5 Morning Routine Tips to Start Your Day With Intention

How you integrate a morning routine will set the tone for the entire day ahead. If you wake up feeling frazzled, pressed for time, and reactive to the chaos around you, it's tough to cultivate focus and operate from a place of intention.

However, by adopting a few simple but powerful morning habits, you can begin each day feeling grounded, energised and purposefully aligned with your priorities.

As a lifestyle advisor, one of the biggest revelations for my clients is recognising how transformative it can be to claim the first 60-90 minutes of the day for themselves. These initial moments shape everything that follows by anchoring you in what truly matters most. Ahead are five intentional morning habits to try incorporating into your own daily routine:

1. Morning Habit: Mindfulness or Meditation Practice

Before checking emails, doom-scrolling on social media, or getting barrelled into your whirlwind of daily tasks, take 10-20 minutes to be still, present, and anchored in the here and now. Try FREE guided meditation apps like Insight Timer, practice belly breathing, or simply sit and observe your thoughts and sensations without judgement.

This mindfulness practice provides a grounding pocket of solitude amidst the chaos. It allows you to shed mental clutter, tune into your inner wisdom, and start the day from a state of clarity instead of reactivity.

2. Morning Habit: Gentle Movement

Even something as simple as a 15-minute yoga or brisk walk outside can work wonders to awaken your body, release endorphins, and prime you with natural energy before the day's grind. This physical movement time allows you to get out of your head, anchor into your body, and perhaps even get some fresh air and sunlight exposure.

In the morning, the focus is on low-impact rejuvenation that stretches your muscles and clears your mind through rhythmic, meditative motion. Leave the high-intensity workouts for later if you prefer, or after you've finished your morning routine.

3. Morning Habit: Inspirational Reading or Listening

Dedicate part of your morning to filling your mind with positivity, motivation, and wisdom. This could mean reading a few pages from an uplifting book, listening to an inspiring podcast episode or speech over your morning coffee, or journaling about your intentions for the day ahead.

Taking in empowering content first thing provides a great foundation for continuing to make purposeful choices throughout the day that honour your values and vision for your best life.

4. Morning Habit: Journaling

There's something incredibly clarifying about putting pen to paper first thing in the morning. Simply jot down the things you are thankful for even on the most difficult of days e.g your pets, a sunny day, coffee with friends. This writing practice sets you up to process emotions, download creative ideas, and get unstuck from mental loops before tackling your day.

For extra intentionality, you can incorporate specific themed journaling prompts or questions that get you focused on your core priorities and vision for the days and weeks ahead.

The app I really love to use is Diarium. You can ad videos, photos and voice notes to it too!

5. Morning Habit: Nurturing Routine

What small act of self-care and nourishment would feel grounding and replenishing for you in the morning? Perhaps it's savouring a hot cup of herbal tea in stillness, taking a hot shower with aromatherapeutic body wash, blending up a nutrient-dense smoothie or eating some filling porridge with a banana, cinnamon, honey and chia seeds (which is what I eat myself). This nurturing routine signals to yourself that you're a priority worth taking great care of.

Starting your day by nourishing your body and soul sets the stage for remaining intentional about caring for all aspects of yourself as the day unfolds and inevitably gets busy, so really be mindful to what the first thing you eat or drink after waking will be.

The state from which we begin our mornings is so deeply impactful on the proceeding hours and choices we make. By claiming the morning as yours through intentional habits like mindfulness, movement, inspirational inputs, reflective writing, and self-care routines, you set yourself up to operate from a grounded, purposeful, and energised state of being. Begin rising with more intention and watch how it elevates every aspect of your life.