Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Staying Healthy Series: My Morning Routine

   

      I have missed blogging and chatting with you this way. Thank you for all who take a moment to see how this lady is doing and what I am up to at the present moment. Blogging was such an important part of my life for so many years and it was difficult to put it down what I had a little one again. Every time I went to blog I didn't find myself able to execute sitting down for very long. My applause go to the mommas who are able to keep juggling their balls.

     All of that said that's a huge reason why I wanted to share my routine at the moment. I'm sharing for a few reasons. What I don't want this do is to create stress or pressure in your life. What I hope you'll be able to do is assess what you like, what you don't, and what you glean from what I do so that it will be helpful for you. We are all different and have different resources when it comes to time, schedules, money, and help.

     So what I am sharing with you here is basically all that goes on from the hours of 6am thru 8am each day. I figured I'd take you with me step by step. This is not to say that things go perfectly everyday because they do not, believe me. In general though this the average and I have found when things roll in this manner by having a routine to follow all goes much better. I find myself being much more prepared for whatever life throws my way during the next 24 hours. When I've covered my own bases first as well I feel I can be a better human to pour out on my family, friends, and work team. On the flip side, when I break the routine, I give myself grace instead of beating myself up, at least most of the time. I am still perfecting the act of being kind to myself.

6am I have found this is an ideal time for me to wake up. I don't feel groggy and I'm rather a morning person anyway. It's still usually quiet here. The only other person awake is my husband as he prepares for work. As much as I can upon waking I try to have my first thoughts be of praise and thankfulness to the Lord. In the Bible in 2 Corinthian 10:5 it speaks to bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. In all honesty it's hard work sometimes for my mind and heart to be there. If I notice I am struggling I will recite Phillipians:4-8 to myself to get back on track and take those negative, unfruitful thoughts captive.

We still co-sleep with our youngest so I aim to quietly get out of bed. I go into our bathroom, go pee (doesn't everyone first thing), wash my hands, wash my face with just water and a Norwex wash cloth, and grab my toothbrush (I really need a second toothbrush it would be much more efficient). I also pick up my workout clothes on the way out of the bedroom. I put these items on the steps leading upstairs.

I head into the living room and take my phone off of the charger and turn it on. We don't bring our phones into the bedroom to go to sleep.

Next I walk into the kitchen to get a mug (you will see what for later), get out the coconut oil and put about a tablespoons worth on a regular spoon, pop the spoon in my mouth and begin swishing the coconut oil for oil pulling. If I am really thirsty I'll get a few sips of water before putting the oil in my mouth.. I set the timer on my phone for 20 minutes. The last thing I do downstairs at this point is filling the kettle with water and putting in on the stove to boil.

 I take my phone, go to the steps, pick up the items I left there earlier, and go up to the office. Our office is a multipurpose space for exercising, work, and homeschooling our son. I get changed out of my pajamas into the workout clothes and put up my hair. I turn on the essential oil diffuser in the office if by chance my husband has not already done so. I really like the Awaken blend from Young Living Essential Oils.

6:30am By now I am on the treadmill with the mug I grabbed earlier along with my phone. I always walk for 30 minutes. I hop on the First5 app, and do the daily reading. I really love this app. It is free, the commentaries are wonderful, and it really helps me to have a beginning and an end when I am reading the bible. I liked this aspect of the One Year Bible as well. The actually reading only takes 10-15 minutes, so then I can spend time thinking and praying through all I read. This plan keeps me consistent.

Once my timer goes off on my phone that I set earlier, I spit the coconut oil into the cup (gross I know, but I'm still walking and I don't want to hold it in my mouth any longer). Later I will pour the oil into the trash or onto the lawn. You don't want to spit it out into the sink because when the coconut oil gets solid it can potentially clog the pipes. 

7am Once I walk off of the treadmill I head into the upstairs bathroom and brush my teeth and rinse.

I then walk downstairs and prepare my lemon water. I slice a lemon and squeeze half of it into a 32oz mason jar with a pinch of Himalayan salt and fill the jar half way with the filtered water at my sink and then fill the rest with the hot boiled water.

I take Naturello D3 and NutriGold K2, which come from Vitacost.  I also take Young Living Essential Oils Super B Complex, and Gaia Herbs Ashwagandha from Thrive Market.  All of the supplements are plant based.

I prepare my son's lemon water, cut him an orange, and put his multivitamins on a plate with the oranges, and put them at his spot at the dining table in preparation of him awaking. If I am really hungry, I'll eat an orange.Then I go back upstairs with the rest of my water.

7:30am Now I utilize the free FitOn App to either do a strength training or Pilates workout anywhere from 15-23 minutes. I stream it from my phone onto our large monitor. If I am ever traveling then I just use my phone. I'll spend time stretching afterwards sometimes on my on or with a stretching routine on FitOn. I finish my water.

After the workout I utilize the Insight App to do a five minute morning or work meditation. I really enjoy the Julia Ela Grace 5 Minute Morning Meditation. I am able to thank the Lord for my whole body throughout this meditation.

8am I walk downstairs and turn on the essential oil diffusers in the kitchen and living room. It's time for breakfast now and my belly is ready to eat. If my little monkey has not woken up yet, then I just progress to making whatever I have on our meal plan for that day. If you are interested in our weekly meal plan, let me know.   

I'll eat, get out of my workout clothes, and do my skincare and hair routine. I'll share those in a separate blog. I'll also refill my jar now with 32oz of cool filtered water and I'll add my Mineral Essence liquid mineral supplement, Sulfurzyme msm powder, and Om Beauty mushroom powder blend. I get the first two from Young Living Essential Oils and the mushroom powder at Thrive Market. 

Wow! Well, if you went through all of that, then I thank you!  I pray this will be helpful to those who read it. I'll be sharing my night time routine as part of this series.

There are affiliate links in this blog post. You are in no way required to purchase, but when you do you contribute to my work, and family's well being.

~Helping you to be a good steward of your health! Marie & The Kingdom Health Wellness Team