Perspective gained from a mindful morning routine

By Sujay Reddy

Without fail, we do some things as soon as we wake up, I call it housekeeping (of one’s self)

- Brush our teeth and wash our faces for Hygiene and freshness.

- Excreting to cleanse and create space.

What about breath, thought and movement? What housekeeping are we doing for these things first thing in the morning? Are they not just as important?

Most of us have become accustomed to paying little attention, if any, to how we breathe as soon as we wake up. The first thing that most of us tend to consume are sights and words of people we follow on various media platforms. Unless one has a regular physical practice in the morning, the only movement that occurs are fingers flying across a screen while seated in posture that is questionable.

If you think about it, we aren’t really in control of anything that we see, hear, smell, taste and feel once the day begins. We are subject to the opinions, voices and sights of things and people from the outside world. The only thing we can attempt to control is the manner in which we breathe. So, instead of going outwards from the moment we wake up, what if we spend some time going inwards? Controlling the breath will in turn control the heart rate, blood pressure, regulate thoughts, the mind and emotions. Going inwards first, becoming aware of one’s internal state of being, cleansing it and preparing it will give us a better shot at dealing with the outside world, of which we have less control.

When we sleep, our bodies are in the deepest state of relaxation, it is for the most part not moving. So, when we wake up, it is essential to bring about awareness to all parts of the body. Surya namaskar or Sun salutations is a method which has been used for thousands of years to awaken the body and balance out the energies that reside within.

When we sleep, our subconscious mind is in overdrive. It aids to practice some form of meditation first thing in the morning, in order to regulate subconscious inclinations, this will give us a moment between what happens externally in our world and our internal reaction to the same.

Create a habit to cleanse the lungs and clear up the airways through breathwork. Regulate thought processes using meditation and loosen up the limbs first thing in the morning with movement of some sort along with brushing our teeth etc.The whole process need not take more than 15 to 20 minutes.

Similar to the upkeep required for our teeth and face. our lungs, limbs and thought processes require some cleansing and upkeep. Would we wait until after lunch to brush our teeth or until dinner to empty out bowels? Of course not!

If we can understand this concept of housekeeping for the entire system as opposed to only a part of the system, then we are likely to be motivated or time to incorporate these things into our routine. It’ll become a necessity just like brushing, pooping etc.

Through breath, we control the mind, through the mind we can control our perspective. Our perspective controls the quality of our lives.