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Want a luxurious morning? Here are 5 ridiculously easy ways to have one

By Ana Batista

In this post I talk about:

  • How I transform normal mornings into luxurious mornings
  • Simple tips help you start your day in the best way
    • Pinterest image with blogs title


    While you might think that mornings are not your thing, and you’re more of a night owl like I used to be, these tips might change things a bit. If you want to set yourself up for the best day you can have, every day, why not start off big with a luxurious morning? We all like to have the queen or king inside us happy, right?

    You might not want to do them all at once, but I’m sure that including at least one of these in your morning will make you feel great and be a super nice start to your day.


    PIMP YOUR WATER

    There are tonnes of advice out there about how important is to hydrate first thing in the morning. So, why not make that glass of water more unique and turn it into a health boost with a note of luxury? This is something that needs to be prepared the night before if you want to take full advantage of it.

    Here's how:

  • Get some organic cucumber, limes and mint (starting to sound more like a mojito? Great, but this one is the healthy kind)
  • Slice 1/4 of the cucumber and 1/2 lime
  • Add it with some mint leaves on a bottle or jar of water
  • Store it in the fridge overnight

    • Why:

  • It’s great to get hydrated first thing in the morning;
  • Cucumber, lime, and mint are perfect for detoxifying and for your skin;
  • All these ingredients have stress-reductive, anti-inflammatory and cancer preventive properties (not to mention a tonne of other health benefits);
  • It will make your water so much more yummy to drink; you’ll want to drink more!


    • GIVE YOUR MIND A GOOD BREAKFAST

    Another common advice is to read in the morning. While that’s, of course, good advice, so we can have a moment of quietness and inspiration before our to-dos absorb us, what we feed our minds with is of great importance. And considering that, I must say newspapers are a total no-no. Other ideas of how you can feed your mind a good breakfast in your luxurious morning are:


  • Have a book that is inspirational for you and read a chapter or so of it.
  • Watch a TED talk or some Youtube inspirational video.
  • Listen to a Podcast episode.
  • Write down on something like The 5-Minute Journal, where you find 3 things you’re grateful for, set the intentions for the day and write some affirmations about yourself and your life.
  • Make a visualisation exercise.


    • INDULGE IN SILENCE

    This is probably my absolute favourite of all time. There is nothing more recharging than to sit in silence and give ourselves the time just to be. I’m talking, of course, about the powerful practice of meditation. Something so simple and yet that people so many times find so difficult. All it takes is the act of sitting with the intention of watching the breath. In more detail:


  • Find a quiet place where you’d like to be doing this every day.
  • Pick a pillow to sit on (use something that is thick and hard enough to support your weight) and a small blanket or scarf that you’d also like to be using every day.
  • Use an app to time how long you’d like to be sitting for (I personally love Headspace, Samsara, but there’s also Calm, Insight Timer, …).
  • Sit with your legs crossed (or use a chair if this is too uncomfortable) and focus only on keeping your spine straight and on paying attention to every single breath you take.
  • Do not judge yourself or the practice for having your mind wandering, we all do! Instead, every time you noticed that your mind wondered, bring it back to your breath. Over and over again. That’s the practice.


    • MAKE YOUR BODY FEEL ALIVE

    The best you can do is to pump up your heart rate, but if you’re not a fan of jogging, do at least something that puts you in contact with your body. Things that can help you with that are:


  • To take a walk.
  • Follow a yoga video (you can find one of mine here, or follow Yoga with Adrianne - she has great videos for beginners), or some low/high-intensity workout video on Youtube.
  • Have a consistent morning exercise routine, like the 5 Tibetans (which you can find here).
  • Be especially mindful in your shower, feeling your senses rather than being up in your mind.
  • Feel free to use your imagination 😉


    • GIVE YOUR BODY A RICH BREAKFAST

    I’m Portuguese, so a simple coffee and toast were my breakfast companions for a long time. Until I decided that my body was important enough to deserve a little better. Without much of an effort, it's possible to give ourselves what we need and start off the day a little (or a lot) better. Here are some of the best foods to include in your breakfast, if you’re looking for a happy body-mind:


  • Oatmeal (no surprise here), it helps to lower cholesterol, contains omega-3 fatty acids, folate and potassium.
  • Greek yoghurt, it’s loaded with calcium and has twice the protein of a regular yoghurt.
  • Grapefruit or kiwi, filled with Vitamin-C and fibre.
  • Bananas, also rich in fibre and potassium, they have a metabolism-boosting resistant starch.
  • Eggs, high in protein can help you to curb calories intake all day long.


    • Extra tip: if you think you don’t have time to prepare big breakfasts, why not put a bunch of things together in a powerful morning smoothie?

    How about you? Do you have any personal tips on how you transform your normal mornings into luxurious ones? Let me know in the comments.

    And if you want some inspiration, check out the guided meditations I have recorded for you, inside the toolbox.


    Continue reading

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    About the author

    Ana Batista is a psychologist focused on making change easy. Besides therapy, she teaches online courses and workshops on positive psychology, brain science, and self-authoring. 

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