It’s January which means that a lot of people are talking about their resolutions, goals, and plans. Which is great… but unfortunately a lot of people fall off their plan, become discouraged, and give up.

Don’t get me wrong - sometimes we’re better off giving up the plan we have. Other times, it’s about fine-tuning the idea or the process.

This brings me to the topic of this blog: routines.

Routines vs Habits
A routine is simply a sequence of particular tasks. The order of the sequence may change as you adjust your routine to support you better. What sequencing does is help us establish habits. Habits are behaviors that we repeat often, and sometimes involuntarily.

As is the habit of our society, we tend to label individual habits or actions as good or bad. Smoking cigarettes, cursing, or snapping at someone when we've had a hard day are some things that we may put the label “bad” on. While waking up early, lifting weights, or taking vitamins are things we may put the label “good” on.

This is something that I personally have been struggling with lately.

My schedule has shifted in a way that allows me more room in the morning and, if I wake up not feeling well-rested, I've been allowing myself to sleep in. At first, I was chiding myself about how I should be waking up early, I should make myself get out of bed. Then I was reminded of the saying don't should on yourself.

So, I let myself sleep in and when I got out of bed I found myself gravitating towards my yoga mat. I spent time doing PT exercises for my neck and back, and getting in tune with my breath. I found a song that lasts about 30 minutes and I have been using it as a guide for this time with myself.

Do you know what I found?
This simple act of care paired really nicely with my desire to meditate and practice mudras (you can think of mudras as hand yoga). Practices that I have wanted to develop and make routine but kept being distracted from. The benefit of these few simple movements (I mean seriously I have 5 “exercises” on my PT list and one of them is to make a double chin 🤣🤷) has inspired me to put in place other small actions that support this routine. Stringing together a practice that I can develop into a habit.

My new (adjusted) morning routine looks like this: Wake up, open the curtains, put water in the kettle on the stove, roll out my yoga mat and get out my list of exercises and my mudra book. Feed the dog, make tea, put on the song, and settle into the mat; there I gently move into my exercises which end with me in a comfortable sitting position where I practice a mudra (I like to open the book at random and spend 3 minutes with that gesture), focus on my breathing, chant OM, and bow in gratitude for my life and the day ahead.

The key here is that I found ways to support the habit I want to create:

• I have a song that I play automatically - no scrolling or trying to decide what my ‘mood’ is. I am creating my mood with how I spend my time.
• My list of exercises is written down, numbered, and stored with my mudra book because I use these together.
• The things I need (mat, block, strap, tea & mug) are ready to use.

Now maybe it’s a little bold to be cheering these tactics on when this is a recent development but I am excited and excitement is fuel! It’s that very light feeling, that inner fire, that shows us where to go. The question is are we allowing ourselves to be led? Are we trusting our intuition?

Routines are a way to help us maintain our alignment.

Many of us know what we want, where we’d like to be, or what we’d like to be doing. However, we don’t always know how to get from here to there. According to Psychology Today, there are 4 main reasons why New Year’s resolutions fail but we can use this list to understand why our goals elude us at any time of year. The reasons are as follows:

1. Your goals aren’t clear
2. You feel overwhelmed
3. You feel discouraged
4. You’re not ready to change

Habits happen over time, by continuing to pursue them even if we’ve “messed up” and adjusting our sails with the wind. Creating a habit is largely a process of self-compassion, grace, and forgiveness, asking us to be patient and accepting of our circumstances, and tolerant of ourselves.

Creating routines
I've said that I'm creating a new habit. But I wake up and sit on my floor to meditate… but this isn’t entirely accurate. There are days when it’s hard to drag myself out of bed, and this is where compassion comes in, along with remembering why I’m creating this habit. I want to improve my posture, reduce pain in my body, and center my mind so I can feel more clear throughout the day. When the morning hits me a little rough it’s time to look at the backup plan.

This can be cuddling my dog for a few minutes to give me a warm and fuzzy, or doing the PT exercises I can in bed and then sitting in a chair rather than on the mat to meditate. My base goal for meditating is 5 minutes.

Some ideas for your toolbox
The belief that it is never too late to start. You don’t need a special day, you don’t have to wait until tomorrow, you didn’t fail because you “slipped up” and now you need to “start again”. You are not a failure, don’t ask for perfection from yourself. Release these ideas of expectation, perfection, and failure, and give yourself some compassion. Allow your Self-talk to be kind like to a special friend.

Routines, much like rituals, don't need much to be meaningful. They are ways to help us maintain our alignment in life. If you are feeling frustrated or disheartened maybe it’s a sign to step back and look at the larger picture, to re-evaluate and assess your goal and the true purpose or reason behind it. Ask yourself: What is truly important to me? Make a list of your priorities and the time you allot to them. Finally, determine where you can soften and receive support.

If you are still uncertain and are seeking clarity my doors are open for you.

If you are interested in receiving support on your healing journey and would like to learn more about working with me schedule a free introductory consultation.

💜Julie

Energy Health Practitioner

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Listen to Om Chant for Morning Meditation by Lata Mangeshkar (Spotify).

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