How You Start Your Day Can Change Your Life

What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? Before I started a daily spiritual practice, as soon as I woke, my mind went into overdrive thinking of all the things I had to do that day. These first thoughts pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day, keeping my mind in overdrive until my head hit the pillow again later that night. Then I woke up and did it all again. Once I realized that I was setting an unconscious intention for every day to be stressful by the way I began my day, I shifted the way I began my day.

Now, the first thing I do every day is my spiritual practice. No, I don’t check my voicemail or e-mail, or even eat breakfast first. I know from my own experience and my experiences with many clients over the years that what we do first sets the precedent for the rest of our day. That said, I encourage you to experiment and see for yourself. At first, it was difficult for me to break out of the old habit of jumping into my day full speed ahead, but, eventually, I developed a new habit that was in my best interest. This is what a spiritual practice does.

Why is it that sometimes we wake up in a great mood, and other days, perhaps more frequently, we feel like we have been run over by a truck, deflated and lackluster? Fortunately, we do not have to leave it up to fate; we can control our own energy, thoughts, and feelings. We can’t control anything else, but we do have dominion over our internal landscape. Here are some suggestions to begin your day and transform your life:

1. Begin your day with gratitude. Get a journal and write a full page of all the things you are grateful for.

2. Recite a prayer or a poem that makes you feel connected to something greater.

3. Get a reading out of a spiritual book. Then, reflect on the meaning of the reading in your own experience.

4. And my favorite, meditate. Start your day being Centered, Clear and Connected. For a free guided 5-minute meditation, go to http://www.spiritcoachtraining.com/5-minutes-to-freedom-and-fulfillment/

Without the right tools, it may seem impossible that we can actually be in charge of how we think and feel. When we have these simple tools for transformation we become empowered to transform our lives by transforming our selves.