My morning rituals

Over the last months staying in one place (which is unusual for me and quite honestly hasn’t been fun) I’ve created morning rituals that really help me to start the day grounded. I’ve shared previously on Society19 my morning routine and night routine ideas, but I wanted to share them here too.

I recently did a birth chart reading with Gena Govas (highly recommend, she is amazing) and one thing we kept returning to was the importance of daily rituals and routines that keep me grounded. This is something I have struggled with but also tried to focus on for practically my whole life. I tend to have my head in the clouds a lot, living often in a creative land, my own world, so having daily rituals that ground me and keep me healthy are really important.

Gena also talked about the importance of movement for me—not just to stay healthy but to move energy. Through my work with my friend Jenn over the last year, I’ve been really trying to incorporate more regular movement.

I have to admit that when I’m in Italy, I don’t even need to think of this because my lifestyle is so different. I walk so much and am constantly in movement. My life in Minnesota, however, is much different, especially during the winter. Driving is the norm and the only times I move are really for exercise, not to get from one place to the other. So knowing that there are these differences, I adjust each time I come back.

I would say I’ve had a good morning routine for the past few years—really since the pandemic started and putting importance on daily routines was the only way to survive. Throughout the past couple of years going back and forth between Italy and the States, I’ve maintained really good morning rituals (don’t ask about my night routine, however—that’s still a piece of work…I’m such a night owl, I never want to go to bed).

Anyways, now that I feel like I’ve been consistently doing my morning routine for a while, I wanted to share it. I made a TikTok about it which people have been loving, but wanted to share here as well. Especially for people who work from home, I think having a routine in the morning is so vital instead of just rolling over and starting work, with no clear boundaries. I also wrote recently about avoiding loneliness when you work from home, to give you some ideas on how to stay connected to others even if you work by yourself at home.

I hope this post inspires you to create a routine of your own, full of intentional rituals that make your ‘everyday’ better. And one tip—write down your routine when you get started. It helps to follow for the first week but you’ll notice after a few days that you start to automatically know what’s next and your morning won’t feel complete without these important rituals.

My morning rituals

• Wake up and leave my phone on do not disturb (the only aspect of my night routine on lock right now)
• Put music on, playlist always depends on my mood
• Contacts in
• Wash my face with cold water
• Blume acne oil and CeraVe facial lotion with sunscreen
• I add in a lip scrub in the winter from Lush, flavor ‘Unicorn’ because I’m actually 5 years old
• Gua sha (out of the fridge, feels so good)
• Open up all the blinds in my apartment
• Make my bed
• Drink water and take my allergy meds
• Make breakfast (I suck at eating breakfast so I always try to just do it right away otherwise I don’t)
• Take my phone off do not disturb and respond to my friends (with more intention than if I had answered groggily from bed right after waking up)
• Make espresso, obviously my favorite part
• Journal with my coffee: 1-page of free writing (or morning pages, for those who have done The Artist’s Way), affirmations, gratitude list, and manifestation list
• Start my workday