From Anxious to Anchored: My Daily Morning Ritual to Conquer Stress
The Daily Routine That Quiets My Anxiety and Keeps Me Connected to What Truly Matters
The first hour of the day can either be an anchor of calm or a whirlwind of chaos. For most of my adult years, mine was the latter, until I discovered how a dedicated morning routine could transform it into a quiet refuge.
I realized that to change my life and reduce my anxiety, I had to first change my morning. That required a new level of intention with how I spent my time—and just as importantly, how I didn’t.
Last week, I wrote about the importance of a morning routine and the core components that can help you reduce anxiety and stress.
If you haven’t read that yet, I suggest you start there because it’ll cover the WHY behind what I do.
My morning routine has taken years for me to fully cultivate. I’ve tried so many different variations it would make your head spin.
Below is my routine—the result of years of refinement. My goal isn't for you to copy it exactly, but to offer inspiration for building your own.
My Morning Routine
The time I wake up each morning is dependent on if I’m doing 6 am hot yoga class or not, which I go to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
On mornings I do hot yoga, I wake up around 5:10-5:15 am and then the mornings I don’t, I wake up closer to 6 am.
This is my full morning routine - in actual order:
Wake up: Jump out of bed, brush my teeth, feed and let my dog out.
Hot yoga (M/W/F): I’ve written about hot yoga before as it’s been a core component of my mental health maintenance.
I’m convinced hot yoga could solve a lot of the world’s problems. Seriously.
Get or make iced coffee: All four seasons, it’s cold beverages for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Shower + cold plunge: I take a regular shower with cool water and then end with turning off the hot water (so it’s freezing cold) and standing under it for 90-120 seconds.
Get dressed and ready: I’ve recently started caring about my skincare, so I have a little skincare routine when I get out of the shower. I think my skin looks dewier?
Meditation: I’ve been meditating for at least the last five years and most of those years I’ve used the Headspace app. At this point, I have a few go-to meditations that are 3-5 minutes long and I’ll sit down and do one of those before the rest of my routine. It helps to center me and connect my mind and body.
I will say, I’ve noticed meditation has increased the space between a stimulus and my reaction. Meaning, I am better able to remain calm and collected before reacting to most annoyances in life.
It doesn’t make me a saint—especially in traffic—but it gives me that crucial moment of choice before I react. And for that, I'm grateful.
Read: I read one page of a daily book like Brianna Wiest’s The Pivot Year. I really like the read-a-page-a-day books that include quotes and make you think. It helps me stay inspired.
Daily Journal: I use this daily journal to write down the priority of the day, express gratitude, and write down daily affirmations. It also has a nighttime component where I can reflect on the day and write down what I’m most excited about for the next day.
Journal Free Write (Morning Pages): In a separate blank journal, I spent about 10-15 minutes writing whatever is on my mind. This is inspired by Julia Cameron’s famous book, The Artist’s Way.
Note: I do this a bit out of order as she suggests you do this first thing in the morning. Doing it here fits better into my morning. Sorry, Julia!
Positive affirmations & Visualizations: This next step is the most vulnerable, and without a doubt, the most powerful part of my entire routine.
I do these in tandem. I have positive affirmations and manifestations I speak into the universe and then the most importantly I visualize and feel. The feeling is crucial because it tells your subconscious to “tag” this as important. I wrote more about this here.
I know this sounds enigmatic, so let me give you a clear example of one positive affirmation + visualization.
I will speak this out loud, with my eyes closed: “I am a best-selling author that has sold millions of copies of my books dedicated to helping others improve their lives.”
With my eyes remaining closed, I will envision walking into my local bookstore, opening the doors, walking into the main lobby where the best-selling books are displayed, and seeing my book. Picking it up and holding it. And then I will feel the flood of emotions that would come from this. Joy. Awe. Pride. Gratitude. Humility. And a deep sense of knowing that all of my struggles, all the loneliness I felt, the lack of direction, was in service to a higher purpose.
I will also envision a book signing where people will walk up and tell me that my book helped to change their life. And feel the emotions that would surely wash over me.
I’ll also imagine reading the dedication that I plan on writing and imagining how it will feel.
These visualizations will often bring me to tears. Almost every single day. This is how I know I’m deeply connected to Self. And purpose. My body provides the confirmation.
That is the heart of my practice. It's vulnerable, it's emotional, and it's free. And the result is that by the time I get to work each day, I’m grounded, clear, and connected to what matters most to me.
For those of you that struggle with waking up early in the morning, keep reading!
Bonus - How to Begin When You're Not a Morning Person
I have a number of friends that are night owls. They struggle to wake up early for anything. I’m convinced they’d miss their own funeral if it was in the morning.
If you are one of these people, the above list might seem daunting.
“How am I going to wake up four hours earlier to do all of this stuff?”
My suggestion is to start small. Pick a couple things you want to incorporate into a morning routine so that it doesn’t feel daunting. And then wake up 20 minutes earlier than you normally do.
Building a routine requires intentionality and consistency. After all, we’re talking about your mental health here.
Sleep is very important. And so is having a consistent morning routine.
This means waking up around the same time every morning. And going to bed around the same time every night. Seven days a week.
To wake up 20 minutes earlier, go to bed 20 minutes earlier!
It might take a few weeks to consistently wake up 20 minutes earlier and that’s great!
Now if you want to build more into your morning routine, go through the process again. Wake up 20 minutes earlier. I promise you, you can do this if it’s important enough to you.
If you’re still having doubts, I’ll leave you with a question to ponder: How important is your mental health?
Conclusion
Hopefully this post has sparked some ideas for how you can better show up for yourself each and every morning.
I want to stress that your morning routine doesn’t need to look like mine. It can be vastly different.
But, if you want to add some mental health benefits to your morning, make sure you incorporate some (or all) of the seven important components of a morning routine from my last post.
Let’s chat in the comments!
For those who have a routine: What is one non-negotiable habit that grounds you?
For those who are just starting: What do you see as your single biggest challenge?
Love this so much
Love this. My mornings used to be pure chaos too—email, social, rushing out the door. Establishing even a tiny ritual was life-changing. Thanks for sharing yours so openly.