How I jumpstart my spirit, soul, and body every day

There are enough articles on the importance of starting the day right, on practicing beneficial routines, and on how interconnected our different dimensions, spirit, soul, and body, are, so this is not a deep article on those things. This is simply a breakdown of my own daily practice. Hopefully, it will be of some value to you in developing your own.

A rushed morning is the worst way to start a day.

Wake (Up)

Setting the stage for serenity, understanding, and fitness

I’m one of those people who needs to define an objective for the important things of my life. For me, the objective of the spirit is to achieve (or arrive at) serenity, an inner peace that comes from being an integrated person. The objective of the soul, what I am developing my soul for, is to grow in understanding, which, to me, means truly knowing how to beneficially interact with others and the world. Finally, the objective of the body is fitness, meaning, to be capable of functioning at a high level for the specific physical requirements of your activities. My morning Wake routine is all about waking my spirit, soul, and body for another day to grow in serenity, understanding, and fitness.

The Routine

Simple, Repeatable, and Effective

I don’t like overly complex and unnecessary fancy routines. I don’t think they’re efficient. My simple outline is:

• Spirit: Daily Devotions (Read from the Bible or you may have some other spiritual book) + Daily Worship (Where I appreciate how small I am and how little I know compared to what’s beyond me) + Daily Gratitude (Where I think of at least one thing I am incredibly grateful for, which is usually my son, Elijah). The goal is to start the day with a greater purpose than just my to-dos and to appreciate the greater beauty of the universe.

This first part, I like to do with a hot cup of coffee or espresso and a glass of water.

• Soul: Daily Meditation — This is incredibly difficult for me because my mind is always wandering. So I use a guided meditation app called Insight Timer. I usually stick to the same guides and have zero interest in celebrity ones (and in celebrities in general). The goal is to practice being in the moment, develop my ability to focus, and to start the day as still and as unhurried as possible.

One thing I’ve learned is to not be hard on myself when I lose focus or get distracted. I just go back to focusing when I realize it. The goal is progress, and consistent practice is what leads to progress, not instant perfection.

• Body: Daily Movement — This is either a simple Yoga, Tai Chi, or Calisthenics routine that is not more than 15 minutes. The goal is to get my blood flowing, physically loosen-up, and acts as a warm-up for exercise days (such as days when I run, box, play tennis, or do resistance training).

All 3 parts are usually completed within 30 minutes but sometimes extend to an hour or over, particularly when I’m reading my Bible and want to dive deeper into an idea, or when my meditation triggers thoughts worth appreciating more, or when my movement activates a desire to workout a part more. I block-off an hour to “wake” every day, but allow myself to shorten or lengthen my routine depending on the flow of the day. This is also why I like to wake-up early (4:30am on weekdays and 6:00am on weekends), because it ensures that my morning is not rushed.

A rushed morning is the worst way to start a day.

My morning Wake routine is all about waking my spirit, soul, and body for another day to grow in serenity, understanding, and fitness.