Your daily habits and routines are far more critical and impactful than you may think. One of the complaints or misalignments I hear is that many women feel their lives are not what they wanted them to be. They feel stuck, uninspired, off-balance, and certainly not peaceful. Yet, when I ask for them to walk me through their day-to-day life, we can often root out that they are simply not engaging in their lives in a way that is fulfilling or nurturing their rounded well-being. They have shifted into autopilot and lack a framework that helps them engage in the balance, inspiration, and peace they so deeply deserve and desire.

Regular Get Your Life Together, Girl listener, Fatima in Boston, Massachusetts, wrote in and said, “Culturally, I grew up with the majority of thought processes and teachings you teach. Yet, after my family and I came to the United States from India, I found it harder to live these principles. Life is faster, and I find it hard to slow down. I want to return to the peace you write about in your posts, and I see within you when you speak—the peace I have known before but feel as if I have lost. Do you have any daily rituals that you personally practice? If so, could you share? I guess I am asking for an inside look into your life that helps you stay peaceful.”

First, I will say, peace is never lost. Sometimes it lies in wait until we are ready to meet it again. And of course, I am willing to share my practices as they are a combination of things I teach.  

Life is fast and hard to slow down, but once you create a framework for yourself, practice it, and hold yourself accountable, peace becomes second nature. Is it perfect? No. Are there days that start one way and end another? Always. But, if you have a framework built into your life, for your life, your day, you have the power to create the peace you desire.

You asked about my rituals, and I am happy to walk you through them. If anything stands out, I invite you to bring them into your practice. However, I will caution you; this is how I start my day. There is no expectation that anyone has to adopt or make all these practices work for them.

Pick what works for you if anything lands.

When I first open my eyes, I have trained my mind to offer gratitude for doing so.

Before I reach for my watch or phone, I offer three additional gratitudes. When we guide our minds to what is working in our lives, we immediately set the tone for how we will approach the day.

If you roll over and dread the day, you’ve guided your mindset into that framework. So, for me, I start with gratitude. It takes less than a minute.

I will add a quick practice in the mix if I’ve had a rough night’s sleep or the previous day was trying, and I need a bit more.

This practice is to place my hand over my heart and say to myself: I love you, Danielle. Doing your very best is all that is expected and required.

Of course, change this to your name and whatever sentence after the I love you. This practice is a beautiful way to connect with the self and offer reassurance, which builds peace, self-esteem, self-love, and confidence.  

From there, I get out of bed and head straight for the kitchen. Coffee is a must for me, but first, I drink at least 8 ounces of water. Rehydrating your system is a must. There is a connection between dehydration and mental fog. When we feel off, we cannot find our center. So, I begin with water before anything else.

With water and coffee in hand, I head to my meditation space. I have a dedicated space in my home that is strictly for meditation, journaling, self-reiki, prayer, all of my practices. It’s a space of calm for me, and because I’ve been engaging with this habit for so long, the minute I enter the room, I know it’s time to find my breath.

The first thing I do is set an intention for the day. The intention can be set through a frame of whatever is in my highest and greatest good, or it can be more detailed as to something I want to feel or accomplish that day. Setting your intention is a powerful tool to help elevate your already positively directed mindset. I always choose the words “I am” as the starting point, add my intention, and as a dear mentor of mine reminded me; you can always add the words “or something better” to the end. Because sometimes our intentions are short-sighted. Sometimes we know what we want but haven’t put complete thought behind it in a way that allows us to form an active and energetic intention.

With the intention stated aloud and rewritten in my journal, I turn to my breath.

Reiki and meditation are sacred practices for me. Meditation has guided me through my personal story, emotions, and release and moved me into the person I am today. I know that as I continue to practice, it will also guide me into the person I am growing to be. I love the practices so dearly; I elevated my professional certifications to become practitioners in both, as that is how much power I’ve witnessed both in myself and those I’ve worked with when it comes to creating peace. If you are interested in Reiki, you can find thousands of articles online. It’s a beautiful art.

As for meditation, if you have never tried meditation or are leery, I invite you to listen to Episode 67: The Secrets Behind Making Meditation Work for You. In the episode, I break down what meditation is, toss out the myths and go to the basics. And, if you are like so many that I’ve worked with that say meditation doesn’t work, well, I double invite you to listen and work toward a practice of progress, not a practice of perfection.

I practice self-Reiki first set to the background of music on Insight Timer. If you do not have the Insight Timer app, it’s a must! There are thousands of teachers on the app who have beautiful offerings, including yours truly.

I move from Reiki to meditation. From there, I pick up my pen. Journaling is the language of my soul. My morning pages provide me with a space to write down anything I may have felt or uncovered while in Reiki or meditation. It allows me to speak my mind in a way that others do not have to hold for me, and it gives me a clear understanding of where my mind is at that time. Of course, this is available to you, too.

If none of the other practices speak to you, try journaling. This doesn’t have to be long or complicated. It’s simply a way to meet yourself where you are in that moment, that day.

How am I feeling today is a beautiful journaling prompt that I invite you to try.

When I have finished journaling, I offer gratitude once more. It’s from here I’m ready to start my day.

Some days I don’t need all these practices or simply can’t fit them all in because of my schedule, so I intuitively allow myself to be guided into what I need. But there are two practices I never release—the first is meditation, and the second is journaling. This is a 7-day-a-week habit. It is where I find my most grounded peace. That may be different for you, but for me, that’s it.

As I start the day, I focus on keeping my focus. Admittedly, I used to rush from one thing to the next. There was a level of desperation to fit everything in, and honestly, that is a lack mentality. A lack mentality will always keep your peace and happiness at arm’s length. Keeping my focus is all about intentional action. This is one of the most fundamental things you can do for yourself beyond the practices. Being intentional comes back to the four questions I continual ask:

1.   What do I want?

2.   What do I need?

3.   How do I want to feel?

4.   How am I going to get there?

If you are struggling that day, you can also add: Will I give myself permission to take action?

These things are my framework for daily peace. I regulate my nervous system and release anything less than what feels good. That is peace.

I hope this gives you some tools and insight into how you can and must create a personal framework for yourself. There’s a beautiful shift in your life when you engage in your life, make an effort, take action, be still, and most importantly, take care of yourself on every level. So, I’ll leave with a few questions. The first is: are you fully engaging in your life? And the second is: Is it because you do not have a framework?

Thank you so much for the question and the space to share my practices. I challenge you to find the framework that helps elevate and reset your mindset.   

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