Let’s bring back low-pressure morning routines

Written by Rachel Wahba-Dunkley

I’ve recently taken on a new morning routine and I kinda love it. I may or may not be embracing my grandma era, and I may or may not be loving it. 🙂

Usually in my fuzzy grandma robe, I’ll head to my couch, take a few deep breaths, and settle into the moment. My phone is on DND (like it is for 90% of the day), I have lofi playing in the background, and I have a large window where I can look outside and see the leaves changing colors.

It’s lovely and sets the scene for a nice morning routine.

I love fall!


My morning routine typically consists of the following:

Making spearmint tea

If you have PCOS/PMOS or deal with constipation, or just simply like lovely flavors, then spearmint tea is where it’s at girl. It can help balance hormones, smooth tummy problems, and is filled with antioxidants! The minty-ness is not too intense, but just enough to wake up my taste buds. Sometimes I add hibiscus or lemon balm as well. (This is where I get my tea in case you’re wondering!)

Brain dump

Sometimes I want to write 10 emotion-filled pages, and sometimes I have a long list of random to-do’s and thoughts that just need to get out. The latter is where I find myself most mornings, so I opt for a brain dump type of journaling where I write a list of everything that pops into my head.

Yes, everything. There’s no rhyme or reason to it and there doesn’t need to be! The goal is to ease the mental tension in the beginning of my day, and writing things out is one way I like to do that.

Gratitude journaling

I have an interesting relationship with gratitude, like most children of immigrants do, where I’ve learned that anything remotely “negative”, even if it’s true, is unacceptable and a sign of being ungrateful. So when I started gratitude journaling, I was a bit hesitant because I was worried I’d slip back into that way of thinking.

But that hasn’t been the case, and here’s why - just like with the brain dump where I’m writing a list of everything that comes to mind, I do the same for gratitude journaling. I write down whatever comes to mind that I’m grateful for. I don’t attach value or moral judgment to how long or short the list is or if I thanked God “enough”, I simply just write whatever I feel grateful for in that moment.

Fun & cozy puzzles to wake up my brain

TikTok calls this “brain maxing” or “hobby maxing”, but essentially the idea is to wake up your brain and embrace your intellectual wellness - get the wheels turning, start critically thinking, and help your brain wake up. One thing that has helped me here is to take off the pressure to solve puzzles within a certain amount of time. My go-to’s are Magic Sort, a hidden objects game, and a Sudoku puzzle.

Do I love it when I solve a Sudoku puzzle in under 5 mins? Yes, but not to the point where I am less intelligent or worthy if I don’t. So I try to keep the main thing the main thing - the goal is to wake up and get the juices flowin’, not to be the next Sodoku olympian.

And then once I’m done, I head over to my office and get to work!

And I gotta say, one reason why I love my morning routine is that the pressure is low. Since I’m not a morning person, it doesn’t make sense for my devotional time to take place in the morning. Sometimes my brain dump or gratitude journaling turns into prayer, which is beautiful, but most of the time it doesn’t and that’s okay.

So this is your permission slip to have devotional time when it makes sense for you and your body’s rhythm, to allow yourself to wake up slowly to greet the day, and to savor the cozy moments that help you feel at ease and relaxed.💜

May your mornings be filled with peace, may your whole self wake up in an unhurried way, and may you feel God’s presence with you as soon as you wake.

Need more support? Lemme help you sis:

  • The Soft Place where you can journal with God without the pressure to be perfect

  • Righteous Rage Room where you can vent without getting all the spiritual bypassing comments

Rachel Wahba-Dunkley
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