Had a really good and deep sleep last night because my energy was just totally wiped out by 10pm!
[DAY 2 UPDATES]
Was up slightly earlier at 4.59am today to refresh myself and change out of my pyjamas.
Pocket #1 - MOVE
Skipping an intense workout and went for a 15 minutes Vinyasa Flow on my Yoga app. Not sweating buckets after the session but definitely quite sticky and get my heart rate up to low intensity level. I was going for Zumba and Pilates Reformer class later in the morning so I didn't want to overstrain my body.
Decided to have my quick shower first before moving on to Pocket #2 and also to avoid fighting for the toilet with my elder daughter.
Pocket #2 - REFLECT
Journal about my reflection on yesterday and how I could have reacted better through my common daily triggers. Sigh. Always a work-in-progress but I do see a sliver of light amidst the darkness. Briefly planned out my day and by now, I learn to keep things more flexible and not load myself with 200 tasks.
Pocket #3 - GROW
Continued to read "In Love with the World" by Mingyur Rinpoche and trying to absorb his sharing of the concept of impermanence and how this awareness can help us let go of so many things in life to give us inner peace. Just let things be.
"Once we move from the belief that things are unchanging to the experience that everything is transitory, the tension between our expectations and reality as-it-is begins to dissolve; then we can know that the disturbance of this moment will pass, and that if we stay with recognition of awareness, the problem will transform on its own. It doesn't need any help from us in order to move on. The inherent nature of everything is change. It's our preoccupation with a problem that nails it in place." - Mingyur Rinpoche, In Love With the World
Will definitely need a lot of practice to internalise this teaching!
Some photo updates:
My thoughts after Day 2:
Things just got a tad easier with my preparation the night before. And I am reminding myself to keep things flexible and follow the flow. There is no need to be so precise and particular about how I spend every single minute and second.
I like the fact that I have worked out, journaled, read and showered before the rest of the family is up. It fills my cup and gets me ready for the day.
The only thing is the sustainability of this for my energy level. I definitely would need an afternoon nap to recuperate before I can continue with the rest of the day. And I get hungry more often throughout the day. For those of you working full-time, you might want to think of how sustainable this would work for you. Honestly, the 5AM Club is just an idea to make use of the quiet moments in the morning to enrich your body and mind. You could tweak it to 6AM, no biggie. The whole point is to be ready for the day, rather than haphazardly trying to get things together right from your waking moment. The readiness really made a huge difference to my mindset. It fills me with a sense of competency. I have been wanting to find time to read consistently this year, so Pocket #3 really works for me. If you can't really care for that, feel free to change out how you want to spend your quiet morning to fill your cup and get ready for the day.
Right now, I'm thinking of collating some of the resources I use for my morning exercise routine. Some of them can be done in the comfort of home and they are all things that are very achievable. You can just pick and choose what works best for you. My mum once told me that exercising is like savings. When you get older, you can then afford to slowly withdraw from these savings. Ever since I hit 40, pains and aches in all possible areas start surfacing. THIS has to be the time I start exercising to keep fit and protect my "savings". I hope you will find the resources useful once I have collated them!
Meanwhile, stay tuned for Day 3 updates and remember:
“All change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.” -Robin Sharma, The 5AM Club