Good read, Alex, thank you. When I first got sober my sponsor had me get up every morning, get down on my knees, do the third step prayer, and then make my bed. If I did nothing else that day, a made bed was its own accomplishment and it symbolized order. And between prayer and making my bed, it was 7-10 minutes that I gave to myself before just hitting the street running. The suggestion to pray had nothing to do with whether or not there was a God, much less whether I believed in one. The whole process was about ritual and routine upon waking. As my sponsor said early on, I would not be able to think my way into sober acting, I could only act my way into sober thinking and my morning routine and rituals are actions that impact my thinking and, therefore my emotional well-being. All of these many years later, my morning routine has become even more important and if I miss a day, I can feel it. I have a similar routine as yours, but I also enjoy the rituals of incense and candle lighting and having an altar on which to focus my attention. I start with body movement, often a run or pre-sunrise walk, stretching, a 30-45 minute sit and, journaling, including a daily gratitude list. And throughout the day I can return to the altar and drop into a 5-10 minute sit at any time I’m looking to recenter or ground myself. I generally chicken out when I consider the cold shower but thanks for reminding me about that. And a screen-free Sabbath observance? Sounds good on paper and I really want to give it a try – thank you.
Aug 24, 2022·edited Aug 24, 2022Liked by Alex Olshonsky
Hey Alex! I too look forward to my morning routine. Really love it! Just reread this piece and it's inspired me to go further. I particularly like the reminder to see it as a _practice_, so something to be mindfully improved. I lost the cold showers somewhere along the way and plan to bring them back now. Think I might play around with the order of things too - currently shower, coffee, journal, meditate, move. I was already looking at moving to pour over but might just ditch caffeine. Lots to try, which is pretty cool since it's great already. Thanks!
Good read, Alex, thank you. When I first got sober my sponsor had me get up every morning, get down on my knees, do the third step prayer, and then make my bed. If I did nothing else that day, a made bed was its own accomplishment and it symbolized order. And between prayer and making my bed, it was 7-10 minutes that I gave to myself before just hitting the street running. The suggestion to pray had nothing to do with whether or not there was a God, much less whether I believed in one. The whole process was about ritual and routine upon waking. As my sponsor said early on, I would not be able to think my way into sober acting, I could only act my way into sober thinking and my morning routine and rituals are actions that impact my thinking and, therefore my emotional well-being. All of these many years later, my morning routine has become even more important and if I miss a day, I can feel it. I have a similar routine as yours, but I also enjoy the rituals of incense and candle lighting and having an altar on which to focus my attention. I start with body movement, often a run or pre-sunrise walk, stretching, a 30-45 minute sit and, journaling, including a daily gratitude list. And throughout the day I can return to the altar and drop into a 5-10 minute sit at any time I’m looking to recenter or ground myself. I generally chicken out when I consider the cold shower but thanks for reminding me about that. And a screen-free Sabbath observance? Sounds good on paper and I really want to give it a try – thank you.
Thank you. Wow.
Hey Alex! I too look forward to my morning routine. Really love it! Just reread this piece and it's inspired me to go further. I particularly like the reminder to see it as a _practice_, so something to be mindfully improved. I lost the cold showers somewhere along the way and plan to bring them back now. Think I might play around with the order of things too - currently shower, coffee, journal, meditate, move. I was already looking at moving to pour over but might just ditch caffeine. Lots to try, which is pretty cool since it's great already. Thanks!
Can you share or link to any journaling prompts you like for your writing practice?