WAKE UP WORD

You might be familiar with terms like intention, sankalpa, or mantra. The wake up word is a similar practice.

Before you get out of bed in the morning, choose one word.

Don’t think too hard, you just woke up! Listen in and see what word comes to you. That’s all. Choose the word and get up to greet the morning. Think of it as a lighthouse to ground you and help you navigate the day.

The wake up word can serve different purposes for different people or even for you on different days. It can serve as a reminder of what’s important to you today, how you want to feel, what you want to focus on, a goal, an aim, a prayer, an inspiration.

It’s your word. No one else needs to know it. You can hold it close to you or you can share it with the world. It can be different every single day. Or maybe you will keep circling back to the same word for while. Make it your own practice.

It’s very likely that you will forget your wake up word completely once the day gets started. I do promise you though that this simple practice will have a positive ripple effect on your life.

And if you do it for no other reason than to help get yourself out of bed in the morning, I believe that will make it 100% worth it. That’s why I started using it!

The wake up word originated for me during quarantine.

I regularly use the practices I mentioned earlier (intentions, sankalpas, mantras), but choosing a word while lying in bed in the morning is a practice that I started at the beginning of quarantine, and have continued ever since (can’t stop, won’t stop!)

A couple of weeks into stay-at-home life, I started feeling a little bit like I was in the movie “Groundhog Day”. Maybe you did too? I would wake up with a twinge of emptiness, a bit of that doom and gloom that could lead me down a dark spiral of negative thinking before my eyes were even fully open. It made it hard to get out of bed.

I actually have a pretty extensive morning routine that starts the minute my feet touch the floor (I’ll share that in a future post) but just getting to the starting point was feeling tough. Until I started using the wake up word. GAME CHANGER.

Choosing a word right after waking up immediately blocks any negative, depress-y thoughts and puts me into an optimistic, positive, growth mindset.

Our brains are wired toward the negative, to look out for danger in order to protect us, from say, a wild beast. Such good intentions, brain! We do need a little bit of stress to get out of bed in the morning. But when we are in a heightened state of worry and uncertainty, like say a global pandemic, our perception of danger is elevated, our stress hormones are running high. So, we absolutely need to find practices and techniques to combat this instinctual physiological and psychological stress response.

Managing stress and promoting happiness is a discipline. It takes consistent attention and commitment. And it’s worth it. Studies show that positive people live longer and are happier.

Benefits of using a wake up word (why it is a little big of morning magic):

• Set a tone for your day.

• Tune into your mental, emotional and physical needs.

• Tap into your intuition. You know what you need more than anyone.

• Start the day with this act of personal creation before you begin consuming from outside forces.

• Shift your mindset throughout the day.

• Stay focused on your goals and values.

• Cultivate self-awareness and mindfulness.

• Remember what is important to you.

• Aid in decision making. If your word is “fun” and later in the day you are faced with an option to do something that feels the opposite of “fun”, maybe you will be more likely to have the courage to say no to that.

• Motivation. Throughout the day you may find yourself seeking out activities that will help honor your wake up word. If your word is “ease” maybe you will find yourself letting go of tension in your shoulders and tummy throughout the day. If your word is “generous” you might find yourself looking into ways to give back to communities you love or cooking a nourishing meal for yourself. Maybe it’s “strong” and you finally get yourself through that 20 minute youtube workout and then make time to call and support a friend who is going through a tough time.

Wake Up Word examples:

• ease

• love

• soft

• peace

• nourish

• fun

• happy

• strong

• compassion

• focus

• gentle

• kind

• joy

What helps you get out of bed in the morning?

Let me know if you try this practice and what words come up for you!