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Did ya hear?! My brand NEW course, Stress Less + Learn To Meditate is LIVE!
Recently I hosted a free masterclass covering my BEST tips for an epic morning and evening routine, both of which only take 15 MINUTES.
Did you attend?! If so, this will be a fantastic refresher!
I wasn't always this calm, happy and GRATEFUL.
In fact, just a few years ago, I was stressed to the max, hooked up to an ECG scanner at my doctor’s office and having panic attacks while teaching.
I knew something had to give, and after my doctor earnestly reminded me that “you get one body, Marie. Take care of it.” I knew I had to take action and change course.
I’d heard of meditation, but wasn’t really sure how effective it could be. I also had 72 thoughts a minute, so I didn’t think I’d be physically able to sit in stillness.
I was committed to feeling better though, so I went home and downloaded a meditation app and I put the timer function on for 2 minutes.
Those first 2 minutes were HELL. Every laundry list item I’d ever bottled up in my brain came flooding out and I found it really challenging to sit still for those 2 minutes. I had total squirrel brain and I thought “man I suck at meditating. I have way too many thoughts for this.”
But again, I was committed, and I knew enough about trying new things to understand that anything new could be uncomfortable and hard at first until it became a habit.
So I stuck with it.
And then 2 minutes turned to 3. And then 5. And then 8. And then 13. And for the last few years, I’ve been comfortably meditating for 20-30 minutes each morning.
Why do I bring up meditation? Because when I implemented my morning meditation, STUFF started coming up for me. Old hurts, traumas, to-do lists, mental baggage. Things that I had successfully (or not so successfully?) repressed for years.
And I needed a way to get it up and out of my brain so I could clear some space to think and just be. So I could process and let go of these thoughts. I was feeling overwhelmed all the time and I had a feeling it had something to do with all of these thoughts and stories jumbling around in my brain.
So I grabbed a journal and I started practicing what I now call my morning pages, or “garbage dump for my mind” each morning before my meditation.
This combo of meditation and journaling really started to work wonders for me, but something was still missing and I still felt stressed out and wound up at the end of each day, so much so that sleeping for more than 2-3 consecutive hours per night without waking was a good day.
So I started studying sleep, different nutrition protocols, performance books, etc. I wanted to learn the research, so that I could implement the solution and feel better.
And many of them suggested that getting just 5 minutes of sunlight on your face first thing in the morning after you wake up can actually help to correct your circadian rhythm (or the internal clock that tells us when to wake and when to sleep, which has been royally messed up by all the screens we look at and caffeine we drink throughout the day) AND the studies also showed that sunlight in the morning can in fact help us sleep better at night.
Go figure, sunlight first thing can help me sleep better at night? And then I dove deeper, and further studies showed that getting sunlight AND moving our bodies first thing (with a walk, yoga, stretching, dance party in your kitchen, etc.) could be massively beneficial healthwise.
So I implemented the sunlight and the movement into my new morning routine as well. It took some time to figure out what order to do the things in, and I didn’t have a ton of time in the morning to do this before heading off to teach for the day, but not long after I started practicing what I now call “the 3 keys”, that take just 15 minutes btw. I started to feel better.
I noticed I was calmer, less reactive.
I was more creative and productive.
I was less weepy and overwhelmed.
And then one day, after practicing my morning routine for some time, I just started to feel better.
This is my intention with this content, to bring to you the EXACT morning and evening routines that I personally practice, that are backed by current science, so that you may add some simple tools to your toolbox on your journey to improved health, wellness and wellbeing.
Starting with a solid 15 minute morning and evening routine to reduce stress and increase joy in your life.
This episode covers morning routines, evening routines, we will do a 5 minute guided meditation together and I'll also share about my new course at the end!
One of the reasons I am SO passionate that you join my Stress Less + Learn To Meditate course / community is that I don't want this to be just another blog post or podcast you listen to, think "oh, that's good info! I should try that!" and then never implement it for yourself. By investing a small amount in the course, not only will you get the exact WHY and HOW TO, you'll also be getting FREE ACCOUNTABILITY to help you actually implement what you've learned! That is priceless.
Getting my Lifestyle Meditation Teacher Certification in 2018 was initially just an investment I made in my own personal development to deepen my understanding of meditation.
It's turned into a full blown passion of mine to PAY THIS FORWARD to other stressed, busy, anxious, overwhelmed humans so they can STRESS LESS and CALM THEIR BRAINS.
STRESS LESS + LEARN TO MEDITATE Is a simple, 3 module course that will teach you the science behind stress and meditation, debunk what meditation actually is and will teach you HOW to implement (and stick with) a daily practice that serves you long term! You'll also get access to a guided meditation audio library, 30 day progress tracker, my free Stress Less 3wk PDF Journal and the supportive Stress Less FB Community for further support!
I hope this was helpful!! Do me a solid if so? Take 2 minutes and leave me an honest comment and 5 star review here on iTunes? It helps me get the podcast into the ears of more awesome people just like you! Or simply share this blog post on your social or email it to a friend who could benefit!
Are we connected on Instagram? Come hang out @mariebarkerwellness!
I'm on my stories allll day long most days!
PS - Got questions about the Stress Less Course? Shoot me an email! I'd love to chat about it!
Always in your corner,
Marie