What happens when you get up early?
That’s a question I have researched many times. I like
getting up early and knowing that it does good for my body & mood; I get
that extra strength to keep this habit. In this article, I explore some of the
deeper mysteries of how the mind works when it is activated earlier than usual. Hope you feel as inspired reading it as much as I loved writing it.
Making the morning routine
To those who can get up early without setting alarm, I say
you are blessed. Not many have that much of control over the self. To me, the
greatest thing that made me develop this habit was reframing my idea of it. I
had tried everything. From putting up a running gear in bed for the morning to setting
puzzles as the alarm on the phone, I did it all. Some days I got up before the
alarm even rang, but other days were a pain. I slogged out of bed, put down the
alarm, and slept again. The intoxicating morning sleep had me in its ever-long
grasps. Every night I would go to sleep while making a promise to myself about
getting up early, and most times I bailed when the actual moment of the test arose.
Then I began a routine. I started writing a gratitude
journal. Every night, I wrote 3 things I was grateful for. I never repeated. I thought
of different things for every day. And when I slept, those pointers started
getting registered in my mind. I did this for about 21 days, which is the time
a person takes to develop a new habit
Then I began noticing change in my happiness level
This was the changing point, because it gave me the
motivation to carry on. Being a freelancer, I need high energy throughout the
day. In my work there is no one else to talk. I am alone every day, working on
with words to create sentences that someday become part of a story. I can’t
afford to be spiritless. It directly affects my work quality and reduces my
client retention capability.
The amount of energy each one has is the same. You can learn
to save it by not plugging into activities that drain it out. I call it
Maintaining The Higher Connection. During the day, I take a moment away from
work to sit in absolute silence. During this minute, I feel myself as a being
who is in touch with the Higher Power. It is just like charging a phone. If a
phone is not charged when its battery is about to end, it dies. When a
non-living being thing needs energy to work, don’t we – the most beautiful
creation of God? I use this as a basis to converse with the Higher Energy,
sharing my thoughts and observation of that hour. This relaxes me, gives me new
perspective on the projects I am working
on and removes negativity. This is a fun thing to do. Doesn’t take much time,
but has hell lot of benefits.
You don’t need extra time to meditate. You have it
already.
Meditation has to do more with state of mind than anything
else. When I began getting up at 4:00 am, I realized I have more time on
my hands than the rest. It made me happy. I had extra hours because others were
sleeping. The whole world around me was still in dreams. I could go for a jog,
write, do yoga/stretching and use that time better than others. I did all of
it, making sure that I did not repeat any activity for a week. That ways, I
always had diversity in my morning routine. This gave me a reason to get up
before sunrise and build up a consistency that I still take pride in.
Like anything you read? Want to experience meditation? I am one crazy-about-meditation kind of person who likes to experiment it as much as I can. Give me a shout at sood(dot)nitima(at)gmail(dot)com & I’d love to share!
Love,
Nitima
