10 Empowering Morning Rituals That Will Transform Your Life
Empowering morning rituals can be anything that nourishes your mind, body or soul. Anything that inspires or uplifts your mood and vibration.
A part of you may not feel like doing it to begin with, but you know you’ll thank yourself later for showing up.
I’ve dabbled with yoga and meditation for over a decade. But I didn’t start getting serious about my morning ritual until two years ago while living in Bali.
I would spend up to two hours on my morning ritual each day. And this had a profound effect on me, and the people around me.
Everything seemed to flow more. I felt I was magnetically drawing things into my life that I desired. And I somehow knew what path to head down next.
Two hours might sound awfully luxurious and impractical, and I get it.
I was running my own business, so I could design my day however I liked. But what helped me create space for this in my day was mostly the act of rising earlier.
I’d usually wake up between 5AM and 6AM every day. So even if I had been going out to a job, I wouldn’t have to cut my morning ritual short.
That being said, empowering morning rituals can be as succinct or elaborate as you like. You can spend ten minutes, or two hours like me. Some days this will vary, depending on what else is going on for you.
Remember, this isn’t meant to be another thing on your to-do list that you need to check off.
A morning ritual is meant to ground you, bring you clarity and calm, and set you up for a beautiful day ahead.
I like to think of it as a way to show myself love and care each day. And most of us don’t do this enough.
Here are my favourite empowering morning rituals
Use these ideas to create your own. And remember, you don’t need to try and cram all of them in.
Pick a few that speak to you, try them tomorrow, and see what happens. Try some different rituals the next day.
Keep playing around and exploring what feels good for you. Add some of your own ideas.
Like I said, this shouldn’t feel like a chore. It should feel like a gift. So keep switching things up until it does.
1. Wake up earlier
This is the foundation of creating an empowering morning ritual, and will help you incorporate other rituals on this list into your morning.
Many of us rush out of bed, chug down a coffee, skip breakfast, and run out the door to work.
“I don’t have time for a morning ritual,” is a common complaint.
You might not have time in your day right now, but you can probably change that. And waking up earlier is one of the easiest ways to do so.
The great thing about first thing in the morning is there are little to no distractions.
Before you turn your phone or laptop on, there are no emails or phone calls to answer. The kids are probably asleep. The outside world is quiet. And this time is your own.
Even if you wake up 20 minutes earlier than you do now, that’s 20 glorious minutes to spend nourishing yourself that you didn’t have yesterday.
2. Meditate
Meditation has had a surge in popularity over the past five years, as the many health benefits have been researched and widely spoken about.
It can reduce stress and anxiety, improve your relationships, and help you tap into your intuition.
When I wake up, I go to the bathroom, wash my face, and brush my teeth. I drink a glass of water, and then I sit down to meditate before doing anything else.
Sometimes I’ll sit cross legged, other times I’ll perch on the edge of my bed, or even lie down if I feel like it. But avoid this position if you’re likely to fall asleep!
Apps like Calm have lots of guided meditations to choose from.
Sometimes I like to find a meditation playlist on Spotify and use that as my background while I sit in stillness. You could even create your own.
Or you might prefer to sit in complete silence. It’s up to you.
3. Sip on something nourishing
Usually this is a lemon green tea for me. Occasionally, it’s a milk tea, or a coffee.
Some people swear by hot water and a fresh slice of lemon. Others will pop in a teaspoon of honey or apple cider vinegar. And some people will opt for plain water.
Start tuning into your body, and give her what she needs. She’ll always tell you.
This is how you start using your power of intuition in small ways, which will lead to you being guided on the bigger decisions in your life.
Whatever my drink of choice, I usually sip it as I continue on with the rest of my morning ritual.
4. Empowering morning rituals: read a book
Sometimes I’ll open a book I’m currently in the middle of.
Other times I’ll reach for the book that I feel called to read, and open it on a random page. Trusting that what I need to hear most this morning will find me.
Sometimes it’s non-fiction, other times it’s fiction, or poetry. You might even choose to read scripture, like The Bhagavad Gita.
You can read for as little or as long as you like. One poem or page might be enough today. And tomorrow, you might want to carry on and read a couple of chapters, or more.
Part of the joy of this process is learning to trust and follow your own inner guidance.
5. Journal
For more than a year, I consistently wrote “morning pages,” which is a term coined by Julia Cameron in her book, The Artist’s Way.
I’d write three pages, non-stop, of whatever came into my mind, first thing every day before starting my work.
Even when you don’t know what to write, you just write that you don’t know.
The idea is that this practice clears out all the stuck energy, and leaves you ready for the gold to pour out.
This gold makes up the chapters you’ll find in bestselling books, the brushstrokes on masterpieces, and the lyrics of record breaking songs.
It’s what all artists strive for; but some of us are so creatively blocked or trapped in fear, that we can’t get there.
Whether you consider yourself an artist or not, you are a creative being. We all are.
And journaling like this helps release any blockages, and get your creative energy flowing freely again.
If the morning pages don’t feel right for you, then you can journal about whatever you like.
6. Gratitude
Celebrating what’s already great in your life helps you attract more of it.
This is how we transform and live in an abundance mindset, instead of one that is rooted in lack.
Lots of people write a gratitude list, and note down things each day that they’re thankful for. Some people will just think about what they’re grateful for without writing it down.
These can be small things like the cosy slippers you’re wearing, or the hot tea you’re sipping on. Or bigger things like a loving relationship you’re in, or the beautiful house you’re living in.
It can really be anything. Anything that you are thankful for in your life. From your body, to your work, to your soul.
Even if you think about just one thing you’re grateful for each day, this will help you feel more abundant.
And when you stop and think about it, you’ll realise that your life is truly filled with so many blessings that you may not have even noticed.
7. Listen to uplifting music
I love Spotify, because it makes doing things like this simple, and so much fun!
Pick a song – any song that you know will inspire or uplift you – and press play.
Turn it up if you want to. Sing. Dance. Do whatever feels good for you in the moment.
Or, you might want to pick a slightly more mellow or instrumental playlist, which is still uplifting, but can be listened to in the background while you read or journal.
It’s totally up to you.
I have quite a few different playlists that I rotate through often.
I created a power playlist which helps me feel strong and empowered. A reading playlist for when I want to dip into a book. And lots of upbeat tracks that are my go-to for when I want feel happy and raise my vibration.
8. Affirmations
Affirmations can help transform your limiting beliefs, and get you closer to manifesting everything you desire.
An affirmation is a positive statement, usually beginning with I AM, which describes how you want to feel, but in the present tense.
For example:
- I am open to connecting with powerful, like minded women
- I am worthy and deserving of love
- Or, I believe in and trust myself
You’re strengthening a belief, or a way you want to feel, by subtly telling your mind that you’re already there.
If you don’t have any affirmations yet, I invite you to write some today that are personal to you and the areas of your life where you want to create shift.
They can change as often as you like, depending on what you need most.
Read them out loud. Visualise them as your reality. You might even choose to meditate on them.
9. Move your body
My personal favourites are swimming and yoga, but both of those might be unappealing to you.
Choose a way to move your body that feels good for you. That might be different depending on the day, the mood you’re in, and the time you have to play with.
Even something as small as stretching your body counts.
Remember, you don’t want your morning ritual to feel like a chore, so make sure you fill it with things that bring you joy.
Sometimes all you need is to loosen up your body, work out those kinks, and wake yourself up.
10. Divine guidance
You might want to combine this with journaling, and ask your higher powers for answers to any questions that are arising for you.
Or you might even want to channel divine guidance, listen to your guides, and write down any wisdom they offer you.
I like to work with oracle cards, and ask what today is about for me. I pull a card, and use this as guidance and support for my day ahead.
This part is all about allowing your soul to receive divine guidance, and you can interpret the word divine however you choose to.
Watch as these empowering morning rituals transform your life
You probably won’t notice a huge difference after one day. That’s the truth when it comes to starting anything.
It takes a while before you see results, and sometimes, those “results” won’t even be visible.
A morning ritual isn’t focused on productivity or output. It’s focused on internal work, and the art of being.
This internal work is what most people skip past, but without it, you won’t be able to create the external results that you crave.
An empowering morning ritual will help you transform your world in the most unexpected of ways, and it will often happen without you realising it.
One day, you’ll wake up, and notice how far you’ve come, and how much you’ve grown.
Plus, it’s a beautiful gift to give yourself each morning. A gift I believe we should all get to experience the magic of.