The Daily G.I.F.T. from The GratiDude

Mornings used to be painful until I broke up with Tito. Now, I’m a GratiGallo cockadoodledoodling before the sun comes up!! Hear me?

www.grateful4.org

Gratitude

Intention

First

Things

The G.I.F.T. Today

Grateful: for feeling how I shifted my energy in yoga yesterday when I didn’t realize I was “tweaky” from storm stuff. Cool feeling

Intention-have as many thoughtful conversations with strangers today as possible. How are you doing? Really?

First-get to writing

Things-Email to Steve and Kenny

Morning Meditation from The GratiDude

If you are reading this in the morning, you are including something positive and healthy in your morning routine.  Even if you don’t find my musings and scribblings to be highly entertaining every single day, the overall message of gratitude and personal growth and encouragement will still be energetically be an ingredient that serves you well even if I miss the mark occasionally on my messages.

The thought of altering or changing or skipping my morning routine is something so far outside of my wishes and desires that I can’t imagine doing it.

In other words, I have come to realize that my morning routine and getting up early and doing all the things I need to activate all of the aspects of my human organism have become as vital as breathing itself(or so it seems) my mornings are a practice to prepare myself for the best possible human experience during the day.  My commitment to this morning routine is so firm and resolute that I realize it will be a major factor in choosing or in partnering with women going forward in my life.  I simply won’t be able to live with a night owl or someone that likes to become exhausted staying up late and sleeping in.

We would just never be able to connect because our eating schedules and everything else would also be off.

When you have a commitment to a morning routine, you obviously must have behavior in the previous evening that facilitates your ability to wake up.

In other words, I couldn’t have added or started this morning routine practice before dawn during my days when I would hang out and make love with Tito‘s Hand Made Vodka at night in his glass gluten-free bedroom till late at night.

There was no Wim Hoff breath work in the morning with a headache and an upset stomach. Those two just would not go well together I imagine.

The Wim Hof technique

One round of the Wim Hof Method breathing technique includes these steps:

Take in a strong inhalation through the nose.

Let out a relaxed exhalation through the mouth.

Repeat for 30 breaths.

On the 30th breath, exhale to 90 percent and hold for as long as you can.

When you feel your body really needs to take a breath, inhale fully and hold for 15 seconds before releasing.

The basic technique involves three consecutive rounds of the above.

Eventually, the breathing may feel like a wave flowing through your lungs, but this will take practice.

The ripple effect is very real when you make this commitment to how you start your day as it obviously requires you to review and make changes to how you end your day, eventually leading to what some folks call a pre-sleep routine. A pre-sleep routine includes conscious breathing, slowing down, and you disconnect from media and outside electronic stimulus to prepare your mind and body for deep proper sleep.

Including an element of breath work in the morning is really vital because your breathing patterns are much more shallow during your sleep so it’s important to activate all of the stale and stored energy and to circulate the deepest depth of your lungs and expand those giant airbags as much as possible to get them ready for a full day of activity.

Here are examples to consider, with Tony’s being a short turnkey way to start a routine:

Tony Robbins starts his day with a 10-minute ritual called “Priming” to prepare himself for the day ahead. 

The routine includes: 

• Breathing exercises: A forceful breathing exercise that’s similar to Kapalabhati Pranayama breathing from yoga 

• Visualization: Visualizing light pouring through your head 

• Gratitude: Thinking of three things you’re grateful for 

• Prayer: A three-minute prayer for your family and friends 

• Goals: Thinking of three things you want to accomplish 

Robbins says that Priming helps him maintain his energy and focus, and that it can change your day for the better. He also eats a healthy breakfast that includes protein, clean fats, and alkaline foods.

Arianna Huffington: No Social Media or Alarm Clock

The founder of Thrive Global focuses her morning routine on what she doesn’t do. Because she usually gets the recommended 8 hours of sleep, she doesn’t need an alarm clock to wake her. In Huffington’s opinion, getting up naturally is a much more relaxed way to begin the day.

Then, she makes it a point to not jump to her phone or social media in the morning hours. Instead of getting distracted with notifications, she uses this time to connect to herself, practice gratitude, and meditate.

Steve Jobs: Self-Reflection Through a Simple Question

The late Steve Jobs certainly was very deliberate about how he spent his time. Every morning, his routine included one non-negotiable element. He stood in front of the mirror, looked himself in the eye, and asked:

“If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? If the answer is ‘no’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

Asking such a powerful self-reflection question in the morning prevented him from straying off-track. You can also do that as a way of checking in with yourself.

We’re going back to basics in our Self-Sherpa coaching series and we will help everyone that participates build their own morning routine and you will be amazed at how much your life improves with this simple practice.

Base Camp.

Authenticity Begins Consciously.

The ABCs of Leadership.

Once you have created this routine, it is something that you will never let go of because the impacts of how it changes your life experience during the day are so immediate and profound that you will want more of it.

Any NEW thing, a diet, exercise, or yoga, meditation, it’s those first few weeks and 30 days that you need to be disciplined until you start to feel the benefits and start to eat the fruits from your labor.  

Be patient and trust the process and do I simply copy other people that are happy and crushing life and don’t try to waste time for no reason.