With three weeks left of the Spring semester, I will only have to wake up so many more times in my dorm room before I will be back in my room at home. However, that shant deter me (and it shouldn’t deter you either) to make the most of my (your) remaining mornings while at Conn. Each person’s morning routine is personal and sacred; for some it lasts five minutes, mostly involving them scrambling around their room like a squirrel searching for the last acorn before hibernation. I pass no judgement despite this very vivid, albeit pointed simile. When I was little my morning routine consisted of eating strawberry Yoplait yogurt and watching “Dragon Tales” until I was forced to face the music of second grade. In high school, I spent half an hour getting ready and putting on makeup, before toasting a bagel and making a cup of coffee to eat on the ride to school. Now, as a sophomore in college, my morning routine has shifted once again. Perhaps it is the trend of spring cleaning which has influenced me to share my newfound routine in hopes that it may help others adapt their morning to one of less frenzy.
A few tips before we go into the morning after. To optimize the cuteness (or coherence) of your outfit and to save you time in the morning for important things (like coffee), I would suggest laying out your outfit for the following day the night before. For me, this ritual is creative as I put thought into what I want to wear and what goes with what, usually checking the weather app to make sure the universe is on my side. Whether you spend one minute or five on this task, it doesn’t matter as long as there are article of clothes laid out that you can grab come morning.
Morning Stretches (in bed)
This step is NOT sexual, I repeat NOT sexual. If you are lazy when you first open your eyes, like me, then doing some simple stretches while you are still in bed is an energy saver. I adopted this practice from Misty Copeland’s book Ballerina Body: Dancing and Eating Your Way to a Lighter, Stronger, and More Graceful You. Copeland describes some basic movements to complete in your bed, including flexing and pointing your toes, reaching your arms over your head, and curling yourself into a ball. I do a combination of these with some yoga moves which won’t break my bed. Eventually, I will crawl out of bed and do a few downward dogs on my rug, but the longer I can stay in my bed, the better in my opinion.
The Mundane Tasks
I am not going to pretend I am some sort of superhuman who can wake up flawless. No. I wake up with drool, smelly breath, frizzy hair, and bleary eyes. To prepare my face for the day I wash my face, put on some moisturizer, brush my teeth, and the like. This may alter a bit depending on what form of exercise I will do that morning as I typically delay washing my face if I am just going to get sweaty and have to take a shower anyway.
Yoga, elliptical, and run oh my!
I wrote a previous article about my new affinity for working out in the morning, but I will often opt to do a twenty-minute yoga video in the comfort of my room, as well. Either way, I try to chose some form of exercise to complete every morning, or at some point of the day. At bare minimum, at least I will know that I did those bed stretches earlier.
Dormmade Breakfast (ha, see what I did there?)
I have been recently making all of my breakfasts in my dorm room. I realize that not everyone has this luxury, but for those who do I would suggest you take advantage of it. I have noticed that I feel better after I eat food which I have prepared in my own space rather than in the dining hall. However, if you cannot afford to keep breakfast foods stocked in your room, you can definitely make these things in the dining hall (or take a bunch of bananas and apples from the dining hall for a fruit salad). My favorite options are smoothies, instant oatmeal, and yogurt with granola and fruit. These are the breakfasts I would typically eat home, so I think part of the reason I feel better after indulging in these foods is psychological.
Tea Time with the Queen (Who is YOU)
Recently, I have been trying to avoid coffee and have instead been dabbling in the tea party game. Whether your hot drink of choice is tea or coffee, it is a nice way to start your day. Drinking coffee and now tea is a morning ritual that soothes me; taking a sip of a delicious flavor of tea or a fancy latte is a form of self-care and one which I plan to continue practicing even in the most frantic moments of my life.
A Moment to Center Yourself (with your To-Do-List)
Earlier this year I wrote a piece on weighing the pros and cons of writing a to-do-list. Several months later, I still practice this ritual every day and I find that it really helps declutter my mind and save me from racing thoughts as I fall asleep. Thus, part of my morning routine is to take stock of what I had put on my to-do-list the night before on my agenda and then transfer the list to a digital sticky note on the desktop of my laptop. Writing out my to-do-lists twice in two different areas may seem a bit excessive, but writing out my daily tasks helps me remove them from my mind so that I can focus on the task at hand. Plus, there is nothing more satisfying than crossing off or deleting a task that you have completed.
At this point, I am ready to leave my room and take on the day…dreaming of the moment when I can be back in my bed once again.