Against the Grain.

It is called a daily grind for good reason: after a while it can seem repetitive, and void of purpose. I hope this is not the case for you, but if it is, there are ways to overcome this purposeless or anxiety-stricken feeling.

I have observed in myself and in others that upon waking there is an innate resistance to even escape the confines of our own beds. This seems fairly human and if I were to postulate I would say it is derived from our days en utero. Why leave a warm cozy and secure place for a cold and sometimes uninviting place? Because there is adventure out there! So the very first step of my day is to shatter the trepidation of leaving the bed. I roll out of bed after the very first alarm (so as not to foster a feeling of hesitance by using multiple alarms) and I do push ups. Yep, push ups. Do as many as you want, but make it somewhat of a challenge, for both physical and psychological reasons. Upon completing the push ups I am already awake, pretty much instantly.

From there I sit and do nothing. Sitting meditation, for at least 10 minutes. I have made this part of my routine for the past 6 weeks and it has been great. Why? Because when we rise, so many thoughts, both negative and positive, immediately begin flooding our minds. This is no way to start a day. It is better to start on a neutral plane, and so I meditate. I sit, and do nothing but breathe and think thoughtless thoughts.

Upon completing the meditation I am usually very happy and present in the moment. Since I am already on the floor, I stretch for five minutes. I won't recommend any particular stretch over another, but five minutes of stretching has been a great transitional period from the meditative state to the real world state, closely paying attention to every sensation in the body.

After this, I exercise. Any sort of exercise is fine, at least twenty minutes. You will notice all of this requires quite an allotment of time, but it is truly worth it. I rationalize this routine by reminding myself that the day could very well pose many challenges, both perceived and the wonderful surprise attack challenges - ninja challenges. For this reason I tend to throw down the gauntlet very early. I push myself very hard whether I am running, cycling, or in the gym. If I can overcome one of the day's greatest challenges (self-imposed) right away, the rest has generally been very easy.

This is my routine, and some humble suggestions for you. The push up thing is great and if you have a serious caffeine addiction, push ups are a wonderful surrogate to that addiction. I hope that some of this helps someone.

Namaste.