I was contemplating how different my morning routine is compared to a few years ago…
In the past I woke up by being jolted from an exhausted sleep by my alarm blaring in the background; I’d slap it resentfully with my hand to shut it up, groan “oh God, why isn’t it Saturday” and lie there in the dark while I summoned up the energy to switch the bedside light on. I’d languish in bed watching early morning TV whilst drinking a strong coffee to get me going.
Then it was a mad rush to walk the dogs, make a packed lunch, eat some toast and have at least 2 or even 3 more coffees before I could consider showering, brushing my teeth and going to work.
Mornings were a half asleep rush and stress to get out the door on time. Getting out of bed was an effort and some days I would even cry on my way to work because I was so exhausted before my long day even began.
I look back at how easily I’d become stressed and frustrated by the little things; like a patient being five minutes late, a filling turning out to be more challenging than anticipated and even simple paperwork that needed completing. I was like a time bomb with a short fuse, so exhausted I couldn’t cope, exploding with frustration on a regular basis.
Back then, coping meant yelling at my staff, reaching for a coffee or a doughnut between patients, pushing myself by going for a gruelling run, collapsing in front of the TV with a couple of beers before falling into bed in a stupor wishing that a good night’s sleep would make it all better again… which of course it never did, because nothing had changed.
These days I wake up early and naturally, I hardly ever need the alarm to remind me it’s time to get up. I feel refreshed and alert after a good night’s sleep and no longer need coffee to get me started, nor do I dread that it’s a work day and not the weekend.
I have plenty of time to prepare for my day and mornings are steady, not rushed or stressful. I have time for me and my family. I meditate for a few minutes, read, check my social media, spend an hour studying or writing for my work website or blogs, walk the dog, have a cup of herbal tea, make a nourishing breakfast and pack lunches.
All this is done in a gentle rhythm that supports me to feel who I am and where I am at. There is time for a soak in the bath, to do my hair, moisturise my body, dress myself, care for me and appreciate who I am. I check in with how I’m feeling and adjust my morning routine to suit and support me for my day ahead.
I do not have sleep-ins on a weekend, simply because I do not need them as each day I feel full and energised, not drained or exhausted, even after a heavy workload or challenging day.
So why is my morning routine so different now?
Because I have learned that by looking after myself, caring for me and nurturing my body with the right food, style of exercise, rest and going to bed early that I feel much more at ease and able to deal with my day. I have committed to dealing with my issues, resolving situations and truly healing myself, rather than resorting to coping mechanisms that take the edge off my day and actually devitalise and deplete me of energy.
The biggest shift in my morning routine came not from changing what I do, but in how I have come to live based on my daily choices to be gentle with myself, to connect to who I TRULY am, be honest with where I am at and what my body really needs to feel healthy and alive – and to honour what is required.
By Dr Rachel Hall, Holistic Dentist, Kenmore Brisbane Australia
1,336 Comments
Somedays I can have a super busy day, go to bed and wake up refreshed, other times I wake up from a crazy day feeling like death warmed up. Regardless of the work load it’s how I am in the day that determines how I am afterwards. The work load or situation isn’t the determining factor on how I feel, drained or vital.
Purpose gives us energy, if we feel the pulse of life and the need to help in anyway we can, it is purpose that ignites our way.
All of what you have shared Rachel, relates so much to what so many of us feel every day of our lives and the turn around you have shared is a conformation of what is available to us all through the presentations by Serge Benhayon.
Totally agree with you Greg, I can also look back at how easily I’d become stressed and frustrated by the little things in life that would just either frustrate me or tip me into overwhelm and self pity. Meeting Serge Benhayon was for me a life changer because now I can see that when I get affected by my choices during the day they will play out in my sleep pattern at night.
What an incredible turn around Rachel
I love my early mornings and all because I have so much love and purpose in my life, I can’t wait to get up and share it.
Indeed. Since so many of us feel exhausted, depleted and can get quite despondent and grumpy at times it is great to have evidence that says we need not live this way if we choose to, that there is another way.
It’s the how and not what we do that makes the difference to our day and our morning routine. I love reading this blog and know I myself and a few others can so relate, because we have made different life choices.
So true Sue, so much has changed since we started on our return journey to our essences as presented at Universal Medicine events.
Greg feeling the essence of who we truly are is the most delight-full experience, I have several friends who I just adore to be around because they feel so yummy and content within themselves and this is because they have re connected to their essence and share this beauty with everyone. We get to feel this quality and somehow know we are the same too, maybe just not aware that there is another choice or way to be.
It’s the ‘how’ that gives life it’s the depth, it’s the doing that keeps life superficial.
There is a fitness to life I’m discovering, I have recently had an interesting night where it was not possible for me to sleep. So I rested deeply as much as I could given the circumstances. When it was time for everyone to get up my body felt tired but there is a part of me that still feels very vital. I have not resorted to any stimulation such as coffee or sugar I know I must take great care of my self as I work through the day possibly have a nap at lunch time. A few years ago I would never have been able to do this I would have been tired, grumpy and resentful to be kept awake all night. There is so much to be said for living in a way that honours my body it keeps me steady.
Beautiful to hear Mary. Even if we can’t sleep we can rest deeply. I find Esoteric Yoga to be deeply supportive and also refreshing.
When we live in a way that honours our bodies there is an evenness to life that allows us to observe more, feel more appreciation and get less reactive. In the space we create we support ourselves to remain steady, or at least to bounce back quicker if we wobble.
Michelle I love what you are saying here because what you are referring to is a deeper level of life that we become aware of when we are in an even state or being steady with ourselves. This deeper aspect of life is fascinating as it is like peeling away a layer of life to discover a much richer source underneath that we have been completely unaware of.
‘I have committed to dealing with my issues, resolving situations and truly healing myself, rather than resorting to coping mechanisms that take the edge off my day and actually devitalise and deplete me of energy.’ Apart from taking care of basic needs like food and sleep, the single most supportive thing we can do for ourselves is to deal with our hurts.
How we live is truly incredible, we literally have an opportunity every day, every hour, every second to choose to be more loving, more wise and more understanding.
Choosing the real you -now thats power.
This is a brilliant sharing Le because we have forgotten how to be how you describe but here you are reminding us what is possible. Anything and everything is possible when we make loving choices.
There is always an underlying reason we may feel exhausted, it is usually to do with taking on to much or taking on other people emotions, when we look at the root cause and deal with it we no longer have that exhaustion in our bodies.
How about your whole day? I think we underestimate the effect anger, frustration, bitterness, resentment, critique and all of these things have on the body. These exhaust us much, much more than a lack of sleep, the drain on the body, stone like bourdain can really make us feel depleted and given up.
There is nothing more satisfying than looking after yourself and when possible taking this deeper, so that you get to feel how precious we all are and how we do not allow this preciousness to be in our lives.
We are the life we’re living, we’re not separate from life, we and life are one and the same and so our actions, our thoughts, the way that we move, what we say all governs the life that we live because it constitutes the life that we live. When we are not conscious of the way that we are living then life happens through us and we are the recipients of whatever it wants to dish up but by being consciously gentle and loving with ourselves we are in actual fact making a decision that life will be gentle and loving with us in return. And much more. much more will follow.
What a stark difference Rachel between the two different experiences and therefore a stark difference between how life is viewed, your interactions with people and people’s perception of you. We are all either streaming the truth of who we all are or the lie of who we’re not and you are now live streaming the truth of who we all are for everyone to feel. Sublime.
Rachel what a testament to looking after yourself and the benefits it can have on your body and wellbeing and to everyone who comes into contact with you.
Such an amazing topic of discussion, the nature of a study itself and also the delivery of how to live true vitality in life .. so amazing
What would life look like if we eliminated all the drugs including caffeine and alcohol and turned the power of at nine so we all had to get to bed early? Probably a lot like you have shared Rachel when you started to make different choices!!
I woke up this morning really tired even though I slept deeply and very well. This was because of emotional tension I was holding from the day before. As I had the day off, I was able to take half an hour’s rest at about 11am. I chose to surrender deeply and felt way more refreshed than I did earlier. For me this is proof that what we chose by way of energy either drains us or rejuvenates us.
I agree with you Rachel as I have found if I take on emotional energy during the day it affects how I sleep as I wake up in the morning feeling drained because I was still holding on to those issues and thoughts before going to sleep. Esoteric Yoga is a great support as it allows our bodies to let go of the tensions we tend to hold onto and enjoy a restful sleep.
I love your honesty. What came to me reading this is that quality really is everything and how we are with ourselves and what we feel about the day is exactly, energetically, what we bring to others. I am understanding this more and more.
Beautiful. Same person but a very different way to choose to live.
Yes and we all have the power to make different choices if we find life to be a drag rather than joyfull and full of vitality. Thankyou for sharing the stark contrast between your life so many years ago compared with now and possibly even more so since writing your post? !
“These days I wake up early and naturally, I hardly ever need the alarm to remind me it’s time to get up. I feel refreshed and alert after a good night’s sleep and no longer need coffee to get me started, nor do I dread that it’s a work day and not the weekend.” This is me too these days. Remembering the time I would dread going onto the hospital wards on night duty – that hasn’t happened for years now. I look forward to what each day will bring. 🙂
We think by ‘doing’ we are getting somewhere however in truth it is the relationship we have with ourselves that truly makes a difference to our vitality and wellbeing and that of others.
Caroline what you have shared rings true with me
‘We think by ‘doing’ we are getting somewhere’ when actually we are just going round in circles each and every day is the same day. I woke up this morning with this feeling with my body saying to me ‘and again Mary go deeper’. I fully understand there is no ‘doing’ only to be all that we are and that is enough.
My relationship with exhaustion changed when I stopped fighting it and pretending it wasn’t there! In the acceptance of feeling exhausted I gave myself permission to rest and it really doesn’t take long to turn around. It is like in the very act of honouring ourselves, the exhaustion falls away naturally.
Honesty with where we are at and how we feel is a huge gift we can give to ourselves for in the honesty there is an opportunity to stop the momentum of how we are living, whatever that may be and change our ways.
Beautiful Matilda. Fighting against anything brings up even more tension – and exhaustion. Accepting where we – and our bodies – are at – the first key to change.
So true Matilda, when we try and pull the wool over our eyes and pretend that said situation does not exist we are perpetuating it, but when we are at-least honest, we can start to find a way to clear and heal any ill way of living.
I love what you are sharing Matilda because I have been fighting myself all my life and I agree it is exhausting, I had no idea I was in a constant fight with myself until I came across Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine and through the workshop and presentations began to see that I was living in a way that was self abusive and destructive. Turning my life around has taken a few years because of my ingrained behaviours, ideals and beliefs but worth all the hard work because now I live every day in the joy of being me.
If I don’t lovingly set myself up for the next day the day before I am easily frustrated, teary, overwhelmed and also giving myself a hard time knowing ‘it’s my fault’ and berating myself for my choices. The hard time I give myself is compounded by thoughts of the day I could have had. So I stop and say, ok I do feel terrible, it wasn’t worth eating what I ate, staying up late or watching TV. Ok, just feel how horrible this feels.
Great, now just stop the beating up of myself and be loving with how to manage the day. Stop with the wild expectations and feel the consequences for me not being in full form for others too. Great, now look at what was it that got me in the first place. Was I upset about something? Learn and be there for myself.
Karin this is a great sharing because we can all relate to what you have shared. The biggest lesson is not to beat ourselves up as this just exacerbates the situation we find ourselves in.
I love how when we start to truly look after ourselves and honour what we are feeling then everything else in our lives change. It shows how everything we do has a direct effect on everything else.
Yes, honouring ourselves, our body, our feelings enables such a transformation in everyday living. All it takes is the will to step away from our go to habits and start to deal with our hurts. Simple, but not always so easy. Reaching out for support when necessary makes it easier.
I love how our daily choices to be gentle with ourselves (or not) can have such an amazing impact on our quality of life ‘…in how I have come to live based on my daily choices to be gentle with myself…’. It is so very simple! Not always easy, but simple, yes. Even as I fall in to making choices to not be gentle with myself for whatever reason, I have a deep inner knowing that choosing differently again is all it will take to bring me back to my gently loving ways.
And that inner knowing is a forever friend that we have access to 24/7; unconditionally ready for us to listen and respond.
Giving ourselves more time to get ready and prepare for the day ahead actually allows more space to open up. THis might sound a bit strange, but it really does. I find the more space I give myself in any situation, the more space I get to do more of what needs to be done. It really is quite magical.
I agree Sandra – it is amazing how time sees to open up the more space we allow….. Truly magical!
I have implemented lots of changes in my daily routines over the years, but agree absolutely, Rachel, that the biggest change is in the way I treat and speak to myself. The more respect, care and honouring I introduce the weller I am.
This blog is a great reminder of how I used to live my life, I still get exhausted from time to time, the difference is it doesn’t last and I’m not using endless stimulants just to get me through the day. When you think about it most of the world are propped up by drugs in one form or another just to keep them going.
Yes, propping up to even get the day started with the coffees etc. The proliferation of coffee shops even since this article was written is evidence of how much of society needs caffeine to keep going throughout the day.
Very inspiring Rachel, life is so much more vital lived this way.
Reading this article reminds me of how I used to feel – being reliant on caffeine and cigarettes and how I would rush to work and feel tired and lacking in confidence. It feel so much more loving to have a steady pace and to take care of myself with foods I eat and having a more loving sleep routine.
And so much more fun and sustainable both short and long term
I really love this too; ‘I have plenty of time to prepare for my day and mornings are steady, not rushed or stressful.’ It feels so supportive to have space in the mornings so that there is no rush leaving the house and getting to work; it allows me to feel steadier in my day.
It makes sense that when we choose to live in the quality that we are made of and that is love, everything in our lives changes. You could say it is actually very simple and only a choice to not complicate life anymore with drive, certain foods and drinks that we don’t need, we light up the world when we choose to live a simple dedicated life.
” I have committed to dealing with my issues, resolving situations and truly healing myself, rather than resorting to coping mechanisms that take the edge off my day and actually devitalise and deplete me of energy.” It’s so true that many of us turn to our version of support, such as alcohol or TV, which actually devitalises us further and buries the issue . We truly need support to understand what true self care is and how to apply that to our lives.
It is so true Rachel, we need energy to feel vital and prepared for life otherwise we can operate on exhaustion using stimulants like coffee to keep us going in the short term.
The short term becomes the long term and we get stuck in ways of coping and dealing with our exhaustion that becomes so normalised we don’t think about the choices we make.
What you have described Rachel is the trap we fall into that as you say we then normalize as life, when what we are currently living is so very far away from ‘normal’
It is lovely when we wake up refreshed even before the alarm, the body know what it needs and when it is being cared for.
When we do not rush each moment we are prepared to deal with what life brings to us.
Rather than being in absent abandon of our bodies and the way they sign post us so honestly and effectively, it is great to build the respect and willingness to listen – honouring ourselves and building wellness.
So many people I talk to have sleep issues where they can not get to sleep or can not stay asleep. I know myself if I get emotional during the day or eat badly my quality of sleep is affected.
Life is actually so much more simpler then we think, look after ourselves during the day and our night sleep is nourishing and rewarding just like our day.
My morning routines have shifted a lot since couple of years ago – no more rush, and plenty of time to be able to take care of myself. But do I wake-up refreshed every single day? No, that is very rare and I see that I also need a lot of sleep. This is not our and not my normal state. I came to realize that I still carry the remains of a disease on a deeper level, which cannot be diagnosed on physical level but are still on an energetic level. More love and more self love is needed.
I also used to reach for things such as sugary foods and caffeinated drinks, to help me get through the day but without any real concern for how that day would be lived, just as long as I could get to the end and sleep. Serge Benhayon however, has taught me that the most abundant form of energy for my body is the living quality of me, the loving heart that I have, and the full commitment to life that I bring. All of these and many more are now what makes each day a joy.
‘The most abundant form of energy for my body is the living quality of me’, beautiful Shami and this truth also holds the answer as to why so many of us are absolutely exhausted. Most of us are either careering around at break neck speed or lying around unable to motivate ourselves. Either way the quality that we are in is depleting us to the point that many of us don’t have the energy to fall asleep, which might sound odd but it actually takes energy to fall asleep!
Whenever I find myself going into rushing there is a moment to come back to me, feel and move with me from that point on.
If we can catch those moments when we start to leave our bodies, then we will spend a lot less time absent from their wise guidance.
It can be very easy to slip into that rushing mode, but as you say jennym as soon as we clock it we can change it; coming back to the body, breath and allowing more space for what needs to be done is a great antidote to the rush mode.
It’s awesome how looking after ourselves, really caring for and nurturing ourselves impacts on all other relationships -as soon as we drop the ball on this our other relationships go down too and when we more deeply appreciate ourselves we take that appreciation with us in all that we do, all that we express.
When we commit to ourselves, to resolving issues and truly healing ourselves, our life transforms, ‘I have learned that by looking after myself, caring for me and nurturing my body with the right food, style of exercise, rest and going to bed early that I feel much more at ease and able to deal with my day.’
I really am amazed how easily I wake these days and get myself to work and it is only getting better since I have started swimming on a regular basis which supports me no end. The other day I was feeling how amazing I felt and had to remember far, far back to childhood before remembering feeling this good. And it can only get better still as I still have so much to change.
The mad rush is not an innocent side effect but has another purpose we need to disclose – to numb our feelings, bring our energy down and ‘fit in’ in a world that races around. To stop this madness is a great sign we are willing to know more.
Looking after ourselves, caring and nurturing our body with healthy food, water, exercise, rest and play makes such a difference to how we feel with-in ourselves.
Confirmation that everything is founded on the relationship we have with ourselves first… disregard, lack of self-worth and dismissiveness = resignation and giving up on life OR honouring, respect and caring = engagement and joy in life. And it is not to say we will nail the latter always, but our choices either lead us to this or away… simple.
Your former morning routine reads like a nightmare of rushing, pushing, wishing and giving up. No comparison to the spaciousness and ease that you describe are presently your morning companions and background.
Some morning I can awake refreshed and ready to start the day quite early and if I fight this and try to return to sleep I can wake up later feeling tired and grumpy. The body is indeed a great marker of truth if I choose to listen. Similarly if I am tired from the day and keep pushing past when to rest or go to bed, often I do not get a good restorative sleep when I finally do.
Years ago I was involved in Hot Air Ballooning and there were often weekends where the weather would be calm in the early mornings so everyone wanted to go for an early morning flight. I would sometimes go to bed praying for wind, rain or both. I hated getting up at 4:00 am in the morning to go flying. I had to drag myself out of sleep and a warm bed I was not an early morning person at all. I have found that if I actually listen to my body it has a lot to tell me and if I go along with my body and don’t go into resistance or stubbornness then I have far more energy than you would think possible.
Gosh 2 or 3 more coffees before you even left the house! Our Livingness (how we live) is an absolute key to our wellbeing. So our livingness could be as it was for you a continuous momentum adding to the exhaustion not stopping to look at or truly deal with just how exhausted and stressed you were or it could be how it is now for you where you have learnt to truly deeply look after love and care for you. The two different ways of living could not be more opposite and it doesn’t take a genius to know which one is more supportive. We really do hold our health within our hands.
“this is done in a gentle rhythm that supports me to feel who I am and where I am at.” Our morning routine and for the whole day from this reflected and prepares us for anything and is so supportive alive and beautiful to feel the flow and expansion from here.
It is amazing how well our body responds to being truly taken care of. Even the smallest change that is self loving towards ourselves can initaite the biggest and most profound changes in how we feel both physically and mentally.
I found some old loyalty cards for cups of coffee today, as I thumbed through them I could feel how addicted I was to my morning cup of coffee and it felt really refreshing not to have any part of me wanting to buy a coffee.
It’s really loving with ourselves to take the time and space to feel how we are in the beginning of the day , because this simple choice of being with ourselves first, will come with us during the day as a support to check how caring we are or not and adjust our ongoing choices when needed.
It makes such a difference to simply commit to changing what not works and then when we notice things that get in the way of these changes to deal with the issue that is coming up. Without looking at our issues there is no possibility for true lasting change as we will try to not feel it in whatever way we can.
I remember being a ‘time bomb’ ready to explode, I am much more calm and settled in life these days, but there is always more to learn and what I am learning is the more I care for my body the more I offer myself and others, ignoring our wellbeing, creates a stress that is hard to bare, overriding what we feel is true does the same and is the same.
What I have found too is that ignoring the body comes at a price which is exhaustion, lethargy and depletion. From there it’s very easy to want to give up on life simply because we feel like we don’t have the energy for it. Taking deep care of our bodies supports us to live our natural vitality and bring that into everything that we do and all our relationships. It’s simple stuff but actually a very lovely and enriching way to live and be.
True, ignoring our body does come at a price, whereas taking deep care of, listening to and honouring our bodies ‘supports us to live our natural vitality and bring that into everything that we do and all our relationships.’
The quality with which we close our day will be the quality we take into sleep and then awake and arise with to then imprint our day and thus ‘end’ it again. This is true at the close of our current incarnation as well as around and around we go in the great cycle of life. You see here how on a sphere it is difficult to find a defining beginning or end point – just one life, one breath and one way to move when that way of moving is dedicated to returning to the All that we are. Here on Earth we live under very specific universal rhythms that support this re-turn and our daily routines can either be in harmony with these or in discord.
I remember when I used to wake up and my first thought of the day was a counting exercise of how long it would be before I could go back to bed, such was my exhaustion! Today like you Rachel is a very different story thanks to a few simple self-care techniques I adopted that were inspired by the presentations of Universal Medicine that helped restore a level of vitality to my body I had not experienced since I was a child. Oh yeah, and letting love back in…and out, simply because it takes more energy to resist love than to be it!
Inspiring how it is totally possible to restore our levels of vitality to how they were when we were children.. we get used to feeling lethargic and tired as if that’s ‘just the way it is’ and part of getting older and taking on more responsibilities. What you’ve shown here is that it doesn’t have to be that way: nothing is fixed or set by anything other that our own moment to moment, day to day choices which then influence our levels of health, wellbeing and vitality.
Allowing ourselves the space to feel what our bodies need and honouring that makes all the difference to how our days unfold. I can relate to feeling in the past like I was on a never ending hamster wheel of activity that exhausted me but actually what was draining me was the lack of self-care and my emotional reactions to what was going on around me.
I can so relate to this; ‘Mornings were a half asleep rush and stress to get out the door on time. Getting out of bed was an effort’. I remember that this was how I started my day – I would feel letharigic and anxious about going my day and sufferer from a lack of confidence. I can feel now that starting my day in such a rush and with so little self-care did not support me at all. Allowing me the time and space to get ready at a natural pace and allowing me time to be gentle with myself feels key now for me and means that I feel more confident and more vital in my day.
Yes when we do not take the time to connect to ourselves then anxiety is often our constant companion as we struggle to get through our days.
Rachel – this is great to read. I too have changed my morning routine and have gone from smoking cigarettes and having toast and string tea and rushing out the door to waking early and having a gentle start to the day with at least two hours to shower without a rush; to prepare food for the day and have the time and space to get ready gently and with care. This feels amazing and makes a huge difference to how I feel in the day. This new morning routine supports me to feel steady and relaxed and to enjoy my day.
There is such a powerful yet subtle difference between developing a supportive routine versus a supportive rhythm described in this article. Without including the discernment of what is the quality we bring to what we do in our routine we are simply left with a healthy routine that is not necessarily full of who we truly are.
I have come back to this blog after some years and have noticed how these hallmarks of exhaustion no longer a part of my life. Choosing to bring more love and honouring the body for what it offers us in the day is given straight back when we are feeling less exhausted.