NOTE TO SELF
morning mantras to get you over the hump. (What's yours?)
It sounds simple, but the days I get up drink water (with lemon), make a green juice and exercise before I do just about anything else I feel powerful, clear and directed. Time zips by, in a good way. I’m making things happen.
Recently, after loosing a full night of sleep to overseas travel, I slipped into a different state of being—staying up late, lingering in bed, overthinking problems and telling myself I’ll get back on the bike (the Peloton, my cardio of choice), tomorrow.
The way all this felt in my mind was sticky. The way it felt in my body, even sticker. And familiar.
I spent a good deal of covid rocking some of these patterns. (Maybe you did, too?)
It can manifest like this: half a day wasted laboring over a decision to hop on a long train train and go to an event that excites and motivates me, but comes with a good deal of (logistical) challenge.
By the time I decided, the train was gone.
On that day, I realized I hadn’t done any of the things I usually do in the morning. I hadn’t eaten breakfast, or exercised, I hadn’t even drank water (with our without lemon!!) —making it feel nearly impossible to make the tiniest decisions, much less pack up for that fleeting train!
If only I’d showered and put on my makeup first thing, I’d already be there. SHOWER AND PUT ON MAKEUP. Simple. A mantra. Something you say (and then do…) by habit, can turn it all around. It can stop the parade of what ifs in the mind, and turn them on their head.
It sounds woo woo—but actually, mantras are deeply practical.
A mantra can be something like ALL IS WELL, RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW.
or BE A WARRIOR, NOT A WORRIER
or, even more simply….
I AM ENOUGH
But a morning mantra can be even more practical, and in my opinion, it’s most useful when it is.
SHOWER AND PUT ON MUSIC (if, say, music takes you out of your head)
WAKE UP AND MEDITATE
It can be a little trigger that runs on loop for mornings your brain is overtaxed and pulled in too many directions—a set of words with a set of instructions that puts you in motion (just like, maybe your evening mantra helps you to set motion aside, so you can rest).
For a long time, half of this year so far, my LIFE MANTRA has been
ACTION, NOT THOUGHT, BRINGS CLARITY.
This reminds me that sitting around and overthinking solves exactly nothing. But taking steps toward anything (solutions, goals, wellness, joy) gets you closer and closer by the second.
This can work as a morning mantra, too. It’s bigger and more inclusive, for you big picture thinkers.
And for those of us who—at least some days—need baby steps, directives and maps to get over a hump, feel free to borrow mine:
ACTION, NOT THOUGHT, BRINGS CLARITY. SHOWER AND PUT ON MUSIC, AND THEN WE’LL TACKLE THE REST.
xx
-S