Start your day early Girl Warrior. By doing so you will begin to activate your true genius. It is during these wee hours that you will find your purpose for the day. And for your life. You will explore new avenues and ways of thinking. You’ll bring into the Light profound ways of being and a sage’s understanding of your humanness. Gifts and talents will be unearthed during this time. The real you, that beautiful creature who first arrived here on Planet Earth, will be remembered, revived and rekindled. She will bring you inspiration and you will cherish her presence. You will meet her here at dawn.
Don’t miss this opportunity to engage fully with her. This is a life-changing experience. One you get to do every day – if you choose to.
Get up before the rest of your household stirs. Give yourself at least an hour – and aim to grow it to two hours – of alone time, quiet time, you time. This is your gift to yourself. Set the alarm an hour early if need be. Make that commitment to yourself. No hitting the snooze button. Get up.
Get up and before you do anything else, make your bed. If you don’t sleep alone, make it after your partner rises. If your relationship policy has been ‘last one up makes the bed’ (which may mean it doesn’t get made) then scrap that shit. Make the bed. This is about you, not them, and especially not about domestic rules or rivalries. It’s about discipline, order, clarity, and doing something so very simple and basic, first. It’s the magnificent metaphor for your day.
Because this time is dedicated soulfully and respectfully to you, no one else gets to determine how it looks or how it unfolds. Having said that, here are a few things to consider for making the most of your early-morning practice from a Girl Warrior with decades of daily pre-dawn sessions under her belt.
After you’ve made the bed, hydrate. Drink a glass of warmish water (with or without a splash of lemon). Find a warm quiet place free from all distractions, light a candle if you like, and take 10 to 20 minutes to meditate. Don’t get bent out of shape about meditation either. The point is to simply sit quietly alone without any disturbances and diversions – human, animal or most importantly, digital. Don’t worry about your mind wondering or your thoughts interrupting the flow. Just relax and let it be. This is your meditation. You define it so don’t judge it. Just enjoy. (More on meditation at another time.)
After meditation, spend time with your thoughts. Go old school and record them in a journal. This doesn’t have to be anything elaborate or fancy. Inexpensive coil-bound Hilroy notebooks work beautifully. This journal is for your eyes only. It’s private and personal. What you write here is up to you. Things you’re grateful for, things that you’re worried about, things that frighten the shit out you, things that keep you awake, things you want to manifest, things that make you happy, things you want to change, things you want to do, things you dream about, all the things big and small. Get it all down Girl Warrior. Devote about a page every day to this practice. Date it, close it and tuck it away for 24 hours.
After journaling, move your body. First indoors and then get outside if you can. This is important. Even if you plan to go to the gym or a yoga class or run at the end of the day, take time to do some gentle harmonious exercise as part of your early morning routine. You may not be able to leave your home if you have kid responsibilities but you can do 30 minutes of soft bending, stretching and strengthening to honor your body. If you can get outside after your indoor practice, go for a walk or run in the early morning light. Everything looks and smells and feels so different at that hour. The ordinary becomes extraordinary. If you can’t get out, throw open the windows and breathe in the outdoors, the fresh air, listen to the heartbeat of the earth. It’s fucking glorious.
When this gently activity is done, hydrate some more, enjoy a healthy breakfast and savor this peaceful time of solitude and awakening. After you have gifted yourself this time of self-devotion you are ready to embrace the day joyfully, confidently and optimistically. You’ll have more to give in all arenas of your life – family, friends, colleagues and community – more intelligence, more creativity, more ideas, more energy, more kindness, more patience, more love.
This is what happens Girl Warrior when you take the time – every single day – to fill the well.
