This 5-Step Morning Routine Will Leave You Feeling Awesome

You live a busy life. Whether it’s for family or work, you’re constantly on the go, moving from place to place, meeting this deadline, and making the most of your time. Unless of course, the world is in a state of total lockdown, in which case you’re not going anywhere.

But even during “less busy” times, you might be home-schooling kids, taking on a role you’ve never had to consider before, or even working more than ever… from home. It can be hard to carve out a lot of time for yourself to wind down and allow your spirit to recharge, let alone warm up or get energized for the day ahead.

But what if there were a few quick, simple things you could do every morning that could help you get ready to take on the day and take care of your inner self at the same time?

Check out this easy, 5-step routine that can build you up—mind, body, and spirit—and leave you feeling just plain awesome…

Be Grateful

To begin this routine, start with your feet pressed firmly into the floor, close your eyes, and take six deep breaths. Pull the air in through your nose and deep into your belly or core, then slowly release it through your mouth.

As you release that final breath, keep your eyes closed and think about one thing you’re grateful for today.

This could be:

• A person
• A place
• An event
• An experience
• A feeling

Truly, anything you feel grateful for in the moment. Pull that gratitude into your center, taking three more deep breaths—in through the nose, out through the mouth—before releasing your spirit of gratitude into the world.

Breathe

If you’re familiar with Kundalini Yoga—breathwork for awakening your body, mind, and spirit— you know that it’s not only effective for warming up the muscles but also for charging the body with Ki, or energy.

Inspired by Kundalini Yoga, the following series of movements is designed to worth with your breath and fill you with Ki:

1. Sun Salutation
2. Waist Rotations With Standing Arms for one minute
3. Sun Salutation
4. Overhead Sweeps for one minute (begin with your arms raised over your head as if you’re doing Urdhva Hastasana—or Upward Salute—before sweeping them down behind you like you’re pushing yourself on skis)
5. Sun Salutation
6. Kundalini “Punches” for one minute (alternating forward punches with exhales rapidly for the full minute)
7. Sun Salutation

Once you complete this sequence, your body should be warm and your spirit soaring. That means you’re ready to move on to the next step…

Move With Purpose

Now it’s time to get moving and get your heart pumping. For this step, you’re only going to perform two anaerobic exercises with a set of Sun Salutations in between:

• Alternating lunge jumps for one minute
• Sun Salutation
• Sitting down and standing up as fast as possible for one minute—don’t let this one fool you, it can be surprisingly hard to do

If you’ve got the time and the willpower, you can add a third anaerobic exercise, like burpees or knee-highs, into the mix.

Once complete, take a very short rest (not too long, you don’t want to lose momentum) and get ready to…

Gather Your Strength

Taking inspiration from Jon Bruney’s “Neuromass” workout, this step might resemble a HIIT workout—short bursts of rapid movement broken up by periods of rest or slower movement.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. 10 very slow squats, 1 minute in squat hold, and 10 squat jumps
2. Sun Salutation (noticing a theme?)
3. 10 slow, mindful pushups, 1 minute in pushup hold (or plank), and 10 fast pushups

Again, if time allows or you’re just feeling fired up, throw in a third round of strength exercises. Any pulling exercises would be great here, such as resistance band curls or standing rows.

Still hanging in there? Awesome. You’re ready to complete the final step in your morning routine:

Visualize

Finish your morning workout with one round of Fire Breathing—rapid, deep inhales followed by strong, shallow exhales. All Fire Breaths should be taken in and pushed out through your nose.

Next, do thirty seconds of deep breathing, pulling air into your belly through your nose and releasing it slowly through your mouth.

End your breathing with one last round of Fire Breathing, and then move on to the final step: Power Animal Visualization…

With your mind and body charged with Ki, close your eyes and imagine your “power animal” coming toward you.

Imagine it walking out of a forest, gliding across a meadow, or charging through the desert.

It can be any animal that resonates with you, real or unreal. Wolf, lion, dragon, or bear. If it speaks to you, then that is your animal for today.

Bring your power animal to life in your mind, fully realizing it.

• Color
• Size
• Texture
• Sounds

Anything that makes your animal real. As you visualize it coming closer, breathe it into you. Today, this animal is you. Hold that energy with you throughout the day.

Finally, remember what you were grateful for at the beginning of your routine. Let it flash across your mind’s eye and carry it with you.

That’s it. You made it.

Just a simple, five-step routine can leave you feeling energized and ready to take on the world.