A HEALTHY WAY TO BEGIN YOUR DAY: Start Your Day the B.I.G Way: Breath, Intention + Gratitude

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Before you roll out of bed and rush to grab your morning coffee, how about adapting an easy five to 10 minute routine that can start your day off in a healthier way? Setting the tone of our day first thing when we wake up can be tremendously effective in shaping our day and our lives in a more intentional way. I am a believer in 'keeping things simple' and not overcomplicating things and thus making them difficult to weave into our everyday lives. The B.I.G. Way to Start Your Day is an easy technique that I came up with to help others adapt a healthier way to tackle each day. Each letter in B.I.G. stands for the three simple steps I recommend practicing upon awakening.

1. Breath

I often speak of the importance of breathing. In fact, I named my company Stop and Breathe for this very reason! Healthy Breathing is everything. I recommend belly breathing to my clients. In doing so, we bring our breathing down from our chests to our bellies and focus on deepening the breath and evening out the inhalations and the exhalations. If you aren't sure if you are breathing in the healthiest way, check out these Healthy Breathing Tips or listen to a 5-minute breath guidance to help you learn this life-changing tool. Start with a good three to five minutes of deep breathing first thing each morning upon waking up.A

2. IntentionTIT

Having a focus, intention, or goal gives our lives purpose. Rather than being aimless in our approach and wondering why we aren't getting the results we desire, we can feel empowered to manifest our true heart's desires by living with intention. In Sanskrit, the language of yoga, this concept is called Sankalpa. Begin each day by asking yourself what it is you want to see happen in your life at this very moment. State your intention in a positive way and in the present tense, as if it is already happening, because the first step for your intentions becoming a reality is stating them. Believe in the fact that you can achieve your goals. Zero doubt! Most people aren't really sure what they really want, but yet they know something is missing in their lives. Take the time to 'check in' with yourself and create a purposeful intention so that the rest of your day has a direction and a focus.

3. Gratitude

I made this rock by writing 'gratitude' with a black sharpie on an ordinary rock I found. What can be easier? I hold it in my hand each morning as I gaze outside and greet the day. I then ask myself, "What am I grateful for today?" This has been instrumental in keeping my thoughts positive. Rather than focusing on what is more challenging or even frustrating, I choose to focus on what I am truly grateful for in my life. Sometimes it may even be that I am grateful for the gift of this new day! Not taking life for granted, but expressing gratitude is incredibly healthy for our mental health and it grooves our minds to focus on the positive and not the negative.

To sum up these three important steps in beginning each day, I created this video that highlights this practice. I was recently asked to record this for a 'Sanity Survival Group' and I am sharing it here, as well in hopes that it inspires others to adapt a more mindful approach to beginning each day.

I would love to know what my readers are the most interested in seeing each month. Please drop me a line telling me what interests you most. Do you have something really interesting you would like me to share? I would love to hear about it!

Email: Susan@stopandbreathe.org, find me on: Instagram, Facebook, or visit my website: StopandBreathe.org.

-Susan Ginsberg, Stop and Breathe