Slowing down has been a goal of mine this year. 

I’ve been really into slow mornings. Waking up slow, taking the time to make tea, making a nutritious breakfast, showering, being fully present in my skin care routine and taking the time to sit and soak in the quiet before diving into the tasks of the day has been so rejuvinating for me. 

Deciding whether or not I was willing to try trading my few extra moments of sleep for moments of calm as opposed to rushing around the house panicked about getting work on time and starting my day at a level 10 stress before 9am was pretty much a no brainer.

Although I’ve loved it, it wasn’t the easiest of adjustements at first. There were some strategies I’ve had to figure out before I was able to make this into a successful routine of mine. Now that they’re in place I don’t struggle as much to reach that happy place of quiet in the mornings. The benefits are immeasurable and if you’re down, I’d love to share them with you. 

Benefits of Starting Slow

Slow mornings help you to ease into your day

What does your normal morning look like? Mine typically consisted of me waking up, reaching for my phone, following up with left over texts from the night before, checking social media, seeing what’s going on in the world (via twitter of course), flipping through my emails and then realizing that my 5 minute turned 30 minute scanning of the internet has set me back. From there I would rush into my morning prep and barely get a chance to say, “Bye” to my husband as I left for the day. I’d be anxious and on edge and annoyed that I’d have to spend money on food because I had again forgotten to pack my lunch. Now, when I wake, I’m engaged in my environment, aware of how I’m feeling and what I need from myself before the day officially begins.

Slow mornings can help to manage anxiety

Slowing down and being intentional about how I want to spend my mornings has helped to almost completely remove that anxiety from me during the day, mainly because for me, I’m not creating it myself. The rush and chaos that follows a morning started with rushing and chaos is stressful. Removing that in the morning has helped it to barely surface during the day, this has also been helpful in helping me handle whatever gets thrown at me throughout the day with much more grace.

Slow mornings help you to be more mindful 

Mindfulness in its simplest form means to pay attention to. When you’re intentionally slowing down, you cannot help but to pay attention to your surroundings, your body, your mental state. Mindfullness is beneficial for many reasons, but primarily it connects you to what you are doing which eventually triggers you to understand/think about why you are doing what you are doing, leading you to fill your life with things that are purposeful, not fluff. For me, checking social media in the morning is fluff, I don’t need it. Journaling and spending time in quiet is not.

I like me better when I’ve started my morning off slowly. In general, I have more time, I’m a more peaceful person, I actually enjoy being awake in the early hours of the day and sometimes, I actually get to eat breakfast with my tea.

If you’re already into the slow living lifestyle, then none of this will come as a surprise to you. If you’ve yet to start, or this is the first time you’re hearing about it, I want to encourage you to give it a shot. Make a little room to take care of you in your morning routine this week!

Talk soon!

xx Nicole Eva