Winter Morning Routine

Hello, lovelies! It's Winter here in the Northern hemisphere, and while I miss the sunny days of summer, there are a few things that I choose to embrace about this season. For me and many others, I know it can be a more reflective time, time to slow down and look inward. With things being even slower due to the pandemic, I have decided to make the best of it and enjoy some of my favorite things- reading, painting and lots of yoga, cooking warm soups and plant-based stews, and doing some internal work which I will talk about in this post.

What does my daily routine look like at this time of year? I wake up around 6 AM and start my day with a tongue scraping and oil pulling before making myself warm lemon water (sometimes I add freshly grated ginger or a pinch of cayenne). While I am drinking this hydrating beverage, I do my meditation and daily affirmations. Then I start my work with "The Pathway," a method to unblock subconscious limiting beliefs and help create new neural pathways in the brain that allow us to shift blocks and break old patterns.

I started doing this work in January and am finding it so powerful already. I signed up for the yearly subscription, which is $27/month and worth every cent. I heard Lacy Phillips, the founder of this method, a few years ago and remember thinking I wanted to purchase her workshop for my husband. I somehow put it out of my mind, but then I heard her talking about this on another podcast recently, and I immediately went to check it out. I did her free clarity workshop, and without thinking about it, signed up for the year. My intuition was strong on this, and I just knew this is what was needed. She has created a formula for reprogramming your inner child, shadow, and fundamental limiting beliefs to manifest your deepest desires. She believes you don't manifest just on feeling, but you manifest when your underlying beliefs align with your desires. Something I have also felt very aligned with for years. I've been stuck lately, literally stuck in the house and figuratively stuck, as in not expanding. It was time, and thankfully, the Universe showed up with this tool for me to get un-stuck.

She takes you through the process in the first workshop entitled "How to Manifest," and then you start doing neural reprogramming, which she calls DI or deep imaginings. These DIs take you into a theta brain wave state where you can revisit some of the patterns from your earlier years and create new, more magnetic programs or healings. This process helps to align you with your desire-be that a dream house, a partner, a new job, etc. It's all fascinating and brings me back to work I did in 2009-10 that helped me to call in the life of my dreams. What 2020 taught me, amongst other things, is that I have more work to do. To live a life as my most magnetic self and align with my purpose, I needed to revisit some of these tools. Lacy has elegantly put it all together in an organized way that is easy to follow and very effective. This is something that I will be working with though all of 2021.

Back to the routine, once I've been up for an hour and done my meditations and work, I make myself a matcha latte and sit down to read a non-fiction book. Some of the books I am reading or planning to read are: Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon, Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person, Discover Your Dharma: A Vedic Guide to Finding Your Purpose, The Blue Zones, Second Edition: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest. And finally, after reading for about 20-30 minutes, I start my exercise routine. I lean more towards yoga and pilates in the colder months, but I know I need at least 3 days of cardio to function, so I jump on the Peloton bike about 3 days a week and peddle it out. I really do feel better afterward. I recently started the Melissa Wood Health workouts to strengthen my core, and I am noticing a difference. Her exercises are so easy to fit in any time of the day I will add in a quick 15 minutes before lunch or after work to allow me to transition out of work mode.

Since I am not really leaving the house most days, I will not spend much time doing my hair or makeup or getting dressed. Instead, I focus on skincare and haircare. In the Winter, I tend to be dry; I have cracked skin and dry, brittle curly hair. In Ayurveda, this is called having too much Vata. To balance this, I have been doing dry brushing and self oil massage or abhyanga. This is pretty simple and feels fantastic, plus it helps my dry skin pretty significantly. You just warm up some sesame oil (purchase online, not in the grocery aisle), you massage your whole body with long strokes- you can find a YouTube video if it helps to watch. I even do my scalp before I wash my hair. You can do it before getting in the shower or bath, but I prefer after the shower so that the oil stays on my skin. Since I am usually wearing sweat pants anyway, it doesn't matter, but if you plan to get dressed in real clothes, you would most likely prefer to do this before your shower. This is the most indulgent practice and why not? My skin has never looked better.

My morning skincare routine is pretty simple but targeted and effective. You know I love Tatcha, and I start by using the creamy cleanser called The Rice Wash, followed by The Essence and then the Dewy Serum and Elemis Pro Collagen Marine Cream, and finally my favorite sunscreen, Elta MD clear. My facialist told me to wear it even if I am inside all day since the sun does come through the windows- she talked about how plants can grow inside, and it was a duh moment for me, so now I use it inside or out.

And that is my morning routine. Consistency is key for me. It works if I do it daily, and I feel so much better when I am following a routine that supports my well-being and makes me feel good. I think of it as signing a contract with the Universe. By taking care of myself, I am saying that I am worthy of good things. I also have an evening routine, but I will share that in another post real soon.