How To Create A Sacred Morning Practice

Have you ever wondered what separates the really successful high achievers from the rest?

It’s something that I’ve practiced on and off over the years, but over the last few months, I’ve really begun to include it in my life, and it’s made a huge difference not only in my business, but in how I feel about myself. And that is: my sacred morning practice.

Now before you rush off because I’m getting all woo-woo on you, stay with me here, because I’m going to give you solid proof on how having a sacred morning practice can bring you wealth, happiness and energy, AND it will stretch you beyond what you think is possible for yourself, which ultimately means you’ll end up crushing your goals. Plus, I’m going to share with you my own practice, which has led me to getting clients, earning a good chunk of change, and opportunities to travel around the world.

What Is A Sacred Morning Practice?

You probably already have a routine when you get up in the morning; it may consist of having a shower, brushing your teeth, getting breakfast ready, and other important elements that set you up for the day. A sacred morning practice is the act of creating space at the beginning of your day to honor yourself, connect with your intuition, ask for divine guidance, and set positive intentions and goals for the day ahead. While your regular routines work on your outer body, a sacred practice develops your inner resources and your mindset.

The first time I created a sacred practice was around 7 years ago. In fact, I may have done it before, but this memory stands out for me.

I was living in an apartment in Toronto with my good friend Diane, when I had the urge to change things up in my career.  I had been working at the same publishing company for 5 years and I knew it was time to move on. Although I had moved up in my position throughout that period of time (from Publisher’s Assistant to Sales Manager), I was getting itchy feet big time.

At the same time, I was going deeper into my yoga practice and I had recently read a book by Srivatsa Ramaswami called “Yoga Beneath The Surface”. The book made such an impact on me that I researched Ramaswami to see how I could learn from him.

How It All Began

Long story short, I quit my job of 5 years and moved to Los Angeles to study with Ramaswami for 6 weeks, which is where my sacred morning practice began. For 6 weeks straight, 5 days a week, I spent around 8 hours a day learning Sanskrit, yoga asanas, meditation, breathing exercises, and the Yoga Sutras.

The yoga teacher training took place at Loyola Marymount University, and I stayed in a house in Playa Del Rey. Every day I would wake up, eat breakfast and ride my bike to the school (about 30 minutes) for a full day of yoga studies. The bike ride invigorated me for the intense day ahead. When I arrived on campus, I spent the rest of the day immersed in positive thinking and disciplined actions. Then I rode my bike back home and would often stop by this place that sold vegetarian crepes. I’m not gonna lie, the first week my muscles freaking killed, and some mornings I mumbled and grumbled about the bike ride (and wished that I had rented a car), but once I was out in the fresh air, I was good to go! By the end of the 6 weeks, I had grown so much as a student of yoga and my gratitude was sky high. I can be a super hyper person, so meditating and doing breathing exercises for 30 minutes straight is not an easy feat, so I felt accomplished for that. I also lost 10 pounds and I put on a ton of muscle, so that was a bonus too!

What I didn’t realize was that this disciplined practice would set me up for future success in my career.

While in Los Angeles, one of my good friend’s mentioned that she would love for me to work at the technology company she was heading up marketing for. I was in yoga la la land, so I didn’t think too much about this opportunity, but the idea of being in LA really excited me. I got back to Toronto without a job and wondered aloud my next steps. I kept saying to my roommate (and to myself on a daily basis): “I just wish there was a job for me where I could be in LA, New York and Toronto. Those three places would be awesome!” Of course, at the time it seemed like a pipe dream, but for some reason I kept thinking this and saying it out loud. Sidenote: One of the reasons I didn’t want to live in LA full time, was because my mom had been diagnosed with cancer in 2005, and I felt like I wanted to be close to her.

How To Envision What You Want, And Get It!

Right before my birthday in October that friend of mine at the technology company spoke again about the opportunity in LA. I told her it sounded great, but I was hesitating because I would be so far from my mom and I would prefer to be closer to home. She came back and said the partners wanted me to open up the east coast office in Toronto, but train in LA, and that the opportunity would mean I would travel back and forth!

(After I got to LA, we ended up deciding that it would be best for me to open up the office in New York, and as part of that, I would fly back to Toronto, one week a month).

Whoop! The proof is in the pudding, if you think it and speak it, the universe hears ya!

So the story above was back in 2008. What about today?

My Sacred Morning Practice

With my coaching business, I’ve had to become much more disciplined, focused and consistent. There is no one telling me what to do daily to attract clients, so it’s up to me to put myself in a positive and professional state of mind. I can definitely tell on the days that I don’t do my morning practice that I’m not 100% in flow. When I do the practice I feel organized, intuitive, confident, happy and strong in mindset and body.

The Elements Of A Sacred Morning Practice:

TOOLS NEEDED:

• A binder
• Dividers with numbers on them from 1-31
• Printed daily practice mindset & wealth consciousness sheets for each day of the week (Monday-Sunday)
• A small notebook “Beliefs Book” to write out goals, beliefs, money mantras, gratitude and affirmations

MY SACRED MORNING PRACTICE:

• Stretch or do yoga with breathwork (like alternate nostril breathing).
• Go outside for some fresh air (if warm continue my practice outside).
• Do 3 pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing (like Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages).
• Take out “Beliefs Book” and write down 5 new beliefs, money mantras, affirmations or what I’m grateful for today.
• Read from my “Beliefs Book” my beliefs, money mantras and affirmations with feeling and to meditative music.
• Visualize a goal I want to achieve. Go deep into the sensation of believing I have this goal already. How I feel achieving this goal, what I’m doing, who I’m celebrating with, etc. This visualization includes small details like what I’m wearing, what other people are wearing, my surroundings, the music playing, etc.
• Open up the line of communication to the infinite and listen for creative inspiration.
• Write down any new ideas that spring forth.
• Find a video on YouTube to watch with EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique).
• Read at least 5 pages of a Wealth Consciousness book (i.e. Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill).

“Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.” Napoleon Hill

Think of what makes you feel good and make your practice your own!

To make it easy for you, I’ve put together a PDF cheat sheet that you can download and use.

Enjoy!
Meg

P.S. The sunrise image called Riverside Morning Walks was taken of Alouette River in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, Canada by the photographer James Wheeler.

P.P.S Don’t forget to grab your 1-page Sacred Morning Practice Cheat Sheet here.