Benjamin Spall and Michael Xander interviewed 64 individuals to get them to spill the beans on “My Morning Routine”. So, each interview is written in a straightforward question-and-answer format, in which you can hear the interviewee’s inner voice. The authors also curated the interviews into useful categories, such as Evening Routine, Travelling, and Exercise, so that you can immediately dive into the area that you want to learn more. They included a list of insights and tips - interspersed with their interviewees’ lived experiences - so that you can gather ideas about how to incorporate some of these habits. Remember, routines are an iterative process.
I think it’s useful to read the book in one go because doing so would help you to discern patterns. Very soon, I realised that the one thing I’m not doing for my morning routine is meditation. Actually, I get my students to do mindfulness exercises at the start of the day for certain years. Consistently enough that I dare to write about nurturing centered children in my performance reviews. So, I believe in the power of feeling in tune with your emotions and gravitating towards a calm inner core.
But ironically, I never practise meditation in my daily life. Mainly because that 15 mins of Netflix time I get while folding laundry every morning just means too much to me to sacrifice. My TV dilemma is aggravated by the fact that the latest season of Survivor is showing on Channel 5. Between “stifling” meditation and mind-numbing entertainment, which do you think I would choose? Entertainment, of course!
Still, meditation kept cropping up. Eventually, I downloaded Headspace (because it’s featured on Netflix) and 10% Happier (because one interviewee uses it). My plan is to try out mediation. Maybe I will reap the benefits of a research study conducted by Richard Davidson. He found out that experienced monks who meditated regularly on unconditional loving-kindness and compassion generated gamma waves - the type involved in higher brain processes like perception and consciousness. Geez, I don’t know what the hell gamma waves really mean, but I want me some of those!