My Miracle Morning

I have been reading the book The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. I came across this book while I was doing research for a book that I was revising (the nonfiction book that is currently being ripped to shreds – er, I mean, critiqued by my beta readers). I came across a quote by Hal Elrod and I was like, “Huh? Who’s Hal Elrod?” Now, because I am a stickler for proper attribution in writing, I wanted to make sure that I included just WHO Hal Elrod was if I was gonna include a quote from him in my book! So I Googled his name and, wow! I was introduced to his world! I saw books, websites, interviews and positive comments about this guy and his books. So, of course, I ordered a copy of The Miracle Morning to check it out.

 

And I’m hooked! I love the concept of spending an hour first thing in the morning working on self-improvement routines. I love doing self-improvement routines – it’s all a part of my new sober lifestyle! – and so I got excited about trying out his idea. I have struggled with trying to squeeze everything into my day – journaling, meditation, exercise, etc. – so I thought maybe I should try this to see if I could at least check those things off my To Do list early in the day.

 

But when I finally tried it today, not only was I excited about checking them off my list so early, but I felt great in general. In fact, on just Day One of doing the Miracle Morning routine, I was STOKED! After my shower, I sat down at the computer with my  coffee and ready to write and I was just feeling like I was walking on air. I really did feel a huge sense of accomplishment and that I really DID have a “miracle morning.”

 

But, unfortunately, not all of my mornings are miracles.

 

I actually wanted to give this routine a try yesterday – because I like to start things on a Monday – but I woke up to find my son sick on the couch. And shortly after I woke up, my bad headaches started up! (My “bad headaches” are not normal headaches. They are not migraines, either. Just REALLY bad headaches!) So I sat with my son on the couch and just stayed with him while I was also dealing with those headaches. I tried drinking water, drinking coffee and even resting, but it didn’t help my headaches. Because of the headaches, I wasn’t able to do as much yesterday as I wanted to do. But I still managed to do SOME things. The headaches slowed me down but they didn’t stop me! It wasn’t until much later in the day – in the afternoon, after I took the headache medication my doctor had prescribed to me – that I started to feel a little better. The headaches did eventually go away. (I am not sure if this medication is time-release or 24 hours. I wonder if I can take it earlier than the last dose. Something I will have to look into!)

 

So when I went to bed last night – headache-free! – I decided that I would try again in the morning.

 

And, thankfully, I didn’t have any headaches this morning! Yay! I was ready to give the Miracle Morning routine a try.

 

Now, in the book, it talks about the routine going by the acronym “SAVERS.” The “E” in “SAVERS” is for “exercise.” I was concerned about exercising and then sitting down, all sweaty and stinky from exercising, to read. But Hal also said in the book that you can mix them up. What a relief! So, yes, I did the exercising last.

 

And when I was doing the meditation part (the “S” is “Silence), I didn’t meditate in my bed like I have normally done in the past. I have TRIED sitting cross-legged while meditating, but that was never any good because my legs got restless! I was moving around a lot. I just couldn’t sit still for meditating! In my bed, after I wake up, I am relaxed and calm. So that’s why I meditated in bed. But Hal suggests sitting on a couch or something similar for meditation. So that’s what I did. And it worked! I was able to comfortably sit still for the ten minutes that I meditated.

 

When I did the Affirmations part, I had decided that I would do this particular step of the routine while looking straight at myself in the mirror. I have had a lot of luck with “mirror talk” in the past. This was especially helpful during my early days of recovering from alcoholism. Staying sober is super important to me, so of course I have tried using every strategy at my disposal to make sure I never drink again. And this is definitely something that has worked! I also used affirmations to help me to stay sober, but I never spoke the affirmations at my reflection in the mirror. This time, I thought I would try it!

 

Now, I must say, I’m not a fan of looking into mirrors. It’s probably because of the burn scars on my face. But I decided that this time, I was going to stay in front of the mirror for the full 10 minutes to say those affirmations to myself. And I would LIKE it! So, that’s what I did. And when I was saying those affirmations, sometimes I smiled. People have told me in the past that they like my smile. On this particular morning, I really looked at my reflection when I smiled, and I thought, ‘Hey, that’s a nice smile!’ This made me think that maybe I should smile more often.

 

When I did the Visualization part, I decided that instead of visualizing becoming a bestselling novelist – which is actually my dream – I instead visualized that my latest nonfiction book would be a bestseller. When these visions popped into my head, I thought, ‘Wait a minute, I want my NOVELS to be bestsellers!’ But then I decided to allow this to continue. I DO want my nonfiction book to do well. I DO want it to be sold far and wide because I REALLY want this book to help as many people as it can. I want it to motivate people, inspire people, and encourage people to go after their dreams! Because that’s a great thing! So I visualized the book becoming a bestseller. People reading it, me signing copies of it, talking about the book on TV and getting a nice check from my publisher “for books sold.” Afterward, I was smiling and feeling really excited. That was a great vision!!

 

For the Reading part of this routine, I decided to focus on the “religious study” on my To Do list. The current religious book that I am studying is the Bible, so I popped open my Bible and read it.

 

Then, finally, for Exercise, I decided to do my usual Calisthenics workout. I try to do this workout every morning, anyway, because some of the exercises are important for me to do (recommended by my physical therapist) and they are great for my back. They are also helpful to just “wake up” my body and get it ready for the day. But this time, I also did some yoga poses during my exercising! Well, they are also good for my back, too, so no harm done! I actually did my workout longer than the 20 minutes that it was supposed to be and that’s probably because of the added yoga poses I had thrown in. (I usually don’t do yoga on Tuesdays.)

 

Then I spent some time writing in my journal, also part of the Miracle Morning AND also something on my To Do list. I have struggled with Journaling because I usually get so busy or so tired that sometimes (okay, A LOT OF TIMES) the journaling thing just didn’t happen. But now it was GOING TO HAPPEN because it is now part of my Miracle Morning! And when THAT was done, I was happy to be writing in my journal again. I was happy I found the time!

 

I am so glad I finally got to try out the Miracle Morning routine. It’s great! I highly recommend it. And I recommend Hal’s book, too. Check it out! I have been inspired by his story and I know that putting his routines to use can definitely make a huge difference.