Morning practice and meditations to awaken your highest self
Meditation roundup from The Antidote
Morning Practice
Hey sisters,
Curious to know, what’s your morning routine? Do you have a practice? Do you meditate? Do you have a writing ritual?
Do you notice a difference in how you experience yourself when you have a morning practice?
Girl, I sure do.
Here are some elements of mine:
Tongue scrape, brush teeth, oil pulling, and putting cold water on my eyes. Ayurvedic hygiene to “clean the monkey glands” and cool pitta (fire) in sleepy eyes.
Sky before screens. Ideally I’d go outside and put my feet on earth, but as an urban witch, the sky is the nature I have immediate access to. The idea is to wake to the natural world before engaging technology.
Silence and hydration. I sit on my couch and take in the San Francisco Bay as I sip lemon water and fresh green juice to alkalize my belly for my next pleasure…
Coffee. I love coffee with a little fat like dairy or nut milk, coconut oil, or ghee. I do caffeine detoxes every few months and will often have yogi tea or a mushroom elixir of reishi, chaga, and cassia cinnamon sticks simmering on my stovetop.
Poop . It’s also a health inspection moment. Our bowel habits are a strong indicator of our digestive health.
Breath and body movement. Syncing breath and movement is medicine. Depending on where I am in my menstrual cycle, I’ll break a sweat with yoga, pilates, running, cycling, dancing, and/or stretching.
Shower. Dry brushing and body oiling are in the mix here. I know cold showers are so good for me. They make me alert, and stimulate circulation. But sometimes I can’t muster up the courage! At very least I’ll run cold water on my armpits to stimulate lymphatic drainage.
Devotional contemplation. This is the heart of my morning practice and takes on many forms: writing, dancing, music-making, prayer, stillness, intuitive and guided meditation. This is time to tend to my alter space, read sacred texts, and give thanks for this beautiful life. Devotion is key. It’s not so much about what you do, but how you do it. As Gandhi said, “It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”
Am I perfect every morning with my morning practice? No. But I try. That’s why it’s called a practice.
Guided Meditations for you
My Substack data shows this community has been crushing these guided meditations, collective meditation minutes are over 100K! Yay!
Numerous studies demonstrate how meditation changes gray-matter density in parts of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy, and stress.
In cased you missed it, here are the most popular meditations from The Antidote:
Morning Moment (14 min) - Explore conscious breathing to cultivate a reverence for Prana Shakti, a reverence for life itself.
Embodied Knowing (20 min) - Create a felt sense of clarity through embodying your sacred YES and holy NO.
Melting Anxiety with Pure Awareness (20 min) - Yoga Nidra meditation to rest in the peace of your own self.
Introduction to Loving-Kindness (12 min) - Metta meditation is a technique for evoking a boundless warm-hearted feeling and our innate human qualities of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.
Healthy Boundaries (20 min) - Strengthen your emotional and energetic boundaries and connection to yourself through visualization and contemplation.
Land of the Body (20 min) - A somatic, creative, and gentle meditation to nourish the deepest levels of your being. The body is a pathway to presence and this meditation is an invitation to come home to yourself.
Suggestions for getting the most out these meditations:
Use headphones and have a journal nearby for afterward reflections.
Find a quiet space and remove any distractions so you can totally drop in.
Sit comfortably or lay down on your back.
Drink a glass of water when you finish.
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With so much love,
Christina
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I loved our hug.Thank you for seeking me out! I love my morning meditation time with added sending love to my loved ones individually and to the world and taking in pain where that applies and my Reiki brushing and my yogic mudra practice. I love the whole bodyness of your practice and will think more about incorporating some other practices. Mary Rees
This is a beautiful article! I love having a morning routine and implementing practices for connection with my higher self is always a priority for me. I like to take my mornings very gently and not rush them. I like to set aside about 30 minutes to do something with my higher self such as drawing, automatic writing, reading, or just sitting outside drinking some tea!
Thank you for this helpful reminder of the importance of this practice!