Conscious Rising: an easy morning habit that brings out your best
Conscious rising is a strategy I’ve used with my coaching clients over the years that provides easy, immediate access to some of your very best thinking. I do it every day and my coaching clients have reported that some of their biggest breakthroughs and eureka solutions have come from applying this strategy. I’m happy to share it with you here!
YOUR likely morning routine
Today, in a world where we are so critically connected to our devices, it's tempting to greet the day by diving into our phones. It’s also tempting to turn on the television, or radio, immediately driving new content into our freshly rested brains.
Why this routine doesn’t serve you
While you sleep, your brain is still working. The process is called consolidation, and it’s the brain’s way of basically sorting out what to make of your life experiences. This is part of the reason we have dreams and why we wake up in the middle of the night ready to solve a problem, or take action. Each morning, your brain has basically organized your brain for you, and you wake up ready to make (new) sense out of the world around you. Have you ever woken up and thought immediately of a solution to a problem? This is consolidation at work. By getting up and immediately getting distracted by new information, you are basically throwing this neatly planned report into the trash bin, making the night’s work of your brain less useful.
Conscious Rising: how to do it!
Stay in bed- When the alarm goes off, shut it off and stay in bed. Hold still as best you can and allow your thoughts to come to you. Try to hold still for at least two minutes and calmly allow whatever ideas that are floating in your head to come to the surface
Capture- At this point, try to capture the ideas that are floating to the surface in your mind. I prefer a paper notepad because it’s less likely to be wired with anything that could potentially pop up and distract me.
Do it regularly- When you do this regularly you will find that your brain begins to look forward to this opportunity in the morning to share with you what it has percolated about all night long. I've had coaching clients that said they used to wake up at 3:00 in the morning with ideas or worries and once they started the conscious rising process, they stopped being interrupted in their sleep with their brain knowing full well that there is always an opportunity first thing in the morning to capture what your brain has been thinking about all night long.
What will hit me in the morning?
Inspiration, ideas, and lists- So what will your brain give you first thing in the morning? Everyone is different. For me, most of my morning ideas come in the form of lists of things I’ve forgotten to do, or follow up I need to pursue. Almost 25% of the time, however, I experience a new and very helpful idea or innovation. I like to give myself some time in the morning to work a bit on anything that might come to me, so it doesn’t float away!
Please give it a try and let me know how it works for YOU!
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