This morning at friskis – intense back workout

Saturday morning – isn’t that just the best thing ever? waking up and doing the things that make you relaxed, feel good and distance yourself from the reactive life we often tend to find ourselves in. Now, I strive to have the ‘Saturday like feeling’ every day, but that’s just not my current reality.

Although, I have some things I make sure to start my day of with no matter what day of the week it is. Habits that over the years have become a solid part of my life. Not as a ‘I’ll feel bad about myself if I don’t do them experience’, but as something that I want to do as it kicks my day of in the right spirit. And the beauty of a habit is that it becomes autonomous once it’s implemented and you no longer have to put in an effort to make it happen.

My habits vary to some degree depending on how my day will look like, but they usually contain the following:

• Exercising – I work out every day, and nine out of ten times I make sure it’s the first thing that happens when I wake up. I run/bike to work or go the gym. It gives me energy and releases all kinds of feel good hormones, and I know that even if the day goes to shit, at least I’ve got my workout in to be proud of. Bonus – I get to eat m
  ore!
• Gratefulness – spending a minute or two thinking of all the things I’m grateful for. Usually during my run/biking. My life, that I get to live with my brother, that I have a family I love and that loves me, that I have friends in my life I deeply connect with daily, that I’m healthy; that I have eyes to see with, ears to hear with, arms and legs to move around with, that I live in a place, time and situation that enables me to control my own life, etc. Sometimes I imagine myself not having these things, I close my eyes and imagine an dreadful reality; not being able to see, not having a family, etc. And I embrace that awful feeling before coming back to reality with a deep sense of appreciation for what I’ve got. Life’s daily small little problems often seems irrelevant after doing this.
• Meditation – Sitting down, focusing on my breathing not trying to think of anything (aka meditation) – Sometimes it’s only for a couple of minutes, sometimes longer. When I run to work, I have 20 minutes on the train I attribute to the “WimHof-breathing method”, which kind of is a meditation practice but a bit more intense (Watch me at the train doing it). When I go home, it’s more of a traditional meditation practice. It has been a real tough one for me to implement, but now is something I couldn’t bear to be without. The key is to find a que when and where you will make it happen. Daily. Que: sitting down on train. Routine: meditating. Reward: Feeling calm, relaxed and in control of my life. In the weekends, I don’t havethis clear que, and it often tends to be forgotten.
• Cold showers – also a part of ‘The WimHof-protocol’. After my morning workout. Just wakes me up like nothing else, claims of health benefits are out there – but that’s not why I’m doing it. It just makes me feel a live. Plus, I usually combine it with…
• Self-love – When I run/bike or at its most intensive moment, in the shower, I say out loud ‘I love myself, I love myself, I really really love myself’. Over and over again. When I started doing this it really felt wired (it’s because it is Alex, psycho). But as I’ve gotten used to it, it just releases a feeling of deep self-love, and I can’t emphasize the importance of this ( video where I go deeper into the topic). ALTOUGH, you don’t need to repeat this mantra to love yourself, you can just sit and think about the things you really like about yourself, the things you’ve done, and embrace those qualities deeply. Feel a sense of proudness for who you are.

So that’s it that’s all. Then I also do some journaling and daily planning, but that could be an entire chapter on its own. How does your morning routine look like, love to hear all about it. Especially if you got a good tip for me in how I could tweak mine for the better.

Saturday Morning Breakfast isn’t too bad either

Have a lovely day guys,

/Alexander 

YouTube Video of the day:

“A Good Day” With Brother David Steindl-Rast