The past few months I’ve been making it a habit to get up a few hours before I need to go to work. I’m not always successful with getting up early in the morning but most days I’m making it happen. While fixing up a pot of tea this morning, I had a realisation of how essential my early morning routines have been in my life so far. And it’s not because I’m up early trying to cram in everything I need to do or trying to spend every moment being productive, but because it’s my time to relax completely before my responsibilities begin.
At first, I wanted to get up early as a way to make room for more exercise in my life. The goal was to get up early and make time for running, strength training or yoga each morning. However, I’ve found that instead of waking up early as a way to meet exercise goals, I’ve been waking up early to make time to do things that I find relaxing. On some days that might mean an early morning run or quick yoga session but my focus has been on finding ways to connect with myself and create a peaceful environment for myself. My mornings start my day off with joy, and not just sometimes, but pretty much every single day.
Then, when I walk into work I find my mood improved and I’m ready to begin the other responsibilities in my day. I don’t have concerns about not having enough time to relax or get anything done. I’m already set up to have a great day.
Rest is important to make the most of our day. Many of us are consumed with the idea of being our most productive selves. It’s tempting to want to fill every moment, but finding rest is incredibly important to attaining peace and joy within our lives. Rest allows your body and mind the space to repair itself and become stronger. You can’t develop strength without rest. Your mind often needs rest to get that next brilliant idea. Rest allows you to decrease your stress and anxiety levels too. By giving yourself rest, you allow your body and mind to work effectively and naturally decrease your stress levels.
Silence and meditation allows you to rediscover what is important to your life. Filling up your time with different tasks can distract you from the real you. In the past, when I filled up my free time time with social outings, hobbies and binge watching TV or even distracting myself with social media, this cut into time where I could be silent and enjoy having time purely for myself. Distracting yourself with various things may be tempting but you might not realize how much of your time is devoted to things that aren’t important to you anymore. Creating space to reflect allows you to check in on your life and get a better idea of what’s important to you right now.
Mindfulness allows you to reflect on the wonderful things in life. Our minds are prone to focusing on the negative things that can occur around us. A person cutting you off in traffic can put you in a sour mood and distract you from the fact that everything is going great in many areas of your life. Something that goes wrong today at work might make you feel discontent with a job that you actually like. Creating time for silence allows you to reflect and focus on all aspects of your life, including the things that bring joy and peace within your life. Negative things will inevitably happen but wonderful things are happening for you too. Creating space for quiet time lets you appreciate all the blessings in your life.
Silence gives us a space to find solutions. Distracting your every waking moment with things and thoughts can create a pattern where you might not deal with your problems. Instead of dealing with your problems, you continue to go through life looking for easy fixes or ignoring your problems. When you make time for silence, you give your mind room to find a solution. For instance, when dealing with stress and discontentment from my last job, it was tempting to distract myself and try to not think about work. As a result, I also pushed aside thoughts of finding a solution to my discontentment. When I embraced making space for my thoughts, I was able to come up with several solutions such as finding a work project that interested me or obtaining new skills outside of work. Eventually, I found the strength to apply for other jobs and look for work that was a better fit for me. Creating space for silence allowed me to find strength to actively look for solutions in my life.
You create time to focus and give something your attention. It’s unlikely that when you are busy and spreading yourself thin, that you give yourself time to focus on one thing at a time. Giving yourself quiet time creates a space where you don’t have to feel overwhelmed and burdened by other priorities in your day. This might create the space for your creativity to flourish or for you to properly nourish your physical body and soul.
Silence gives us space to make things right within our lives. Beyond finding solutions to our problems, mindfulness gives us the emotional space to know what is the right thing to do for ourselves and in different situations. You might find the strength to walk away from a toxic relationship or forgive someone for hurting you in the past. Creating time for yourself may also help you understand what your own values are or may help give you guidance on the best way to proceed in a tough situation.
Dedicating quiet time to your day, whether that’s in the morning or at night will help you reflect on your priorities and make room for peace in your day.
Finding time in your day to focus purely on making time for mindfulness may not be easy, particularly when you have other responsibilities such as work, school or caring for children. However, there are ways that you can make time for yourself each day.
- Start your day earlier. Waking up an extra thirty minutes to an hour earlier may give you enough time you need to create space for quiet thoughts.
- Use your lunch break. Your lunch break can be a time when you enjoy a meal and sit alone with your thoughts. Find a quiet space near your work such as a park, your car or a place free of distractions.
- Take time in the evening. Find thirty minutes in the evening before bedtime where you can focus on meditation or mindfulness.