mental, physical, emotional or spiritual health? What acts of self-care do you want to prioritise at this time? Now think about when you have time in your schedule for these things. When is your energy, focus and creativity at its peak? When do you need to do something to lift your mood?

For example, I know I like to meditate every day. Back when I was working in offices, there was no way I was getting up earlier just to meditate, no matter how much I love it. Instead, I made meditation the last thing I did at night. No matter how late I went to bed, I would take time out to meditate before I went to sleep because that way I knew it would definitely happen rather than trying to find time during the day, failing and then beating myself up for letting another day slide. Interestingly, after having children, I found that meditating last thing no longer worked for me. I was too tired to focus. Switching it to first thing in the morning is what works for me now – but only because my mornings don’t start as early any more. 

Don’t be afraid to regularly examine your routines and rituals and see what you might want to change. We are constantly evolving as human beings and what worked for us in the past may no longer serve us. We can outgrow things which once worked for us. At the moment, I meditate first thing in the morning, watch an inspirational video and then exercise before I get stuck into the day’s work. Doing the things which serve me but don’t require massive amounts of brain power or energy before I do anything else means I get to feel smug because I’ve ticked all those boxes and puts me in a good mood for the day. If I notice that I’ve started letting that routine slide, I’ll reexamine it and look at how whether I need to do other things which achieve the same purpose or change the time of day I’m doing things. 

If you want to learn more about yourself what will work best for you, come join us on the Journey Through the Chakras. You can spend a day exploring your energies and discovering what serves you and what you need to let go for now. Book your place while you still can.