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    Miracle Mornings anyone?

    Have any of you come across or even tried Miracle Mornings? I stumbled upon the concept recently when I was watching Youtube videos on journalling. One lady had a chart in her journal to keep track of her miracle mornings and kept mentioning this 'amazing routine' that piqued my curiosity. It turns out that it is based on a book written by a guy called Hal Elrod and is a morning routine that is meant to improve your productiveness and general well-being. I watched a talk by Hal and was intrigued by the concept, but thought it sounded like another overly ambitious routine that no one would be able to stick to realistically long term. Seeing as I was on annual leave so had time to myself in the mornings, I figured it wouldn't hurt to at least give it a shot.

    Maybe it helps that the Miracle Morning includes activities that I already did, or at least wanted to do every day, but I very quickly became hooked on the routine and have now done it for 10 days straight without missing a single day. That means I have meditated for 10 days in a row which could be a record for me, I have worked out for 10 days in a row and in that short time I've seen massive improvements to my strength, and I've done my yoga stretches for 10 days in a row, and my flexibility (my keyword for 2017), has come along so much that I can get my head to my knees again, which I haven't been able to do for quite a few years now! It feels great to know that all these little things are out of the way before my day really starts.

    It's only been 10 days, but I really do feel that I've got more done in my days and have heaps more energy and a general sense of well-being.

    For those who haven't heard of the routine, this video gives a quick run down of it;



    Or if you have time to spare, you can hear the talk by the author that got me interested;



    Hal says that the first 10 days are the hardest, but I didn't find that at all. My concern is that the novelty will wear off soon. I've already had a couple of days where I didn't feel quite so uplifted after my routine. I thought if I posted here, maybe I could find others who do, or are interested in trying, Miracle Mornings so we can share our experiences and tips. That way, I might feel accountable and be more motivated to keep this up.

    Almost every video I've seen says that it 'should only take around an hour', which frustrates me a little because there's no way I can squeeze all 6 activities into an hour. It takes me the best part of 30 minutes just for the meditation, affirmations and visualisations (although I do a chakra opening and then 10-15 minutes of silent meditation). I can only assume that most people only spend 5 minutes in meditation, because they somehow have time for 30 minute jogs or workouts (my workout is just 10 minutes and half of that is yoga) and to read 10 pages of a book all in their little hour! I can't read 10 pages either. That's INSANE if you're trying to cram it all into 60 minutes! 3 pages is about my norm, although I DO jot down notes in the journalling section to help retain what I read. I'd love it to take just one hour, but I need 70-80 minutes (although there's a speed version I have that only takes me 15 minutes; based on Hal's '6 minute version' which is also BS!

    So yeah, please let me know if you also do or have tried this morning routine and what you have found.
    夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

    #2
    I have tried many morning routines. Varying degrees of success. I dunno how I'm meant to wake up an hr earlier though, even if i could fit all that in
    ThorSon's milkshake brings all the PF girls to the yard - Volcaniclastic

    RIP

    I have never been across the way
    Seen the desert and the birds
    You cut your hair short
    Like a shush to an insult
    The world had been yelling
    Since the day you were born
    Revolting with anger
    While it smiled like it was cute
    That everything was shit.

    - J. Wylder

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Miracle Mornings anyone?

      Originally posted by Heka View Post
      I have tried many morning routines. Varying degrees of success. I dunno how I'm meant to wake up an hr earlier though, even if i could fit all that in
      Yeah, I was thinking that too. I would definitely try to keep this up if I went to day shift, but it will be harder I'm sure.

      Mind you, with that said, I had an appointment at the hospital on Wednesday at 9am and woke at 6:30 with no problems at all. I'm back to work tonight, but have gardening group this morning so again, I have been up since 6.30 (it's 7.50 now). As I'm getting up earlier on my days off anyway, I'm just going to bed before 11. My days are pretty packed so I'm ready for my sleep by about 10.30. Still, whether or not I could keep that up long term remains to be seen. It's likely that my place won't need a night shift for much longer though, and I've always been a but apprehensive about early starts again. I hate that feeling of not wanting to get out of bed and I never have that with the nights. I have a feeling that discovering miracle mornings might be my guides' way of preparing me so that day shifts don't kill me!

      I too tried many routines in the past. I'm pretty disciplined by nature, but I still never really stick it out. This routine feels different though. Might just be that I found the right one for me though.
      Last edited by Jembru; 09 Mar 2017, 23:55.
      夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Jembru View Post

        Yeah, I was thinking that too. I would definitely try to keep this up if I went to day shift, but it will be harder I'm sure.

        Mind you, with that said, I had an appointment at the hospital on Wednesday at 9am and woke at 6:30 with no problems at all. I'm back to work tonight, but have gardening group this morning so again, I have been up since 6.30 (it's 7.50 now). As I'm getting up earlier on my days off anyway, I'm just going to bed before 11. My days are pretty packed so I'm ready for my sleep by about 10.30. Still, whether or not I could keep that up long term remains to be seen. It's likely that my place won't need a night shift for much longer though, and I've always been a but apprehensive about early starts again. I hate that feeling of not wanting to get out of bed and I never have that with the nights. I have a feeling that discovering miracle mornings might be my guides' way of preparing me so that day shifts don't kill me!

        I too tried many routines in the past. I'm pretty disciplined by nature, but I still never really stick it out. This routine feels different though. Might just be that I found the right one for me though.
        I am really particular about getting to bed on time, like 9.30-10pm. But every night i just lay there awake for hours, then I'm too tired for mornings.

        I work from 8.30 two mornings, and those days I can get up before 7 usually without a problem. But the other 5 days a week are all over the place.

        Often i wake up, either to an alarm or naturally, at a reasonable hr, but i just wake up tired and roll over. It never makes me feel better, but getting up the first time is still harder.
        ThorSon's milkshake brings all the PF girls to the yard - Volcaniclastic

        RIP

        I have never been across the way
        Seen the desert and the birds
        You cut your hair short
        Like a shush to an insult
        The world had been yelling
        Since the day you were born
        Revolting with anger
        While it smiled like it was cute
        That everything was shit.

        - J. Wylder

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Miracle Mornings anyone?

          Like I say, I honestly don't know if I'd keep this up long term, but so far despite me flipping constantly from nocturnal to diurnal living, it is working pretty well. Ask me again when I'm on permanent day shifts with 8am starts and 10pm finishes though.

          For me, the tip of having water by your bed works very well. Alarm goes off, I sit up, then sip my water for a few minutes while listening to uplifting music on my phone.

          I really just started this in the hopes that someone else does this because I'm scared that the novelty will wear off soon. I have found my motivation to stick at it though.

          Last night I stumbled upon a couple of Ted talks buy a guy called Daniel Amen. He works for a project that looks at the physical structure of the brain in order to treat psychological issues. He shows you images of unhealthy brains and it's horrible. They're like a bath ball when it starts fizzing and you get those big ugly holes all over it. Brain health is MASSIVELY important to me. He talks about the causes of this damage and its impact on mood, memory and even personality. It's all the things you'd expect; poor diet, lack of exercise, excessive drinking and so on. Maybe less obvious is the effect on the brain of negative internal chat.

          Amazingly, he showed brains before and after making lifestyle changes and the holes can be repaired and full function can return! Those changes include meditation (silence) keeping a gratitude journal (scribing) learning new things (reading) and regular exercise (exercise). Miracle Mornings are physically changing the structure of my brain!!

          That is such powerful motivation to keep going with this. It has shocked me into reassessing my alcohol consumption too. He showed an alcoholic's brain and it's no wonder the side effects of too much alcohol are low mood and memory loss. I'd already cut down, although it's crept up again lately. This is something I definitely want to get a handle on. I don't want a brain like a pumice stone!!!
          夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

          Comment


            #6
            I need to find time to look into this miracle mornings stuff Jem. Keep on me, I'll get there hha.
            ThorSon's milkshake brings all the PF girls to the yard - Volcaniclastic

            RIP

            I have never been across the way
            Seen the desert and the birds
            You cut your hair short
            Like a shush to an insult
            The world had been yelling
            Since the day you were born
            Revolting with anger
            While it smiled like it was cute
            That everything was shit.

            - J. Wylder

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Miracle Mornings anyone?

              Oh yeah, it never really occurred to me that not everyone likes to watch videos so only a fraction of the people looking at this thread will have a clue what Miracle Mornings actually look like! I guess it might keep me motivated if I share my own routine (everyone's is different).

              So Hal uses the acronym 'SAVERS' to help you remember the 6 activities, although it is up to the individual what order they do these in.

              S = Silence. This is usually meditation, although many people simply prayer during this stage (I guess the ones going for 30 minute runs!). I of course meditate, seeing as it's one of the things I was already trying to stick to daily. I was beginning with a chakra visualisation with short affirmations for each one, but this was making the routine too long so I'm only doing that on days when I can dedicate more time to my routine. Instead I just do some deep breathing and then 10 minutes or so of silent meditation.
              A = Affirmations. I have these written on my wall in my meditation corner. I like to repeat them a few times but all jumbled up so that I'm bouncing from one to another in no particular order until I've covered each at least 3 times. I actually do this after the next activity. I've heard that some people say them in the shower, or play them on their music device of choice while out jogging to help save time.
              V = Visualisation. I've mentioned in one of my blog posts that I accidentally manifested a coffee machine through visualisation so already believed in its potential. I just wasn't doing it as often as I'd have liked. I use the same technique as I was using when I manifested the coffee machine (okay, I also manifested a better job for JP, private Japanese tuition, and an end to my mum's financial problems, but the coffee machine amused me the most), that is, imagining an idealised day in my future life, but feeling it as though it is happening to me right now.
              E = Exercise. When I decided to stop pushing my body so hard and to feed it properly, I lost momentum when it comes to exercise. A little every day just seemed pointless so it was easy to skip it. However, after just a few days of these miracle mornings, I could really feel my stomach muscles starting to ache, so the short routine is definitely doing something. I start off with a few yoga poses aimed at building up my flexibility. Then I do a few sets of squat jumps, sit ups and planks. I've decided to alternate this with jogging (on the spot/in place, as I can't run out doors) to give my body recovery time, but today was my first jogging day.
              R = Reading. You're meant to read something uplifting or educational. I know a lot of people I see talking about their routines on Youtube say they read the Bible or other religious text. I was reading Witchrafting by Phyllus Currott, but my Caroline Myss book came and so I'm reading that now. Hal suggests reading around 10 pages, but as I read at speaking speed, 10 pages would add an extra 20 minutes or more to my routine, so it's more like 3 or 4 pages. I have my morning cuppa at this point in the routine too.
              S = Scribing. So writing then. I begin by filling in a week-to-view planner with key points from what I just read, any dreams I had and any notes I want to make about my routine. I then fill in a gratitude journal, and finally, I make my to-do-list for my day ahead.

              That's all there is to it. You can tweak these steps in any way you like so that your Miracle Morning routine is uniquely yours.

              From hearing the testimonies of those who use the routine but have regular 9-5 jobs and are getting up at 5am to do the routine, the value is in the fact that your routine is self-indulgent. It's your special time so you wake up not dreading the busy day ahead, but looking forward to the 'you time' you're about to enjoy. I guess I feel this too, but I already woke 4-5 hours before I had to leave for work so that's not so unusual a feeling. For me, the magic is in knowing before my day has even started, that I've already done things that are valuable for my health and well-being. So no matter how the rest of the day turns out, I've been productive!
              夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

              Comment


                #8
                I do want to watch the video haha just time. And remembering to do it.

                Ooh SAVERS thats handy...
                ThorSon's milkshake brings all the PF girls to the yard - Volcaniclastic

                RIP

                I have never been across the way
                Seen the desert and the birds
                You cut your hair short
                Like a shush to an insult
                The world had been yelling
                Since the day you were born
                Revolting with anger
                While it smiled like it was cute
                That everything was shit.

                - J. Wylder

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Miracle Mornings anyone?

                  Originally posted by Jembru View Post
                  Last night I stumbled upon a couple of Ted talks buy a guy called Daniel Amen. He works for a project that looks at the physical structure of the brain in order to treat psychological issues. He shows you images of unhealthy brains and it's horrible. They're like a bath ball when it starts fizzing and you get those big ugly holes all over it. Brain health is MASSIVELY important to me. He talks about the causes of this damage and its impact on mood, memory and even personality. It's all the things you'd expect; poor diet, lack of exercise, excessive drinking and so on. Maybe less obvious is the effect on the brain of negative internal chat.
                  So... If you think this is working for you, good and by all means, keep it up...but...don't do is because of this guy. I've looked at his work, and similar work done by others, and his results have been heavily criticized as being cherry-picked, and in a real, blind study, you don't get brain scan results that are that clear. I looked at him after seeing him touted for his work on ADHD from a lay organization, but from an evidenced-based medicine perspective, its not pretty.

                  The problem is that the technology isn't even sensitive enough to be used diagnostically, IF we even knew what a specific scan meant...and we don't...the idea of depressed people have less brain activity *here* or *there* in the brain is based on a statistical analysis of an "average" between the two groups (or 4, or 6, etc) and you can create this sort of artifact from any set of sampling. I could, for example, sort people into a 5 groups based on psychiatric diagnosis and ask them a series of questions on things like "what is your favorite color?" and "what shoe do you put on first?" and statistically analyze the results and then apply those results to people as a diagnostic method, and end up with things like "football fans that are right handed and are attracted to the color red have anger issues" or "chess fans that show an affinity for regularly repeating patters over irregular random ones have OCD." I guarantee people would go out and take my "personality inventory-based psychological profiling" and buy into it hook, line, and sinker, as long as I could say something like "studies show" in front of it.

                  We, as human beings are wired to *like* explanations like this, its fulfilling/providing a just-so story that we already have a preconceived bias of in our mind---if only I could be perfectly organized, be perfectly aligned with my chakras, exercise every day and eat right, whatever, that we can fix everything (or almost everything) that we perceive is wrong with us. But the scientific reality of things is that just don't know enough about how the brain works yet. Sure, one day, maybe fMRI and other brain scans will be able to be used as a form of diagnostic criteria, but there's a whole lot that needs to be done before anyone can make that claim. Wired has a really good article on this.

                  "Running large numbers of statistical tests routinely causes large numbers of randomly encountered purported statistical abnormalities' that are of no clinical significance." The only way to see whether these so-called profiles are valid is to choose one derived from such studies and then see if the profile actually correlates with a diagnosis. The best study along these lines couldn't establish a correlation. (source)
                  ....erm, sorry for that derail, I actually had a normal post I wanted to post and got sidetracked.

                  With that being said, if anyone is interested, we can always move this and make it its own thread.
                  Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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                    #10
                    Re: Miracle Mornings anyone?

                    Originally posted by Jembru View Post
                    So Hal uses the acronym 'SAVERS' to help you remember the 6 activities, although it is up to the individual what order they do these in.
                    Some of this looks like lectio divina, a monastic tradition that comes from Catholicism (I do a modified sort of lectio divina).
                    Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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                      #11
                      Re: Miracle Mornings anyone?

                      Well, I've succeeded in the '30 day challenge' (to keep up the routine for 30 days straight), although I must be honest and say I did a watered down version on a couple of days.

                      In the end I dropped the reading section. I'm just too slow so instead I read before bed. I've had trouble sleeping and read that reading in bed helps to make you sleepy so it seemed like a logical time to do it anyway. I still write bullet points of what I've read in the scribing section, I just sometimes have to jog my memory because it was 8 hours ago! removing the reading has freed up more time for yoga so I can now do a short routine on top of the basic stretches I was doing before!

                      I really do feel more productive. Maybe I'm just caught up in the hysteria (there's a massive community built around it), but I've done things like open high interest savings accounts, taking out a credit card because I have no credit history (literally paying off my balance on the same day I spend on it though, I just want to play credit card stepping stones until I qualify for the ones that pay you interest on spends!). I've fixed little DIY jobs around the flat and started taking positive steps towards my future goal of quitting my job and working in translation! I'm even teaching myself the basics of video editing. I'm not sure if anyone remembers but I mentioned once on here that I'd like to do a blog/vlog about paganism for a Japanese audience. I've expanded that idea a little, although I'd rather keep the details to myself for now, but the point is that rather than think 'someday it would be nice if...' I'm thinking, 'What can I do today that will inch me towards that goal?'

                      For some reason I'm drinking more water too. I think because I have a flask by my bed to sip when I wake up. I somehow got into the habit of carrying it around with me and sipping throughout the day.

                      It hasn't been all great though. From the very first day I started the MM routine, I have been waking up after just a few hours and then struggling to fall back to sleep. I put it down to excitement of the new the routine but it hasn't passed. Whether day or night, I'm waking at around 3 and then lying awake (not every night, but often enough for it to be a problem). Mind you, I did learn about the stages of sleep so I could identify when in my sleep cycle I'm waking. I also learned some cool breathing techniques to help you to get off to sleep that also happen to be pretty effective for getting into a meditative state. So silver linings and all that >.<


                      Originally posted by thalassa View Post
                      So... If you think this is working for you, good and by all means, keep it up...but...don't do is because of this guy.

                      So the few glasses of wine I have every couple days isn't making my brain look like a lump of dead coral? That's a relief at least.

                      That said, even if the science isn't sound (what, a scientist cherry picking data?? Surely not?? I think it was actually you who told me about the issue of publication bias, and I've since been shocked by how much the pharmaceutical industry pushes medications like statins that have the same efficacy as placebos with potentially harmful side effects -I'm so suspicious of evidence based medicine now and as this guy is threatening to derail an extremely lucrative branch of the medical profession, it doesn't surprise me that people were so quick to debunk him for doing the exact same cherry picking of data that every other money-grabbing quack in the profession does!), his advice seems to meld with common thought at least so is probably still having a positive impact on people, even if the science is poor.

                      I mean, we kinda all know at this stage that we need to move more, eat less junk and more plant-based foods, get plenty sleep and that smoking and excessive drinking probably won't do our bodies any favours! The problem is that the average person doesn't want to hear that. They want a magic pill to make all their problems go away. For as long as the demand is there, people will keep pushing their snake oil. The weird thing about Amen is that he charges people a fortune to then tell them to move more, eat less junk, eat more veg... blah blah.. he's not even offering them a magic pill. Genius!!

                      A side note; until I started looking into the darker side of medicine, I had no idea that in the States you get TV commercials pushing prescription-only medications. That is such an alien concept to me as a Brit. 'Ask your doctor about doesntdojackadine now!!'
                      Last edited by Jembru; 29 Mar 2017, 19:31.
                      夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Miracle Mornings anyone?

                        Originally posted by Jembru View Post

                        So the few glasses of wine I have every couple days isn't making my brain look like a lump of dead coral? That's a relief at least.
                        Lol!


                        That said, even if the science isn't sound (what, a scientist cherry picking data?? Surely not?? I think it was actually you who told me about the issue of publication bias, and I've since been shocked by how much the pharmaceutical industry pushes medications like statins that have the same efficacy as placebos with potentially harmful side effects -I'm so suspicious of evidence based medicine now and as this guy is threatening to derail an extremely lucrative branch of the medical profession, it doesn't surprise me that people were so quick to debunk him for doing the exact same cherry picking of data that every other money-grabbing quack in the profession does!), his advice seems to meld with common thought at least so is probably still having a positive impact on people, even if the science is poor.
                        ...this isn't coming from big pharma though (and Amen is hardly innocent of making money off of marketing pill popping to people looking for hope in a bottle), its coming from multiple reputable neurology and neurodevelopment researchers and laboratories that want to use this technology but its not ready yet. Its why its necessary to look at the source and the study methodology. Theirs is better...his is like a cold read from a fake psychic, and hey I can sell you some vitamins for $$$ that will fix all your problems.
                        Last edited by thalassa; 30 Mar 2017, 03:58.
                        Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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