21 Calming Morning Routine Ideas You Can Do In 10 Minutes Or Less

What you do immediately after you wake up in the morning sets the tone for the entirety of your day.
But, if you’re not a morning person (like me 😁), you don’t have the energy to do a 25-step morning routine.
Or maybe you are a morning person and you do have energy, but you don’t have the time to do a 25-step routine because you have other things to do like…work…and life.
But just because you don’t have time for an extensive morning routine, doesn’t mean that you should do nothing and forego the benefits of morning rituals.
I’ve found that when I start my days with intentional practices designed to center me and prime my mind and body, I have much better, much calmer, much more productive days than if I were to just roll out of bed.
Here are 17 calming morning routine ideas, divided into 3 core categories, that provide maximum benefit for minimum time commitment.
Each can be done in 10 minutes.
If you choose 3 of these (one from each category), you can have a still simple and attainable (yet effective) morning routine that only takes you a half hour.
It just might end up being the most important half hour of your day.
If you want to take more time, and create the feeling of a slow morning, you can stretch each individual activity to take longer, and be 20 minutes each to create your own calming morning power hour.
And if push comes to shove, and you’re super tight on time, you can always just pick one thing, and at the very least, you will have committed 10 minutes to starting your day off right.
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For the Mind
Journal
I think a lot of people get deterred from journaling because they don’t know what to write.
There is no right thing to write.
See what I did there…😉
You can think of morning journaling as a stream of consciousness exercise.
Brain dumping your thoughts is kind of like taking out the trash.
You’re getting the mental gunk out of the way to clear your mind so you can start your day mentally fresh and not anxious.
RELATED READ: 77 Personal Growth Journal Prompts to Get Unstuck
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Meditation
This is my favorite thing to do…that I don’t do often enough.
*Looks down at the floor in shame*
Similar to journaling, meditation is also like doing a brain dump and taking out the (mental) trash….except without writing things down.
Sitting still and observing your thoughts helps to slow them down, which of course in turn, makes you feel calmer.
Other calming morning routine ideas for the mind:
- Read
- Set intentions for the day
- Write your desires for the day
For the Mood
Affirmations
We can’t always control what thoughts pop into our heads.
Our brains are always running, and thoughts are always arising that may or may not be useful or positive.
The good thing about affirmations is that you can intentionally fill your mind with whatever thoughts you choose.
You can listen to affirmations, write affirmations, or stand in front of the mirror and say them aloud to yourself.
Breathwork
After having lived in Bali for over 2 years, I feel like breathwork is part of the digital nomad starter kit.
If you’re not doing breathwork, you have to at least talk about it to be taken seriously as a digital nomad.
But after actually having tried it, I’m sheepish to report that I actually kind of love it.
Look for youtube videos on pranayama breathing and the Wim Hoff technique.
Those are my personal faves.
I find breathwork to be both calming and energizing at the same time.
You’ll feel like a freak doing it, but will feel amazing afterwards.
Other calming morning routine ideas for your mood:
- Listen to instrumental music
- Gratitude journal
- Drink tea and do a tea ritual
- Drink coffee and do a coffee ritual
For the Body
Mindful shower
This can be hot if you want to relax.
Or cold…if you want to torture yourself. (Jk…kind of)
Cold showers are supposed to provide health benefits but some people also like them for the purpose of shocking them awake, or intentionally putting themselves through difficulty to train themselves to become comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Personally, if I’m going for a calming effect, I’ll take my shower warm, please.
But whether warm or cold, as you take a shower, do so undistracted, with no music, no podcast.
Focus on the experience of all your senses with the water.
Feel the sensation of the water running on your skin, hear the sounds, look at the droplets coming out of your shower head and dripping down the walls of your shower.
Fully immerse yourself in the experience and make it a meditation.

Get sunshine
I think I was a plant in a past life because I just love sunlight.
Sunlight is like happy pills for me.
It instantly makes me calm and makes me happy.
The best thing I love about mornings is opening the windows and letting the sunlight in.
Open the curtains and let that natural sunlight in, or better yet, get outside and bask in the sunlight as you walk.
Other calming morning routine ideas for the body:
- Stretch
- Yoga
- Drink a liter of water
- Do skincare routine
For Productivity
Tidy your space
When I was a child, I hated chores. As an adult, I find them…kind of soothing.
There’s something about the act of taking care of my space that just feels good.
And there’s something about taking time to straighten and organize and clean that puts me in a mental zone of zen.
Anything where I have to narrow my focus on just one thing I find is calming because my mind isn’t focused on so many distractions.
Plus, tidying your space (especially if you work from home a lot like me) is great for creating the ideal environment to get things done.
Plan your day
I usually like to do this the night before, but the morning of can also be a good time, depending on your preferences.
Either way, the end result is the same,
Having a clear idea of what I plan to do for the day calms me down so I can just focus on executing what I need to do instead of scrambling around trying to figure out what to do.
Other calming morning routine ideas for productivity:
- Review your vision board
- Review your goals
P.S. – If you need help setting goals, and making a clear path to the next level of every area of your life, check out my Dream Life Blueprint.
More Resources:
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Read or listen to my BOOK – The Illusion Of Impossible: 15 Powerful Principles to Overcome Limiting Beliefs, Unlock Your Potential, & Change Your Life
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