How to Become a Morning Person

LIGHT

I wouldn’t classify myself as a morning or night person. I’m actually at 4pm person. Mainly because I like the way the light bounces off the hardwood floors and walls and floods my living room during that time. I like being able to see the rays of sunshine and often sit on my couch at just the right angle so the rays shine on me. It’s an excellent time of day but slowly I’ve trained myself to become somewhat of a morning person. I usually wake up for work at either 6am or 7am depending on the day. For the last few months however since I did a major apartment overhaul it doesn’t matter what time I go to sleep, I still wake up at 6am now. The number one thing that I’ve done to help me become a morning person, is change my curtains. I know it’s a super unassuming and basic thing to do but it really helps. Most of the curtains throughout my apartment are now white or sheer. So when the sun rises and the light naturally flows through something about that makes me wake up very serene and gentle. A usually wake up a whole 15 minutes before my alarm goes off. I hardly even use it anymore. I can be dog tired and not go to sleep until 2am and will still wake up before the alarm clock because of the sunlight. I highly recommend changing your curtains to allow for more light if you’re having a difficult time getting up in the morning.

MEDITATE

[one_half padding=”0 15px 0 0″]Another thing I’ve adapted to doing is meditating in the morning. Before I even open my eyes I set my intensions for the day. I even go so far as to imagine how I want to feel for the day, recalling feelings of love, happiness, peacefulness and introspection. I seem to be at my best when I’m traveling some place new. I like to take mental “feelings” snapshots while I’m traveling and later use those feelings to refer to during meditations and when setting my intentions for how I want to feel throughout the day. One of my favorite mental feelings is the peacefulness and calm I felt waking up and watching the sunrise over the desert at Scarabeo Camp in Morocco. Another peaceful feeling I refer to is waking up and watching the sunrise over the mountains in Yucca Valley California.[/one_half][one_half_last padding=”0 0 0 15px”]When I’m with friends or lovers I take mental notes of my happiness, being surrounded by love, feeling immensely beautiful and I save those feelings to recall when I’m having a bad day. My ex and I aren’t together but he provided me with one of my favorite mental snapshots. We were sitting in his living room, I on the couch reading a book and him on the floor doing something. I happened to look up and he was staring at me. Looking at every crevice and curve of my face and body. The way he drank me in and smiled the biggest smile I’d ever seen when I caught him looking, is one of my reference points for feeling beautiful just the way I am. I highly recommend meditating and using past mental snapshots for reference points on how you want to feel throughout the day.[/one_half_last]

Photography by Rose Lazard || Editing by Monroe Steele

Fashion Nova Top get similar here and here | Old Forever 21 Skirt get similar here and here | Tibi Clear Belt | Clear Tote | Tibi Mules | Sachin & Babi Cha Cha Earrings | Nars Endangered Red Lip pencil

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PLAN

Planning for the next day is also a big help in becoming a morning person. I used to always end up rushing to get dressed and forgetting something because I was never prepared for the next day. I’ve started pulling and sorting my outfits for the next day as well as having my lunch bag prepared as well the evening before. I even plan my instastories in advance so I know exactly what I will be talking about so my morning goes smoothly. I usually do my morning instastories right before I leave the house (it only takes me about 3-5 minutes now). I use my 30 minute commute to edit them with my favorite apps and then post them. If I have a blog post going live in the morning, I usually write all the instagram photo captions and instastory New Posts notification blasts the night before. Planning has definitely helped me become more of a morning person.

Lastly, drink coffee…of even better drink Nespresso. Even if you don’t drink it, the smell is enough to start your day off right. 

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xx

Monroe