01 Mar Why a Morning Routine is Vital: Don’t Leave Home Without it.
We all have bad days from time to time—the kind of day where nothing seems to go right.
What sets those days apart from ones where we find ease and satisfaction and when the right things happen at the right time?
The Potential of Every Day is Guided by How it was Fertilized at its Birth.
Was it nourished by a life-giving routine? Or with negative expectations and chaos?
Rushing through the morning without preparing for the day tends to leave us feeling scattered and out of sorts. Think of days when we spill coffee on our best outfit or at day’s end regret our ill-tempered behavior toward others.
It feels unfair, but those out-of-sorts days tend to blossom into a string of one problem after another until we seem trapped in the unsettled, unsatisfied, and upset feelings that began the day.
I recently had just such a day.
My plan for the day was to elevate my car to its shinest beauty. The idea was to take my car to a dealership and get the best possible offer as a trade-in on another.
Because car maintenance is not my favorite activity, there was a lot of remedying of prior neglect to be had.
So first I would need to dedicate myself to washing the exterior, and then vacuuming, and detailing the interior. This labor of dedication took three hours. At the end of it, I was spent.
Then just as I finished, I crawled into the front seat and somehow managed to drop my license between the center console and the driver’s seat of my small Mazda.
Not only did I drop it, that driver’s license totally disappeared from view. Squeezing myself below the steering wheel, swishing my hand to every millimeter of the carpet beneath the seat, like a cat blindly pawing under a closed door, proved fruitless. I could not see or feel the license. Fishing around with a coat hanger provided no better result.
After yet another hour with the car, I gave up.
Clearly, that was a day of exhaustion and frustration!
By contrast, another day was filled with joy:
This snapshot of me was taken one evening during a month I spent studying meditation with a spiritual master in India. That day had begun as each day there had, with a morning routine that always left me feeling light and inspired.
This picture was taken without filters on an iPhone. It reflects the beauty of evening in the rural Indian countryside as well as the joy I held in my heart as I stood with a dear swami from our meditation center.
A morning sowed with activities that help us feel centered, grounded, and in touch with our own inner nature gives us a better chance of experiencing a day that feels good to us at the end of it.
Instead of being easily irritated with others, we can find more peace.
Additionally, we are more likely to witness inspired moments during the day. This can lead to greater satisfaction and life enjoyment.
The Importance of a Morning Routine is a Matter of Brain Activity
There are five brain waves phases.
- Delta
- Theta
- Alpha
- Beta
- Gamma
Ten seconds of simulated EEG data in the five differently named frequency bands of neural oscillations, or brainwaves: delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma.
(File made available under the Creative Common CCO 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.)
Delta
Delta brain waves are the slowest. This phase occurs during deep sleep or even deep meditation. Healing and regeneration are important processes harnessed during this condition.
Theta
As we begin to arouse from sleep, the brain enters this state of activity. Here, in light dreaminess, the body and mind are deeply relaxed. The focus is inward. Creativity and insight often appear during the Theta state. And, brain chemicals that soothe and bring feelings of peace are generated.
Alpha
The brain is alert in the Alpha state but still relaxed. When we are in quiet thoughtful moments, the brain tends to be in this measure of brain wave activity. Resiliency to stress is cultivated with longer exposure to this condition. When people are engaged in a flow state, they have engaged this activity level. Creativity flows easily from this brain engagement. People often note that their best ideas come to them when they are in the shower, taking a walk in nature, or gardening, which indicates being in the Alpha state—relaxed, but not processing much information.
Beta
Problem-solving, feeling overly alert, and focusing outside ourselves are typical activities of Beta’s very fast brain wave phase. While the brain was designed to enter this state infrequently for short periods of time, most Americans, unfortunately, function from this state for much of the days of their lives. No wonder we feel such high levels of stress and chronic worry, and find it difficult to feel happy or optimistic.
Gamma
When we engage in highly focused concentration, we engage the Gamma levels of brain waves.
Conclusions From the Review of the Brain Wave Levels:
For greater creativity, peace, and inspiration, we should aim to increase the amount of Alpha and Theta levels of brain waves in our everyday lives. And, we should aim to shorten the amount of time we operate out of the Beta levels.
In short, life becomes more satisfying and less stressful when we intentionally structure our days to get less Beta, and more Alpha, Theta, and Delta brain waves in our every day.
My vanished driver’s license fiasco is an excellent example of this:
On the day I was to prepare my car to be taken to be judged for its value at a dealership, I woke rushed.
I bounded out of bed with a long To-Do list. My regular morning routine was abandoned with my brain telling me that I just “didn’t have the time.”
The morning became filled with negative expectations. In truth, my mind came up with pessimistic scenario after scenario of how complicated the process would be of getting the best offer for my car.
With negative stereotypes of car salespeople running through my mind, I felt stressed. Rushing from errand to errand, I began steeling myself for battle as if I were in a gladiator competition pitting me against the salesperson. These overly negative expectations fueled me with adrenaline–images flying with lightning speed through my mind: Every arm motion of scrubbing my car, cleaning the nooks and crannies, was like I was lifting weights and practicing to be the victor in a duel.
Then, the driver’s license disappeared and I was totally stymied from moving forward on selling the car.
It felt like an impossible situation.
But was it?
That night, when I met my grown son for dinner, I told him about my day’s challenge.
He wanted to try his hand at the problem. Pessimistically, I told him, “No, don’t worry about it. There’s no use. I’ll just have to go and get a replacement driver’s license before I try and sell the car.”
Undeterred, he insisted. As I had, he crawled beneath the steering wheel and jammed his hand under the car seat in search of a magical outcome.
He is much taller than me, with muscular arms and meaty hands. I watched him, sure that if my petite hand searching cat-like in that small space underneath the seat came up empty, there was no chance for him to succeed.
In less than two minutes, he jumped up from the task. Ta-Da! Easy Peasy, he held up my license as if it were no more of a challenge than plucking a daisy from a field of them.
So, what was the difference?
Here it is: The answer lies in the contrasting states of brain wave activity during the same task.
His day had been one of relaxation and enjoyment.
He felt no stress (or negative expectations) about my car situation—neither the lost license nor the cash the car would bring. Relaxed, his brain was likely in an Alpha state.
Me? No– I was in a high-frequency Beta state during my search.
The difference in the results of our efforts was shocking. From an Alpha state, my son easily allowed for creative impulses to flow to him. He tried options I had not considered–pulling out a flashlight and even a pocket knife in his search. Creative problem solving had been blocked to me as I acted out of Beta-driven efforts.
Time and time again, events in my life serve to remind me of the importance of my morning routine in nourishing the day that lies ahead of me. While my mind says, ‘No, you don’t have time for it,’ my experience shows me that I don’t have time not to.
In Sum, Life Becomes More Satisfying and Less Stressful When We Have Less Beta and More Alpha, Theta and Delta Brain Wave Activities in Our Daily Lives.
An intentional, well-organized morning routine can guide us in achieving this goal.
Join me in my next blog post where I will detail a morning routine that can fertilize your day for less tension, more inspiration, and greater happiness in life.
Subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss it!
Disclaimer: Although the content here relates to well-being, it does not constitute the practice of psychology and is not designed to be a replacement for receiving professional mental health advice or services. Although medical and health information may be presented, it does not constitute medical advice and is not a substitute for proper medical advice or care. The information is designed solely to be educational for those who might be interested in the subject matter. Use this information as you see fit, and at your own risk. We recommend consulting a qualified mental health professional to better understand the most appropriate actions for the reader to take for their own unique circumstances, as appropriate.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.