The Magic of the Morning Ritual
For years, science has backed the idea of a morning ritual. Neural pathways are the most malleable in these early hours of the morning. Creating a routine to prepare your mindset and body to support your day provides a well of resilience for the twists and turns of life. The ritual can change over time, be it meditation, movement, or breathwork. It’s the time of day that stays the same. The practice is about showing up for yourself.
We also see evidence in current cultures across the world, of a morning practice being passed down from the ancients. The mystics of India called this time of day, just before dawn, the Brahama Muhurta. They say it’s the most sacred time to align the inner cosmos with the outer.
For example, Ayurveda’s recommendation for easing depression is to walk outside and get sun in your eyes first thing in the morning. Science has confirmed that this helps reset the circadian rhythm with the biological clock and supports the vitality of several health-related topics, including a good night’s sleep.
So, there are plenty of reasons why a morning ritual is a great way to start the day. Perhaps the bigger question is…how?
Neuroscience continues to provide valuable information on building new, healthy habits and dissolving the less desirable ones. For starters, we don’t need to rely on sheer willpower. Atomic Habits author James Clear quotes Greek poet Archilochus:
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
This means if you aren’t meeting your goals for a morning routine, don’t take it personally. The key to success in building a ritual is to troubleshoot your systems, not your willpower.
Clear says there are four essential elements to setting up a process that makes new routines achievable.
Building New, Healthy Habits
- Make it Obvious: For a new habit to be successful, create a time and space for your ritual. Set your alarm. Add a block of time to your calendar and prepare your space by laying out clothes ahead of time, your tea cup, journal, or yoga mat.
- Make it Attractive: Add something you know you’ll enjoy to your ritual. Perhaps your favorite music plays in the background during your yoga practice. Or learn about some of your favorite topics while hydrating with your morning tonic or smoothie.
- Make it Easy: If a guided meditation is part of your morning routine, pick one ahead of time and have it ready to go on your device. One recommendation is to have two duration options available. If you are short on time, you can still accomplish the shorter routine at the time you set aside. Build the muscle of showing up at the time and date you have set aside for yourself, even if it’s a shorter practice.
- Make it Satisfying: Hopefully, after following through for a week of your ritual, endorphins will begin to flow and confidence will build. You can always try habit-stacking and let your morning coffee or breakfast be the reward for completing your ritual practice every day.
Breaking Unwanted Habits
If you have habits you want to release, ask yourself the opposite of the questions above:
How do I make this habit less attractive?
How do I make it more difficult to engage in this behavior?
If you are building your Morning Ritual with Gaia, we recommend using our Playlist feature. Create as many Playlists as you like for specific days of the week or for certain durations.
Most importantly, go easy on yourself. The Morning Ritual that suits your lifestyle may change over time, and creating new routines can also be fun. Just as the Willow tree bends in the wind, allow yourself the flexibility to adjust what works for you as lifestyle changes arise. Ultimately, your unique ritual is meant for you, to grow your sense of self-love and increase your love of life!
About the Author
Archetypal Moon Energy; a Lunar Love Ritual
The moon cycles possess archetypal energies that offer women deeper insight into her own natural rhythms and how her divine flow guides her to have greater control over her mental and emotional well-being as well as harness the full potential of her creativity, strength, and nourishment. A woman who becomes consciously aware of her connection to the moon’s influence through her womb can begin to intentionally craft her life’s events in a way that will bring her the results she truly desires. Practice this Lunar Love Ritual to align with these archetypal energies and receive the full power of their guidance.
The 4 Archetypes of the Moon
It’s quite common for women to menstruate and ovulate in sync with the moon cycle. Since there is no evidence of women possessing greater or lesser health whether their menstrual cycles sync with the moon or not, please do not get too attached to these or allow them to mean something about your identity or worth as an individual. These are simply here to act as a framework to help guide you into an exploration of yourself.
A woman’s menstrual cycle is around the same length as the 28-day moon cycle, give or take a few days. There are two types of women depending on when they ovulate and menstruate – a white moon woman and a red moon woman. A white moon woman, which is the more common of the two types, will menstruate around the darkness of the new moon and ovulate with the full light of the full moon. A red moon woman will menstruate with the full light of the full moon and ovulate with the darkness of the new moon.
Depending on how our cycle aligns with the four moon phases – new moon, waxing moon, full moon, and waning moon – there are four archetypal energies that we can use as a guide to feel more in tune with our natural rhythms and those of the moon. Although the new moon is the start of a new cycle, for the purpose and ease of learning here, we will start with the virgin phase which corresponds to the waxing moon.
