The 5 minute morning habit that transforms my day

Mornings are hectic. With two young children to manage before work can begin, I often arrive at my desk feeling like I’ve already worked a full day.

Unless I do this one, simple thing.

Now, ‘simple’ is a bit of a tricky word because, to be completely honest, the ‘simplicity’ of this thing often feels anything but.

The task requires just five minutes of my time, yet often my brain is shouting (and very convincingly) that what I really need first is coffee, to sit down, to look at Facebook, to put the washing on the line, to get cracking on the to-do list. You know, anything but that thing.

But I’ve come to take the days when that shouting is particularly vehement – as a sign that those other things, can and must wait.

It can all wait, I have to remind myself. It will all still be there in five minutes.

Then I head to the most inviting space in my house; usually the couch next to my desk, that’s often drowning in sunshine.

Next,  I take out my phone and do a quick Google search for ‘5 minute meditation’ and click on the first video that takes my fancy.

Clarity, chakra balancing, anxiety reducing, focus building and mindfulness are common themes and these are three meditations with those themes,  I use regularly.

1. Peaceful pause: Take 5 minutes off
2. Mindful.org: 5 minute breathing meditation
3. MIndfulness Bell: A 5 minute mindfulness meditation

You read so much now on the benefits of meditation and the science behind why it feels so good. For me, it can be more cathartic than writing a to-do list and sometimes just as effective as a morning workout – without as much of an endorphin high.

When the five minutes is done I always feel better than I did before I started. It slows down my breathing (often for the first time since I woke up) and once I open my eyes I  always notice how much brighter everything looks around me.

And that’s just the physical rewards.

Those five minutes give me a renewed, and comparatively measured, sense of clarity and focus. My tasks for the day are the same, but when I don’t meditate I approach them more aggressively – I’m more frantic about what lies ahead.  But after meditation I have just a tiny bit more grace and focus.

It’s subtle, but this morning habit works for me.

PS: For people with much more time, I can’t recommend this 15 minute chakra balancing meditation enough. I use it before bed on nights when I find my brain is still whirring with activity and it almost always delivers a better night sleep than if I hadn’t done it.