Morning Ritual

How to Create a Powerful Morning Ritual
by Christine Kane

It is said that your habits create your destiny.

I'd add that your habits also create your confidence, courage and even your creativity!

In other words, your daily choices, routines, and seemingly insignificant moments make all the difference in your results.

One of the best ways to generate great results is to create a morning ritual. A powerful morning ritual sets the tone for your entire day - and your entire year!

A ritual is personal. A ritual is creative. (Not reactive!) A ritual is what gets YOU on track to create your best day. (And subsequently, your best life!) It can be as simple as a 15-minute routine, or as intense as long-distance running. The important thing is that it becomes a HABIT.

My morning ritual combines a mixture of physical, mental and heart-centered activities to engage each of these human power centers!

Here are some ideas to help you create your own powerful morning ritual.

Hydrate First

Many Eastern health practitioners recommend chugging down at least a half-liter of filtered room-temperature water first thing. (Yes, before your coffee!)

Upon waking, your body has spent hours without hydration. Drinking pure water at this time triggers a series of physiological functions that keep your body super healthy. Some report that this one practice can actually heal many diseases. (I'm not a scientist – but I can attest to the amazing results!)

Get Moving

Exercise is called "The Number One Form of Preventive Medicine."

It is also a prescription for happiness and a cure for depression! Getting exercise first thing sets your day off right. You can do a simple stretching routine, yoga or an all-out heart-pounding hour at the gym. Pick something do-able and do it.

Meditate

Many people don't meditate because they find it intimidating. I say, start with just 5 minutes. Meditation connects you to your center, and to the deep silence that surpasses any drama that might be happening in the world of your personality. Don't worry about doing it right. Just allow yourself the time to BE.

Set Intention

"Intention rules the earth," says Oprah Winfrey.

It's true! Your intention is a powerful force to engage.

Remembering your intention puts you back on track. You become focused again.

Reflect for a moment on your Word of the Year. Read a goal you've written down for yourself. Remind yourself of a financial dream. (If you're one of my new students in Uplevel Your Business, read the intention you wrote down on the first day of the program!)

You don't have to know the HOW. You just need to set the intention so your inner GPS can stay on target!

Be Grateful

Before I get out of bed, I silently create a morning gratitude list. When I begin my day remembering my "gratitudes," (instead of my "anxieties") my heart fills with extreme joy and deep awareness. I then bring that energy into everything I do - and to everyone with whom I connect.

Use a Netty Pot

(This one's a little weird!)

For years, my acupuncturist told my husband and I to use a Netty Pot. We laughed at him. Then, in the face of acute sinus problems, my husband tried it and became a convert. He converted me.

A Netty Pot uses warm water and a special salt to cleanse your sinuses and clear your breathing. Google it, and let the idea sit with you for a while. (You might be a convert too!)

Eat Creative

Your choice of breakfast foods can set up your success with other meals as well. Start your day off in the healthiest way possible for you - and make it a ritual, not a chore.

Be Prepared: Create a Not-to-Do List

Everyone needs a "Not To Do" morning list.

Suggestions here include anything that brings up a "reactive" state: Turning on the local news. Checking email. Answering texts. Answering the phone.

Let these things wait until AFTER your ritual has been completed!

Your Assignment:

After reading this article, don't just think, "Wow. Those are some good ideas. I should try one or two."

Instead, deliberately create your morning ritual now. Take about 20 minutes to think about and write down what your ritual will be each morning. Start simple at first. Choose one or two items from this menu. Or come up with your own. Write out your Ritual in detail.

Begin first thing tomorrow morning, and let your habits create YOUR destiny starting now!

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Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her 'LiveCreative' weekly ezine with more than 11,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a FRE*E subscription to LiveCreative at www.christinekane.com.
WANT TO SEE HUNDREDS MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?
See Christine's blog - Be Creative. Be Conscious. Be Courageous - at ChristineKane.com/blog.

February Lesson

It's time to share the February Lesson from Dharma Days 2010 Calendar: Art, Musings, and Meditations for the Spiritual Path by Dairyu Michael Wenger. My homework for this month is to cultivate compassion without falling prey to its near enemies. For instance, feeling sorry for someone is far from feeling close to that person and may give you a sense of superiority. Getting depressed yourself when someone around you is feeling depressed is self-indulgence and helps no one.

I'm still working on January's don't be critical!

Here are a few important dates in the Buddhist calendar for February:

• February 8 (or in some calendars February 15) - Nirvana Day - is the final nirvana, which occurs upon the death of the body of someone who has attained complete awakening. This date celebrates the parinirvana of The Buddha.

• February 9 - Bodhidharma's Birthday - The historical Bodhidharma (known as Daruma 達磨 in Japan) was an Indian sage who lived sometime in the fifth or sixth century AD. He is the undisputed founder of Zen Buddhism 禅 (Ch. = Chan), and credited with Zen's introduction to China during his travels to the Middle Kingdom. (Note: Zen Buddhism is the term used in Japan, but Daruma’s philosophy arrived first in China, where it flowered and was called Chan Buddhism. Only centuries later does it bloom in Japan, where it is called Zen). (For more information on Daruma/Bodhidharma go here.)
  
  
• February 14 - Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year 4708) the year of the Tiger. It is also called Losar by the Tibetans (2137). Let's not forget Valentine's Day!

Happy February!

Candlemas/Imbolc

If Candlemas day be fair and bright, Winter will have another flight; But if Candlemas day be clouds and rain, Winter is gone, and will not come again. —Traditional English weather rhyme

The Catholic Church assimilated the pagan purification festival by linking it to the purification of the Virgin after the birth of Christ, "the light that brightens the darkness." Worshippers brought their year's supply of candles to the church to be blessed by the priest in a special Candle-Mass.

Candlemas continues the celebration of new beginnings. It was a day to prepare the fields for new plantings and to bless the fields to ensure a good harvest. In England, the holiday greens were taken out of the house, and if even a leaf was left behind, it was unlucky. "Out with the old, in with the new" is the theme for Candlemas. It's a good day to make commitments, renew pledges, and plant seeds for new growth.

In your herb garden, celebrate this day of new beginnings by turning over a piece of earth and repeating this ancient Anglo-Saxon plowing charm:

Whole be thou Earth Mother of men. In the lap of God, Be thou growing. Be filled full of fodder For fare-needs of men.

Or plant some seeds of annual herbs in pots on a sunny windowsill, for later transplanting into your garden or deck containers. Some good choices: chives, dill, basil, cilantro.

February 2 is also groundhog day. However you wait for the light and Spring to return, celebrate!

Soup Time!

I've been trying to make lots of different soups for Mr. Dragon. I'll try to remember to post the recipes for you -- only if they are good! We are trying to stick to mostly vegetarian eating while we wait for surgery. Build him up! Here's the lentil soup recipe I used, with my notes. You know I never make anything exactly as the recipe is written! I hope you enjoy.


Lentil Soup

1 package (16 ounces) dry lentils (do not soak lentils in water)
1 ham bone with meat
2 medium onions chopped
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrots
1 large clove garlic, minced (we like garlic so I added more)
1/4 cup tomato paste (I used one small can. We like spicy and I added one can of Rotel tomatoes and green chile.)
2 tablespoons wine vinegar (I didn’t have wine vinegar. I suppose you could add a 1/4 cup of wine!)
1 bay leaf
7 cups water (I used 3 cups of vegetable stock that I had leftover and 4 cups of water.)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Cook onions, celery, carrots and garlic in large 5-quart Dutch oven in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.

2. Add lentils, water, and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer until done. Remove ham bone and let cool. Remove meat and add to soup. Discard bay leaf before serving.

This makes a huge amount. Lots of delicious leftovers. Watch the liquid. You may have to add more depending upon how soupy you like your soup! Also, I don’t salt or pepper. The ham bone usually adds enough seasoning.

Enjoy!

Camera Critters

Misty is our wonderful hostess for Camera Critters.
Be sure to go and visit.

Today I want to show you the portrait of the animal I fell in love with many years ago on my very
first visit to the Houston Zoo-
the beautiful and shy Okapi.

The okapi (pronounced oh-COP-ee) is an unusual animal. With its white-and-black striped hindquarters and front legs, it looks like it must be related to zebras! But take a look at an okapi’s head and you’ll notice a resemblance to giraffes.

The okapi is indeed the only living relative of the giraffe. Like giraffes, okapis have very large, upright ears, which catch even slight sounds, helping them to avoid trouble. They also have long, dark prehensile tongues, just like a giraffe’s, to help them strip the buds and young leaves from the understory brush of their rain forest home.

Okapis are hard to find in the wild. Their natural habitat is the Ituri Forest, a dense rain forest in central Africa (northeast region of Democratic Republic of Congo - formerly Zaire). Okapis are very wary, and their highly developed hearing alerts them to run when they hear humans in the distance. In fact, while natives of the Ituri Forest knew of okapis and would occasionally catch one in their pit traps, scientists did not know of the animal until 1900. The secretive nature of okapis and the difficulty most humans have of traveling in their habitat have made okapis hard to observe in the wild. Therefore, researchers can only estimate how many okapis live there. It is believed that there are currently about 25,000 okapis in the wild.

The okapi’s dark purplish or reddish brown fur feels like velvet. It’s also oily, so water slides right off, keeping the okapi dry on rainy days. Only the males have horns, which are covered by skin and are short so they won’t get tangled in forest branches.

The changing politics of central Africa and the continued loss of habitat threaten the beautiful okapi. Fortunately, in 1952, one-fifth of okapi habitat in Africa’s Ituri Forest was set aside as a wildlife reserve. The Okapi Wildlife Reserve, with support from zoos and conservation organizations, and the local people, continues to protect and to support study of this rare and unusual forest dweller.

Happy Camera Critters!

(Information about the Okapi from the San Diego Zoo.)