Takeaway: Interested in cultivating a deeper spiritual practice but unsure where to start? This guide is for you. Here, I offer some of my favorite spiritual morning routine ideas. Plus, I give practical tips for how to get started if you’re a total beginner. Let’s dive in.
When I set out to design my perfect morning routine years ago, I didn't have much to go off of beyond wanting to become more mindful. I craved confidence and struggled to find consistency, discipline, and inner peace. In truth, I was terrified that I lacked control, and was struggling with doubt about my ability to stay committed to my self-care.
As an ex-competitive athlete, most of the programming I received about completing tasks or designing a schedule was from the perspective of Nike's "just do it" attitude. I was used to pushing through challenges by using negative reinforcement, like visualizing where I would be and seeing myself as incomplete or weak in the present moment.
What I realized over time was that this created temporary motivation through the lens of perfection, rather than ongoing inspiration. For instance, I found myself meditating every day for a week or two, and then I would drop off and a month would go by. I felt ashamed and would distract myself with a new project or idea. I either maintained my ideal schedule "perfectly" or I missed one day, became discouraged, and fell off the train. Eventually, I would cycle back after going through a period of negative self-talk, convinced that I just needed to "work harder" this time.
Do you struggle with that, too? The part of you that motivates you out of fear, unhealthy competition, jealousy, comparison, doubt, and overwhelm? If so, you're not alone!
Below, I will break down what a healthy daily spiritual practice looks like, outline how to discover your morning routine, and also support you in designing one that focuses on positive shifts in your mental health. An uplifting morning routine combined with spiritual practice is hugely beneficial for evolving your self-care and self-love. Additionally, positive reinforcement and having fun are two keys that often get undervalued in morning routine planning as well. Let's zoom in on what a spiritual morning routine is and how it can connect you to your soul essence.
What is a spiritual routine?
A spiritual morning routine is a form of self-care with a focus on personal growth and self-discovery. When just starting on a spiritual path, our inner self feels more like a concept, and developing a morning spiritual routine is a loving commitment to learn more about our true selves.
At a basic science level, creating a meaningful routine for yourself has been proven to positively increase how we view our lives. A study done in 2018 looked at the connection between routines and meaning in life and found that simple practices shift our mindsets from seeing life as mundane and boring, to purposeful. Another study published in October 2021 found that "higher S/R (spirituality/religiousness) levels among healthy adult individuals were associated with higher HRQoL levels (health-related quality of life levels), suggesting the S/R can be an important strategy to deal with adverse environmental situations even among those without chronic diseases, enhancing the wellbeing of individuals." In a nutshell, both these studies emphasize that meaning, purpose, fulfillment, and vitality are positively impacted by routine and spiritual belief.
On a spiritual level, developing a spiritual routine in the morning is a way of communicating to your soul essence that you want to build a relationship with it. Our soul essence is the loving, ancient part of ourselves that guides us through everyday life. Many people are unaware of this powerful aspect of ourselves. We are humans, but we are also spirits, and we often move so fast throughout our day that we forget to slow down and listen to this inner compass.
Our soul essence exists at a higher vibrational energy and loves connecting with us through mindfulness practice and positive thinking. Our spirits, or higher selves, are divine and lovingly connected to the entire cosmos, and developing a morning ritual to open this connection allows us to remember who we are over time and download powerful spiritual truths.
I often get asked, "Where does our soul essence live? Or where is it located?" From a metaphysical perspective, your higher self exists at the level of source and visits you most easily through the heart chakra. The heart chakra is a portal for self-realization, and by using certain techniques to connect with your heart, you shift your frequency to a higher vibration, allowing your soul essence to communicate with you more directly.
The soul often speaks to us through the heart, and when we choose to live life with a positive mindset, our soul can reach us more easily because that's the frequency, or channel, on which it exists. When we practice gratitude, use positive affirmations, commune with Mother Earth, or visualize a positive day ahead, we open the heart portal for receiving messages from our soul.
Benefits of having a spiritual morning routine
Many spiritual practices provide mental clarity, and emotional well-being, and improve physical embodiment. When we feel loved, connected, and attuned to our higher selves, we often feel calm, view our lives with more gratitude and openness, and begin to see a bigger picture and meaning within our daily lives.
For instance, when something doesn't turn out how we expected it, rather than falling into doubt or victimization, we turn to our higher selves and ask for support, understanding, and ease. When difficult things occur, but we remain connected to the love and trust within our soul essence, we take things less personally. We experience failure in a radically different way because we understand that the point of being on earth is to learn.
Imagine if you made the time to connect with your wise, loving, and kind self each morning, and recognized how loved and supported you are. How would this change how you approach your daily life? How would you visualize tasks, integrate failures, communicate with other people, and treat those that you love? And what if you could sense the soul essence energy in everyone you interacted with? What would that do for our entire world?
A morning spiritual routine is a powerful way of coming home to yourself, over and over again. When you embrace this deep wisdom within you it is life-changing because you begin to become your higher self. Your higher self navigates life on earth through gratitude, beauty, inspiration, respect, courage, confidence, and joy. Your higher self isn't afraid and knows it's enough, and it views all beings as worthy and deserving of love.
Here are a few benefits of creating spiritual morning rituals that connect you with your soul essence:
Inner Peace and Clarity
Starting the day with practices like meditation or mindfulness will allow you to calm your mind, reduce stress, and gain a clearer perspective on your thoughts and emotions.
Emotional Well-Being
Consistent morning rituals can promote emotional well-being. Engaging in practices that foster gratitude, self-love, or emotional release can help you manage your emotions, boost your self-esteem, and cultivate a more positive outlook on life.
Spiritual Growth and Connection
A spiritual morning routine often involves activities that nurture your soul's growth. Whether through prayer, meditation, or reflection, these practices can deepen your sense of purpose, increase your self-awareness, and foster a stronger connection with your inner self or higher power.
Stress Reduction and Resilience
Establishing a spiritual morning routine can build your resilience to stress. By starting the day with a sense of inner strength and calm, you are better prepared to face life's challenges with a more composed and resilient mindset.
Confidence and Self-Trust
A spiritual morning routine can improve your focus and productivity throughout the day. By grounding yourself in the present moment and setting positive intentions, you are better equipped to tackle tasks with concentration and efficiency.
Cultivating this connection and receiving these benefits doesn't require expensive tools and isn't dependent on other people or your location. Your soul is with you all the time, waiting for you to simply open to it and spend time with it. As I mentioned, there can be some huge benefits to doing this. Let's look at some specific spiritual rituals that will enhance your morning routine.
5 spiritual morning rituals to try
Deciding on a routine or ritual that focuses on connecting with your soul essence and source energy can be healing for your mind, body, and spirit. Here are five spiritual practices that you can do in the morning (or evening if mornings are hard for you):
1. Deep breathing techniques
Speaking with your highest self requires present-moment awareness, and the easiest way to get in touch with the present moment is breathing. Being conscious of your breath and breathing fresh air deep into your lungs and lower stomach not only clears out stagnant energy, but it grounds your nervous system and releases tension in your internal organs. We often struggle to stay in connection to our soul essence because we are focused on the past or future, but our spirit lives with us in the present time. Using diaphragmatic breathing or box breathing (used in the military because of its enhanced ability to regulate stress) can easily bring mindfulness and mental clarity to your morning. It's a wonderful way to first clear your mind and body, which more easily opens you up to connecting with your soul essence. When we have high-stress levels or feel overwhelmed, we naturally move into thinking about the past or future and tense up. To receive messages for our day ahead, it is very helpful to take a few moments to clear your space.
2. Journal and creative expression
Part of learning how to connect with your essence through a spiritual morning routine is being open enough to receive messages. Often, our spirit speaks through our emotions and connects with us when we do things that we love. Hence, free journaling, or journaling without a prompt or concept, can be a wonderful way to begin channeling and connecting with your inner compass. If you prefer to have a focus, creating a gratitude journal can substantially shift your perspectives and allow for a more positive mindset. When you recognize each experience in your life as either a gift or a way to learn, you draw more positive outcomes for yourself. If you focus on the love, kindness, ease, and joy that comes into your life, you are more likely to draw that energy towards you because of your frequency.
Interestingly, a friend of mine started a miracle morning routine where she wrote down miracles she would love to draw into her life, while also highlighting all the things she was grateful for. In recognizing all the good in her life, she drew in "miracle energy" or the opportunity for things to spontaneously shift and occur in her life in a very small timeframe.
3. Meditation and guided imagery
When I was a teenager, I started combining deep breathing practices with imagining breathing in golden light through the top of my head and into my palms. I would tilt my head upwards, breathe deep into my heart and belly, and imagine bright beams of light absorbing into my skin. My hands would begin to vibrate and a warm tingle would wash over me, almost like a warm gentle river swirling inside of me.
In just five minutes, I realized I could shift from feeling insecure, sad, or confused, to feeling light, joyful, and easeful. Somehow, through this simple practice, I realized I could click back into my soul essence, and through this connection, I stopped worrying and felt at peace. I didn't know what I was contacting when I did it, but using my imagination, I was able to completely transform how I felt.
Combining creativity with meditation practice has been proven to change the way our brain operates. Through consistent practice, scientists have discovered increased connectivity, increased grey matter density, positive changes in the amygdala, enhanced concentration, increased brainwave activity, and improved emotional regulation. To summarize, your brain functions at a higher level regarding memory, attention, learning, self-awareness, decision-making, decreased stress, and deeper relaxation. All of these aspects support our mind, body, and spirit.
Here are two guided meditations I created to connect with your heart chakra and learn how to communicate with a spirit guide.
4. Explore energy and sound healing
There are hundreds of different branches on the energy healing tree and learning how to shift your energy and clear your mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies as part of your morning routine can have a profound shift on your day ahead. Sensitive, empathic, and intuitive people thrive when they learn how to release energy from their field. If you know that you absorb energy from others or easily feel drained when interacting with people, it's a big sign that you don't have spiritual sovereignty, making it more difficult to connect with your soul essence.
To start, find a "sound healing" playlist on Spotify or YouTube, and combine it with deep breathing. Often, the mind quiets down when drumming, music, or soothing tones occur because it has something to hold onto. Meditation that involves complete silence can be difficult at first, so using music can free up the fear of not being able to quiet your thoughts down. If you're curious whether you are sensitive, empathic, or intuitive, click here to check out my free quiz to see where you land on the empathy spectrum.
5. Get inspired by reading
If you find yourself longing for inspiration, spending 10-15 minutes each morning reading spiritual books or sacred texts can dramatically shift your frequency. For instance, I'm currently reading "Living with Joy" by Sanaya Roman, and tapping into the wisdom held in the book immediately sets me up to view my day with gratitude. Even reading a few pages offers insights into how I might weave my spiritual connection into my everyday experiences.
To bring more of my senses into the routine, I will light candles, make myself a warm cup of licorice mint tea with honey, and curl up with a big fuzzy blanket while the sun rises. I might turn on some light classical music and put a hand on my heart, inviting my spirit into my heart space. Through practice, inviting your higher self into everything you do becomes a way to build a heart bridge between your existence as a human and as a soul.
Tips for starting your spiritual routine
Most of us have ideas on what spiritual practices would be good for us, but how we go about creating a spiritual morning routine is crucial for consistency, fun, and growth. As I mentioned in the beginning, I couldn't maintain loving self-care and connection to my soul essence until I shifted how I viewed myself and my goals.
Here are some great tips I've learned for maintaining your energy levels:
Shift from "Should" to "I get to"
If you are willing, delete "should" from your vocabulary. Whenever we say we should do something, it's setting ourselves up to feel inadequate and creates a sense of shame, or feeling behind on our goals. Saying we should do something is also not motivating because it implies that we must do it to maintain a sense of enoughness. It's not inspiring, and we often stress ourselves out by using that jargon.
Instead, consider saying, "I get to." When waking up to your alarm in the morning, say to yourself, "I get to wake up to this beautiful morning routine." Try it out for a second:
I have to meditate --> I get to meditate with the sun
I should journal --> I get to journal and release energy
I have to read my book --> I get to read and learn new things
I should get up and do my spiritual morning rituals --> I get to relax and do my spiritual morning rituals
Can you sense the shift in perspective and frequency just by changing the language? Hint: the edited version views a spiritual morning routine with gratitude. If you change your language, your energy levels and how you approach tasks will dramatically shift because they feel like opportunities rather than chores.
Adopt a "consistency over length" mindset
If you spend 5 minutes every morning breathing deeply, expressing gratitude for one thing in your life, and saying positive morning affirmations to yourself, this will result in more growth than spending one hour on yourself once a week. Why is this true? Because your soul is available to you in each moment, and starting your day opening that door will prove more powerful over time in regards to keeping that connection open. Morning routines are more likely to develop over shorter time frames with consistency because they build neural pathways faster, making adopting a habit easier.
Create a dedicated space or altar
Designate a quiet and peaceful space for your spiritual routine. This could be a corner of a room, a cushion, or a special chair. Ensure it's free from distractions and put kind things in this space that remind you of your intentions. My altar in my office holds my journal, tarot cards, sacred objects, and candles. These objects help me expand my heart space and remind me of my intention to interweave my soul into everything I do.
Recognize that your mental health is supported through spiritual evolution
Developing a soul connection by listening to your inner guidance results in emotional intelligence, ease, self-trust, and grace. When your soul is plugged into your being, your mind and body feel more connected, creating a stronger sense of inner peace. A consistent and loving spiritual morning routine supports a healthy mindset, reducing stress and fear. We also feel more aligned in ourselves, which allows for higher authenticity and courage to operate out of heart space in the natural world.
Get support in cultivating your spirituality
Finding a community, seeking guidance, or getting support when cultivating your spirituality can be incredibly important for several reasons:
Shared Wisdom and Knowledge
Being part of a spiritual community or seeking guidance from experienced individuals allows you to tap into a wealth of collective wisdom and knowledge. Those who have walked the path before you can offer insights, advice, and teachings that can deepen your understanding and practice.
Inspiration and Motivation
Interacting with others who share similar spiritual goals and values can be highly motivating. Hearing about their experiences, challenges, and breakthroughs can inspire you to stay committed to your own spiritual journey.
Accountability
A community or mentor can provide a sense of accountability. Knowing that others are on a similar path can encourage you to stick to your spiritual routine and commitments, especially during moments of doubt or resistance.
Validation and Acceptance
Being part of a spiritual community can provide a sense of validation and acceptance. It's common for individuals on a spiritual journey to face skepticism or criticism from others who don't share their beliefs. In a supportive community, you can freely express your thoughts and experiences without judgment.
If you are seeking support/community on your spiritual journey, the best place to start is researching community events (like sound healings) or looking for in-person or online classes on a topic you're interested in learning more about.
As an energy healing teacher, I've helped hundreds of students gain a deeper connection to their soul essence and source energy by learning how to release energy and upgrade their chakra centers. I also help students tap into their spirit guides, angels, and ancestors. To learn more about these opportunities, click here.