Mindful Start to the Day

Mindful Start to the Day

How you start the day matters. It sets the course for your whole day including how you feel and how you treat other people. Not only does it matter to you, who might feel the impact of a stressful morning all day long, but it also matters to others. If you feel rushed as you leave for your morning commute, you are more likely to drive in an impatient manner that affects others negatively.

It is not their fault that you had poor time management! Let’s set some good routines for our mornings this year. Here’s how!

1. Get up early
We know every moment of sleep matters, but pushing the snooze button for ten more minutes of sleep can make us feel rushed and behind schedule.

2. Eat breakfast
Everyone knows this one, but it truly is important. Your body needs fuel for the demands of the day just like your car needs gas to drive.

3. Just drive
Use your morning commute as a time of quiet and focus. You might take deep breaths as you notice something beautiful about your drive, like the blue sky or a cloud formation. You can repeat in your mind like meditation, “today is a good day, today is a good day, today is a good day, etc…”

4. Smile
Smiling has a pleasing effect on your nervous system and is one of your body’s mechanisms for dealing with stress. So give yourself a smile, smile while you listen to music, smile while you drive. It works!

5. Skip the social media
It might feel pressing to see what everyone was up to while you slept last night, but it is not a good habit to start the day. Everything will be ok if you hold off checking your social media until the end of the day.

We hope you have good mornings and love your drive all year long. #loveyourdrive