Energising early morning rituals

Deepa Desa shares some early morning habits that help make a good day even better

Who gets up early to discover the moment when light begins? – Rumi

The answer to Rumi’s question must be us, seniors!

As seniors, most of us are up by the crack of dawn or even long before dawn breaks.

It is well known that the hours between 3.00am and 6.00 am are called the “Creator’s Hours.”

These early morning hours are considered filled with pure and good energy thus performing any spiritual or self-awareness activity during this time period is super fortified.  This means that you are energised and strengthened from the inside; to help you deal with the outside world more effectively and happily.

While I’m sure you have already established a great morning routine, here are some habits that you could consider adopting as part of your morning ‘renewal’ time. The results over your duration of effort, are self nourishing and soul-rewarding.

The journey to self-realisation begins before the crack of dawn

Without a doubt this is one of the best ways to start your day.

Spiritualists, religious gurus, and researchers agree that starting your day in a positive way, i.e. one which raises your consciousness and thus your level of vibration, elevates your frequency to receive goodwill from the universe and helps you tune into divine energies. On the contrary, given a scenario where you wake up depressed, angry, frustrated or other accompanying negative energies in tow, you will surely fuel more negativity imbuing into your day. The reason? When you vibrate at a low frequency you subconsciously attract negative situations.

The way out? Raising your soul consciousness during brahma muhurta. Brahma muhurta is the name for the early (creator’s) hours of each day. There are varied opinions about exactly which hours constitute brahma muhurta but the time from 3.20 am to 3.50 am are regarded as spiritually  special or broadly between 3.30 am to 5.30 am.  Your meditation and spiritual practice is best achieved during the period of 1 hour and 36 minutes before sunrise and ending up to 48 minutes before it.

The steps to follow are varied. Most gurus prescribe that you make the best use of this time when your mind is blank and pure with no worldly samskaras (impressions).

Start with – 

Your choice of chants, mantras/ japas, hymns, prayers. You could also chant Om slowly. (Scientific studies on Om: Autonomic and respiratory studies suggest that there is a combination of mental alertness with physiological rest during the practice of Om meditation). This practice helps your mind achieve stillness.

Meditate for a while. The time period is not as important as the quality of your meditation. Your meditation should be able to transcend your mind into blissful emptiness.

Follow this with a few asanas  or pranayama. This step involves you physically embracing the day with positive energy.

Why is Brahma muhurta so powerful?

During Brahma muhutra hours there are loving (sattvic) qualities in nature that can bring peace of mind and freshness to the doors of our perception.

It relates to the law of microcosms and macrocosms which posits a structural similarity between the human being (the microcosm, i.e., the small order or the small universe) and the cosmos as a whole (the macrocosm, i.e., the great order or the great universe); understanding this, we might see how we can take advantage of brahma muhurta to lead to increased health and peace in our lives.

PS: you DO NOT HAVE to be religious or spiritual to try this out. Just go with what appeals to your senses and flow with it. Trust yourself.

Self – affirmations propel your day with empowerment and self – love

Self- affirmations differ from prayers and mantras in that it turns our focus inward.  It’s self-care and your inner work. One of the best ways of turning inward is to get into the good habit of morning affirmations. They take no more than 30 seconds. But the caveat here is to keep repeating your affirmations throughout the day. Repeating your affirmations make you more present, more grounded and render spaciousness – from where you can calmly respond to happenings of your day rather than be in a state of flux.

Affirmations also strengthen your self-worth and self- confidence wherein you make decisions for your highest good and are able to let non-issues slide by without over thinking them. Your thoughts dictate your life so it’s best to control them for your good.

Some affirmations you could say:

• I am a divine soul
• I bring love and light into all my relationships
• I communicate with a positive spirit
• I am blessed with {fill in the blank}

Give thanks

Yep. The gratitude lecture again. Yet it makes so much sense. Here are some reasons why:

You improve your physical health. Grateful people experience fewer aches and pains and they report feeling healthier than other people.

Your psychological health gets boosted. Gratitude reduces a multitude of toxic emotions, ranging from envy and resentment to frustration and regret. It increases inner joy and reduces depression.

Gratitude enhances your empathy quotient whilst reducing anger. Grateful people are more likely to behave in a prosocial manner, even when others behave less kind.

You sleep better. Writing in a gratitude journal improves sleep. Jotting down three things that you are thankful for every night, helps you sleep better.

You fortify resilience and mental strength. For years, research has shown gratitude not only reduces stress, but it may also play a major role in overcoming trauma.  Recognising all you have to be thankful for – even during the worst times of your life – fosters resilience.

It doesn’t matter whether you journal it down or think it out aloud or say it. Being thankful is the powerful way to live an abundant and blessed life.

Declutter your mind — Write down your morning thoughts

Julia Cameron describes the power that the stream of consciousness writing can have for clearing a cluttered mind: Morning pages, as created by Cameron, are three pages of longhand morning writing, done when you’re thinking about anything at all, like: I forgot to buy my doggies food, I need to call my sister back, I need to cut my hair, I have to pay my electricity bill.

“Your jottings may seem to have nothing to do with creativity, but what they do is clear your mind; it’s as though you’ve taken a little dust-buster and you go poking into all the corners of your consciousness, and you come up with what you put on the page,” says Cameron

Your morning pages could be just mundane thoughts that flow once you start writing—like; how long does it take for the coffee to brew? Now I am drinking coffee. I am so tired. I didn’t sleep well; there’s far too much noise outside etc. etc.

You can keep going because somewhere through the pages you will find that you are articulating something that you didn’t realise you needed to process. And that’s the great part about writing the ‘morning pages’

If for instance, you thought you’d gotten over a tiff with your husband and realised you were still harboring some resentment. By penning down your thoughts you could write your way into an antidote to the experience.

All things you didn’t know until you wrote them down.

As Cameron puts it, “When you put the negativity [or whatever comes up] on the page, it isn’t eddying through your consciousness throughout the day. Morning pages are a clearing exercise, and they are an exercise that make you gain much more consciousness (awareness) as you pass through your day.”

The act of processing, seeing what your  mind (and pen!) focus on, and then being able to give attention to those things helps you enter your day with the right energy and priorities all sorted out.

What was a cluttered mind is often cleared after this exercise, and you can move through the day focused on the things you chose.

Ready to try writing some morning pages?

Set an intention for the day

“When you have clarity of intention, the universe conspires with you to make it happen.”

– Fabienne Fredrickson

This is yet another simple but powerful habit. An intention is a tool or chosen mindset to guide you through your day.  A reminder of what you want to focus on (because we all know how hard it can be to focus). The act of identifying the type of energy you want to bring into the day.

Your intention is a reminder to stay mindful throughout the day.

To set daily intentions, write the following in your journal or piece of paper:

Today, I intend to [fill in the blank].

All you have to do is take a minute to think about what you want for the day. Think about what you want to get out of it. Think about the energy you want to attract.

Here are some other things to think about:

• What kind of person do you want to be today?
• What attitude do you want to have towards other people?
• What do you need to commit to in order to live a purpose-filled  life?

You could reaffirm to yourself:

I will:

• Not lose my temper

• Be grateful for the food that I eat 

• Choose to be joyful

• Enjoy my creativity

• Dance or sing to my favourite tunes

• Stay in my heart instead of my head

Your intentions might change from day to day, or you might stick to one intention that you use all the time. You make the rules for this one.

Enjoy an outdoor walk three or four times a week and a hearty breakfast daily…

I reckon “hearty” means looking after your heart. You know what to do here.  Remember to enjoy your meal and eat slowly and mindfully. Take all your medication and bless all the food you eat as it is your fuel for the day. Make sure your engine is geared up for a good day.

The sun is the vital force of the human body. Scientists are encouraging people, especially seniors, to get 30 minutes of morning sun whilst walking. It’s a double whammy. When you are exposed to sunlight or very bright artificial light in the morning, the nocturnal melatonin production in your brain occurs sooner, and you enter into sleep more easily at night. You also get the physical exercise that you need coupled with the all important supply of Vitamin D3 from the sun.

Whatever you choose to do once you rise each day, make the best of the most wonderful hours of early morning, in order to enjoy your day to its fullest.