3 Morning Habits to Stay Positive.
I wake up at 7 am, sit on my bed and think about how fortunate I am to see this new day. Nearly 1,50,000 people die each day around the world, according to 2017 data. These people never got a chance to see the next day so it is imperative to be grateful for the fact that we are alive today.
Over the course of the past three years, I’ve been practicing three habits that has quite simply changed my life. There might be days when I struggled to get out of bed early enough but I kept trying to follow these habits every next day.
What really keeps me trying to follow these three habits?
These habits have a very positive effect on my behavior and mental health which has helped me to incorporate compassion and kindness in my daily routine. Also, they have made my life golden by attracting more enrichment in my life.
Be Grateful
As I mentioned earlier, every morning, the first thought which comes to my mind is to be grateful for the fact that we are still breathing. It will take few days to incorporate this habit. Being grateful for your life is a very strong and positive emotion which can change your life in few weeks.
After that, make a list of ten blessings in your life you are grateful for. You can write out your list by hand, type it on a computer, or use a special book and keep all of your gratitude in one place.
When Einstein gave thanks, he thought about why he was grateful. When you think about the reason why you’re grateful for a particular thing, person, or situation, you will feel gratitude more deeply.
Here are some ideas for writing you list -
I am truly blessed to have _____, because _____.
I am so happy and grateful for _____, because ____.
Here is a list of subjects that will remind you of the major areas you can look for blessings to be grateful for.
Gratitude Subjects:
Health and body
Relationships
Work and success
Money
Happiness
Love
Life
Nature: planet Earth, air, water, and the sun
Any subject of your choosing
This whole practice is explained in the‘Count your Blessings’ chapter of ‘The Magic’ Book by Rhonda Byrne.
Practice Yoga
To keep your energy high all day, you will need to train your body along with the mind. That’s where yoga comes into the picture. Yoga helps to build the connection between our body and mind and maintains the balance between them.
Yoga poses, if practiced daily, ensure a fit body, deep sleep and positive mindset particularly in stressful situations.
Steps I follow in the yoga session —
Warm-Up :- This includes very basic standing exercises such as toe touches, shoulder rolling, neck rotation, etc. These will help you to remove the stiffness from your body and increase your flexibility.
Sun Salutations :- After the warm up, I practice 12 sun salutations along with proper chants and controlled breathing.
Sun salutation(Surya Namaskar) is a very ancient technique of expressing gratitude to the sun that is source of all forms of life on the planet. Also the solar plexus(second brain) is said to be connected to the sun that’s why the regular practice of this technique enhances the creativity and elevate the mood instantly.
It is a combination of 12 yoga poses(asanas) performed in a slightly different manner. One needs to master the technique before practicing it regularly.
You can refer this link for the steps of Sun Salutation — https://www.artofliving.org/in-en/yoga/yoga-poses/sun-salutation
Yoga Poses :- Finally comes the yoga poses where different types of asanas(poses) needs to be practiced along with the controlled breathing techniques. Mountain pose, Tree pose, Cobra pose, Downward facing dog pose are few of the basic poses which people have heard about it somewhere or the other
Yoga asanas are divided into four sets. Each set is practiced in a different position. Each category of yoga poses has its benefits.
Following are the four sets of yoga asanas-
Standing yoga poses
Sitting yoga poses
Lying down on the stomach poses
Lying down on the back poses
If you want to know about the poses under each category and its benefits. Please refer to this blog - https://www.artofliving.org/in-en/yoga/yoga-poses/sitting-standing-recumbent-yoga-poses
Meditation
Meditation works best if one practices it after practicing yoga poses or any kind of physical activity.
In meditation practice, we’re learning how to pay attention to the breath as it goes in and out, and notice when the mind wanders from this task. When we pay attention to our breath, we are learning how to return to, and remain in, the present moment — to anchor ourselves in the here and now on purpose, without judgment.
Three easy steps to start meditation as a beginner —
Prepare :- Get comfortable and prepare to sit still for a few minutes. One needs to simply focus on one’s own natural inhaling and exhaling of breath.
Focus :- One needs to focus on their breath. Where do you feel your breath most? In your belly? In your nose? Try to keep your attention on your inhale and exhale.
Follow :- Follow your breath for two minutes. Take a deep inhale, expanding your belly, and then exhale slowly, elongating the out-breath as your belly contracts.
Also, there is Pranayama Yoga which purely focuses on breathing exercises. The goal of pranayama is to connect your body and mind. It also supplies your body with oxygen while removing toxins. This is meant to provide healing physiological benefits.
Kapalbhatti, Anulom vilom, Bhramari & Bastrika are the common breathing techniques in pranayama.
Meditation is very helpful if one needs to decrease stress and improve sleep quality and mindfulness. It reduces high blood pressure and helps to improve the lung function.
So, these are the few steps which has helped me a lot to stay positive in my life. Also, it has helped me to overcome the physical and mental health problems.
I hope that you can also change your lifestyle with these habits. To know more on this, feel free to ask any queries or help. Thank you for reading this.
