my new morning routine (2022 edition) – [2/3]

Next, I perform my sacred trifecta routine comprising three disciplines:

• Discipline 1 – Exercise
• Discipline 2 – Reflection + Spirituality
• Discipline 3 – Learning

I spend around 20 minutes with each discipline.

Exercise

First, I start playing some inspirational music on YouTube Music (the Rocky playlist is my all-time favorite and always works) and begin my morning fitness session which comprises three parts: cardio + workout session wherein I mainly do push-ups, squats, sit-ups, plank, and jumping jacks (in the same sequence), yoga asanas (body postures), and pranayama (breathing exercises). Each part takes 6-7 minutes to complete. Next, I drink the previously prepared lemon juice-infused water.

Reflection + Spirituality

I proceed with around 10-12 minutes of meditation practice. I mostly use either YouTube Music audio tracks or YouTube videos for this purpose.

I reserve the rest of the session for spirituality. I read the daily meditation from Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman, followed by reading tiny portions from one or two books oriented around Indian spirituality.

Unlike last year, I have not been writing daily in my journal. Maybe I’ve started devoting more time to spirituality in the mornings this year as the months passed and this caused me to distance myself from journaling due to time shortage. However, I do plan to bring back journaling again into my daily routine and need to figure out how to best incorporate it. Leaving my journaling practice for some time during the day has not been working so far.

Getting back to the morning routine, once I’m done with spiritual reading, I do a quick visualization session via my Pinterest boards.

Learning

I spend the first five minutes reading little portions from a couple of books on Stoicism: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday. I am reading the annotated edition of Meditations with translation by Robin Waterfield right now. After that, I read and listen to a book for 15 minutes (on Kindle, Audible, or Scribd) on the core skill (I commit to one skill per quarter) that I’m trying to develop with respect to one of my big goals for the year.

After I’m done with my sacred trifecta routine, I have a quick 10-minute early morning reflection session to get more clarity with regard to my professional pursuits. Then, I put on my running shoes, grab my face mask and go outside for a 10-15 minute morning walk while listening to an inspirational audio program.

Once I’m back, I get a few leaves from the curry tree and holy basil plant on my balcony (a couple each), rinse them with water, and eat them raw, making sure I chew them well. Then, I get some water (around 300 ml/10 ounces) from the copper vessel in my bottle. (I try to keep water overnight in the vessel as recommended by Ayurveda).

I drink water and then go to the bathroom to brush my teeth while listening to some positive affirmations and motivational content via YouTube Music.

After that, I read my personally crafted Statement of Purpose, followed by a quick reading session, where I go through passages from a few daily devotional books.

Then, I start brewing my morning coffee. As it brews, I step outside on the balcony to soak in the morning sun, and meditate on the green — the plants and trees around me. This quick exercise helps me reconnect with nature and my inner calm. I then get back inside and read the daily meditations from 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact by Melody Beattie and A Year of Miracles by Marianne Williamson, and participate in a quick morning prayer session. By the time I’m done, my cup of joe is ready for me, and I take the first heavenly sip that I had been looking forward to with gratitude.