I have to say that when I worked a full time ‘9-5 job’ I would literally LOL when people would talk about their morning routine and the importance of it. Like, what you mean frantically picking out an outfit, pouring a tremendous amount of cold brew, and dropping 1 million things out of my hands on the way out the door? Or, you meant applying your makeup while simultaneously eating an Rx Bar and trying to drive? Nope. I think what they meant was that little piece of time you carve out for yourself in the morning. The time before the chaos starts. Whatever your day looks like ahead, I’ve come to realize that establishing a routine, whether it be 5  minutes or 30 minutes, is a great way to center yourself. It’s a way to focus on YOU for a moment prior to being bombarded with emails, social media posts, traffic, kids, pets, etc.

Now that I am no longer working in an office, I have the luxury of being a stay at home mom. And while it comes with it’s own set of struggles (hello poopy diapers, tears, tantrums, & food flying at my face) I can’t lie – it is nice to be able to wake up and drink my coffee or tea without having to frantically rush out the door. Since settling into my new role I’ve been able to establish a little bit of a morning routine for myself. Now that I have done this I’ve realized that it actually COULD have been possible for me to do this previously I would have just had to shift things around a little bit – i.e. wake up earlier.

Below is what my usual morning routine looks like during the week. It’s really similar on the weekends I just don’t get up as early.

Alarm goes off at 6 AM – Currently I am managing social pages for other accounts and this is our typical posting time. I DO check my phone first thing in the morning to make sure the posts have gone up properly, have the correct hashtags, tags, etc. After that I put my phone down and head downstairs. I have a little while before my son wakes up so I like to take advantage of this time.

Water – I try really hard to chug a glass of water prior to diving into my coffee or tea. I always think back to the Cameron Didz quote when I don’t want to drink my water first – something about watering a wilted flower and bringing it back to life I think. I don’t know but I do know drinking water is important and I aim to consume at least half my body weight in ounces of water per day. Starting off with a glass of water in the morning makes me feel good and puts me on the right track for the day.

Coffee with COLLAGEN – First things first. Am I right?! I mean, some days I do go for a black tea like Early Gray but most days coffee wins. Depending on how ambitious I am feeling that day I will either make a bulletproof coffee in my Vitamix or I will just stir in 1 scoop of the Ancient Nutrition Multi Collagen Protein Powder into my coffee. I particularly like this brand of Collagen because it has 5 different types of collagen and it mixes into hot liquids super easily with very little taste.

I use collagen in my routine for many reasons but I originally started using it to help thicken my hair and nails. After having my son I did experience some hair loss and my nails were extremely fragile (thank you hormones). So to help get me back on track I started taking collagen. Not to mention, I’m 33 and as you age your body starts to produce less collagen which is essentially the thing that helps your skin looking young and supple, so yup – I’ll be taking this for awhile. You can read more about why collagen is important & how to use it here.

Probiotics & Vitamins – Ever since my trip with the Ancient Nutrition team to Florida back in May of this year I’ve been taking their SBO Probiotic along with my daily vitamin. I take the probiotic every morning to help promote a healthy gut and a healthy digestive system. I can honestly tell when I’ve stopped taking them for a couple of days as my digestive system feels off. Let’s just say I feel way less bloated and way more balanced when I’m taking them 😉

Meditation – This is something I’ve recently been trying to implement into my routine. I downloaded the app called Headspace and they have a daily guided meditation for you to listen to. I think it starts you at something like 3 minutes, which hello – that’s super quick but efficient. I love it. If you don’t have a lot of time I can tell you it is SO nice to take even 5 minutes out of your busy schedule to stop and uncluttered your mind for a moment. I don’t always get to do this in the morning but if not I schedule it during River’s naps. I’ve found it helps with my overall stress and anxiety throughout the day.

Things I want to try implementing into my morning routine:

Tongue scraper – I know I know, this just SOUNDS gross. But I’ve heard Lauryn of The Skinny Confidential talk about this and i’m intriqued. Have any of you tried it? I guess we build up a lot of bacteria in our mouths over night…

Journaling or at least organizing my thoughts on paper – I find when I write things out I feel so much better. Everything from a to-do list to writing out my feelings if something is bothering me. I love a to-do list because if I am feeling anxious and don’t know where to ‘start’ for the day I can just refer back to the list. I also love writing out my feelings. If I am feeling upset with someone I will often open up my notes app and just start typing. From there I can read what I wrote and edit it down to express my feelings in the best, most-organized way possible.

Writing positive affirmations – I love this one! Cara Alwill Leyba from the Style Your Mind podcast has inspired me to try this. I haven’t done so yet but I want to start implementing this. It’s as simple as writing a positive motivational note to yourself. I am going to start next Monday and try to do it once a week and will let you guys know how it goes.

Is there anything special you do as a part of your morning routine? I would love to hear it if so! Feel free to comment below or send me a DM on Instagram!

This post was sponsored in part by Ancient Nutrition.