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Bringing Gratefulness

Into Your Morning

By Sound And The MessengerPublished 3 years ago 6 min read
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Delicate Arch In the Morning.. Video Shot by @thelostalleycat

In the morning it's easy to immediately become stressed. That happened to me this morning. One of the first recommendations that I deem one should not do upon waking up is to check their email. On this particular morning I did just that and three emails down was a bill. My mind went immediately into lack of gratitude. In that moment the cycle of anxiety started. Thoughts came up such as "How am I supposed to pay for that?" "I thought I already paid" etc.. At that moment some voice of my higher self came in however, and saved the day. It seemed to shout out that "This was not the way to start the day" and I begrudgingly had to agree. It was then that I started my morning routine. From that came the motivation to produce this article that I hope you will find and use or customize to fit your own flow. I do have to say though that flow is recommended, although it is often found in personal lessons that come in different ways depending on the day and how it works.

Breathing App's.... Soul Sync Practice

I always start off my morning with this meditation. It's a great way to start off the day with an intention and this 12 minute process gives that to each participant. The practice is quite short and it always leaves me energized. The meditation works to calm the mind by appealing to the variety of different senses that we have at our disposal in every waking moment. By becoming aware of touch we can use sensation to calm the mind. By using sound we can use its vibration to calm our thoughts. These are just some of the tools that Soul Sync uses to help the user. This meditation is both dynamic and easy to perform for someone who has never meditated before as it is a practical practice. Practical in the sense that in every step of the way the person is instructed to do something. Not once in the mediation are you instructed to "calm your thoughts". Instead thoughts are calmed as a natural result of how the process flows.

Inner Freedom Academy

After that meditation I was still a little bit aggravated by the email that I woke up to and therefore I went straight into Nikki Kappor's Inner Freedom Process. In this practice she instructs on how the mind enjoys making stories for everything. My mind loves this. I write a lot a stories too and songs! Instead she teaches a process by where you become aware of the emotion instead. Her process has helped immensely and it helped on this morning as well.

Megan Wagaman Yoga Flow

My whole life my lower back has been quite tight. I think this has both arisen out of a genetic predisposition that I have inherited from my mother, but also some life events that occurred when I was back in college. Let's just say that the only bone I've ever broken has been my tailbone and I've managed to do this repeatedly. In college I did so on a climbing trip when some buddies of mine had the desire to ascend the somewhat infamous Lone Eagle Peak in the Peak To Peak Wilderness lands of Colorado. We woke early and soon I was carrying a 30 pound pack up the approach with a rope and became somewhat unaware of the increasing exposure. The rock was wet that morning, as it thawed slowly from the previous night's frost and in one swift moment I slipped off the face, falling about 15 feet onto a rocky meadow that slanted downwards to another 10 foot drop onto a rock field. I fell the 15 feet onto my tailbone and then rolled and arrested my fall by grabbing onto some foliage. Luckily my falling journey ended there and I did not fall the additional 10 feet onto the rock field. My body shut down and then rebooted again and upon re awakening I realized the only damage was my tailbone once again. The rest of my climbing partners soon escorted me down to camp and a few hours later we decided to hike out the 10 miles over a pass and back to our cars. Let's just say that the adventure was quite memorable and suggest-ably illy repeated.

For whatever reason, I do find that my lower back grows quite tight in the changing months, mainly from winter to spring and also summer to fall. During this time I have loved being able to sit in on my friend Megan's yoga flow that she posts online from time to time. The practice is a perfect sequence and not too difficult as well. Lower back tightness almost inevitably yields tight hamstrings and this practice is perfect for that, while also gentle on the other parts of the body. It's worth a gander at. It gives me energy so that I can work on others lower backs as a therapist. Sometimes the world is quite ironic. Gifts often do come from unique places.

Gratitude Video

Seven years ago I was still living in Japan and was facing considerable financial stress. Over the past two years I had been evacuated from the small town of Naraha in 2011 and then transferred to Yamagata Prefecture to resume my teaching position. A year later I had retired from that company and had re-located to Sendai. At that moment work had become scarce. I felt Japan slowly waving me goodbye. My visa was running out. I was grabbing onto any lost opportunities, studying at an International Japanese School and also working random teaching jobs, while also playing as a musician and being grateful to play for international festivals with other foreign nationals living in the area. Time had then placed me with a quivering bank balance for the first time in my life and my angels had allowed me to stumble upon the above gratitude video. Recently I've been revisiting the small clip as nice additional extra to my morning routine. I hope it helps you as well!

In Summary

Developing a morning routine has been a sure way to help navigate these ephemeral times. It has allowed me to be evermore dynamic in the way that I might approach the events of life that all of us experience in our own ways. It lets me step into new perspectives and see experiences in new ways. Much like when I happen to summit another mountain in the early mornings and see my town far below working and flowing to some unspeakable pulse. Currently golden leaves surround the city inviting in change while, all the while keeping things light and vibrant! I recently had this feeling when I woke early to post this video with friends at the lovely and majestic Delicate Arch.

Please Enjoy!

J

@soundandthemessenger

mental health
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About the Creator

Sound And The Messenger

Hello and welcome. Creativity shows itself in a myriad of different ways for me. I intend to get out of my comfort zone on this page, be vulnerable and create. Follow me @soundandthemessenger

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