Radiator pipes creak and groan. Rain softly taps against the far window. Louder, more singular drops of water fall from the outside guttering, drip-dropping themselves into the forgotten, left-out bucket below. The distant noise of a car engine warming itself up for the day. Heavy breathing to the left-hand side of me. These noises signal one thing. I am awake. I am conscious.

All too quickly, the inner voice inside my head begins to boot itself up. Like a laptop firing to life, I can almost feel the electronic connections sparking between various connectors in my brain.

The all-too-familiar sound of my to-do list and today's schedule begins blurting out. But I’m quick. I catch it. Before momentum ensues.

Pausing, I take a breath and reclaim conscious focus. I want these first few moments of the day to be filled with something other than my pending schedule. In its place, I choose awareness, appreciation, gratitude, and focus. I choose to overwrite my own system.

These first few moments of consciousness are precious. The most precious moments of the day. Before you can even begin to exit from your bed, reach for your journal, press play on your meditation track, unroll the yoga mat, or reach for your morning cup of coffee. Arguably, these first few moments are the most potent minutes of the day.

These first few moments are yours. To be within your own mind, your own thoughts, and your own reality. Just you and your inner self. They set the tone for the rest of your day.

For a long time, one of my biggest blocks was believing that my morning practice was the beginning of my mindfulness practice—the start of applying conscious awareness to my day. And that process began when the pen touched my journal pages, when I was seated in that lotus position, when my morning ritual began. However, a recent epiphany drastically altered this way of thinking.

In the time between getting out of bed, using the bathroom, making a cup of coffee, and saying good morning to your partner and kids, circumstances have already begun to impact your emotional state. And quite often, the reason for this is because we don’t utilise those first few moments of conscious awareness—being awake.

If when you awake and circumstances are pleasing, your children and partner are bumbly and enthusiastic, there are no unexpected occurrences to wake up to, and your coffee tastes good, then your morning ritual would get itself off to a great start. However, if those circumstances were less than desirable, your morning routine would begin as an uphill battle. To claw your way back to a place of gratitude, appreciation, focus, and consciousness.

Whatever your chosen morning routine is, Your go-to spiritual practice. Don’t allow these practices to be the deciding factor as to whether or not your day begins moving in the direction you desire. Instead, think of these as enhancements. Practices that can elevate your state. Because if one morning, for whatever reason, you aren’t able to carry out your chosen practice, this won’t automatically be the deciding factor that determines the quality of your day.

So what can you do to harness the potency of those first minutes of consciousness?

Firstly, begin by catching that wandering mind of yours

As your mind begins to float towards the numerous emails you have to send today—the shopping list, the kids schedule, what you’re going to have for tea, etc.—try to catch it.

The best way to do this is to stop and take a deep breath. Use that breath as a claim. A claim to your own consciousness, to take control back of your focus.

Observe what your habits are. Do you lay in bed and think about all the busy elements of the day ahead and the more stressful tasks?

Do you instantly reach for your phone, checking emails, messages, or social media?

Or maybe you’re awoken straight away by your requests from your family, desiring your time and attention.

It’s helpful to become aware of these habits that have probably just unconsciously formed over time. Becoming aware of them means it is easier to catch them and to stop yourself before making them your first priority.

Set the alarm 10 minutes earlier

5 or 10 minutes is all you need. Set the alarm just a little bit earlier. Ensure you have mental space before you interact with anyone else or before you begin diving into action. Start your day in your mind. You don’t need to get out of bed or do anything else; expect to simply lay in bed with a conscious awareness that you are awake.

Turn your thoughts to more simple thoughts, such as noticing how warm the duvet feels after a full night's sleep. Notice the quality of the light in your bedroom; is it light or dark? Can you tell whether the sun has begun to rise? What do you hear? Birds outside, the sound of commuters already on their way to work—maybe you can hear your family downstairs or the person next to you just starting to stir.

Breathe into these simple observations for a moment. It is these observations that anchor you in the present moment and prevent your mind from contemplating the past or worrying about the future.

Begin to raise your emotional state of being

To fully utilise those first few moments, you want to focus on not just your presence in the moment but on raising your vibration as high as you can. Satisfaction, excitement, and gratitude should be leaching from your pores by the time you step out of bed. This may be what you use your morning practice to achieve, but I want to encourage you to discover how you can get to these types of emotional states without the need for your mat, journal, or transcendental meditation track.

Some of my favourite, easy-to-go-to practices that can all be done while lying in bed are:

Gratitude:

Make a list in your head of 3–5 things for which you are grateful in your life right now. It could be your career, your family, friends, or more simple experiences, such as how good lying in bed feels right now. How rested do you feel after a comforting night's sleep? It can be anything you like, big or small, so long as it helps you exude a feeling of gratitude and abundance.

Listing positive aspects:

Choose someone you love and focus on all their positive aspects. Think about all the things you love about them. Maybe you’re looking forward to seeing them. What will you do together the next time you interact? Where will you go, and what will you say? Use your imagination. This exercise is about getting into a place of love and appreciation for others. Equally, this can be done with yourself and is a fantastic self-love practice to begin your day.

Good old-fashioned daydreaming:

Daydream about your future. Blissfully drift off into pleasant expectations for the future, whether that be for the day ahead or the distant future. Enjoy just basking in the thought process. Revel in the feeling of excited anticipation; feel the smile spreading across your face as you enjoy taking time for yourself just to dream.

Claiming consciousness the moment you wake is your superpower. It can be done anywhere in the world, in any location, and under any circumstance. No equipment is required. Just yourself and your ability to focus. Try grabbing your focus by its invisible horns and begin learning to steer it in the direction of thoughts that will positively impact your day.

Josephine Snowling is a writer, teacher and entrepreneur who shares her own personal truth, understanding and insight of how this reality works and how you can learn to come home to yourself so that you may consciously manifest the life you desire.

Images by tobetold by Lena Kinast for ‘Homecoming’, heiter issue 2. Order the issue now!

It has been a year now since my family and I relocated to Wales. Apart from a few holidays as a child, this country was unknown to us before we moved.

Throughout our first year we have spent time getting to know the local area, which has been encouraged by our regular drive to my daughters school, 9 miles from our home.

Being our first owned home we’ve also been on the lookout for thrifted household items to upcycle and add some character to our new home. Facebook Marketplace has been our friend this past year.

But aside from finding some beautiful second hand pieces of furniture, my expeditions to locate the properties where these items are located have sometimes been challenging and eye opening to say the least.

I have been taken down dirt tracks, up very steep and narrow one lane roads, along the edges of high up hills and through some questionably sized puddles that verged more on the side of small ponds.

Some of this has been partly my own choosing, some have been unavoidable to reach the villages of where these must have items are located and some have been by mistake. Word of warning, if you ever find yourself driving in Wales using a satnav, always check out the route before just opting to follow the shortest route available (it will usually find a very off course track to take you there).

But whilst my driving expeditions to find items to fill my home have been a highly amusing topic of conversation at dinner time for our family, they have also given me a profound insight into life itself and provide an ideal representation of what it feels like to take an alternative path in life, something I know a lot about.

For most of my life it’s felt as if most of my choices and opinions have gone against the grain of general society. From our parenting choices, choosing an alternative form of education for our children, our diet and lifestyle choices and now even in my business.

I wouldn’t say I purposely choose to ignore societal norms, I just simply chose to find alternative choices that at their core make me feel good, that align with my inner values and desires.

But this hasn’t always been an easy road.

Plagued with doubt, fear and insecurities about the path itself and my ability to navigate the path. Like the backroads I’ve been driving along here in Wales, there have been times when I’ve wanted to turn back. Is this furniture really worth it, I’ve asked myself. Do I have the driving skills needed to make it down this road? Were all the same questions I asked in doubt whilst driving along my alternative life path.

But even though these roads can sometimes be thrilling, sometimes terrifying, what is always certain is the breathtaking scenery I encounter along the journey.

The spectacular panoramic views, the hidden gems of nature which seem only visible to those willing to find them. I’ve seen babbling brocks, gushing waterfalls and hills that seem to roll for miles, usually without anyone else in the world present, except sometimes my daughters.

What I’ve come to learn about these roads in Wales and it is true as well in life, is that the backroads are quiet, they are only for the ones daring enough to look for an alternative route. For those willing to question whether there is another road they can take.

They aren’t for the faint of heart. You don’t always know what the road ahead will uncover, a sharp turn, a steep hill or a beautiful clear track. You just have to trust in yourself as you drive the road.

You have to be willing to go off the main road every once in a while, to forgo the standard route if you want to experience the beauty that comes with the alternative path.

This is true in relationships, in business, in any aspect of life. Choosing to follow the path of your heart, the path your soul wants and knows you should follow. Sounds like something that should be easy but quite often it’s the rockiest path you’ll ever go down.

Like the Buddha transcending on his journey to enlightenment, he was faced with his own inner demons, his limiting beliefs, his doubt and fears. He was presented with a choice each and every time, do I turn back or move forward?

And although it may seem that following your soul's path can feel lonely sometimes, what I’ve actually found over the years, is the stronger my own inner belief has become. The belief that taking an alternative route isn’t only right for me but can actually lead me where I want to go faster and yield a more exciting and abundant journey along the way. The more I have attracted, into my reality, stories of others who have done the same and very successfully.

They have felt like that comforting sign post you see when you’ve been travelling down a bumpy unmarked road for a while, wondering whether you made the right turn. That sign that reassures you that your intended destination is not far away, that all this time and through all the doubt and fear you have always been travelling on the path your soul intended you to. You aren’t lost but instead found.

Following a soul led life path doesn’t mean you always travel the backroads. I still use the motorways on the road and in life. But don’t be afraid to take the backroads when you feel called to.

Although it may seem scary at first, that inner calling is never wrong and the more you take the leap of faith the stronger your belief comes in trusting your inner voice and guidance.

Images via Unsplash

Why mindfulness should begin before your morning routine starts