Connected in Energy Mandala, Kristen Fagan ©2012. Yellow represents the Spiritual Solar Plexus (Third) Chakra which is positioned below your ribs and above the naval. In essence your solar plexus is a group of nerves that has a very ‘radiating’ appearance to it, which is why it got its name. This chakra is in control of your energies and activities connecting us to one’s own personal power, abundance, courage and self confidence. Yellow is full of creative and intellectual energy. A “sun color” it makes us cheerful and optimistic.

Slow down to move forward is something my wise friend Kerry Burki likes to say.

And it’s a phrase that has stuck with me. I get caught up in busy-ness. I am often doing one thing and thinking of another. Case in point, the other day I was writing in my journal before I started my work and mid way through writing, I was distracted. An email, a notification, a quick glance at my to do list, the distractions are endless. Then, I came back to the present and realized that I was in the middle of writing. I only finished a page when the goal is three. I ended up writing about how I was consistently being distracted. Single-tasking is ideal but, multi-tasking creeps up on me over and over again.day

It got me thinking. What if I carved out a way to wake up gracefully instead of groggily rushing to work. What would it feel like to truly embrace a morning ritual. It sounds divine and frankly a bit out of reach. I mean, I’m not a morning person. I do not rise with a smile ready to tackle the day. While I am more pleasant in the morning today then years past, I still love to sleep in. I want to wake when my body is ready. I despise waking up to an alarm clock and that happens most days (which is in large part is because of my night owl tendencies). With summer on the horizon, now is a great time to set myself up for success with a morning ritual. I liked this article, 7 Morning Rituals that will change your life.

Ideally, I think I have to keep my morning fairly simple:

• Yoga 20 min
• Breakfast 15 min
• Morning Pages and Tea 10 min

This week, I began a few days with yoga and kept up with my morning pages well. I woke up just 20 min earlier to get my yoga done while everyone was asleep. I have tried to keep up a personal yoga practice before and get stuck deciding what poses to do. I decided to do 10 sun salutations followed by warrior poses on each side. Easy to remember and accomplish. It has been refreshing and I look forward to the benefits of more joy and focus infused into my day due to the slower start. In addition, I have to be mindful of distractions try to limit them throughout the day bringing my focus back to a single task until it’s done.

“You decide what you listen to and what you ignore” ~ Lisa Congdon, Becoming a working artist.

Do you have a morning ritual?

What sets you up for a focused and joyful day?