5 Ten-Minute Morning Routine Ideas for Stay at Home Moms

Do you long to pursue a slower lifestyle, but worry that you don't have enough time to make it work? I suspect this is a common reason slow living remains in the wish stage.

Slow down? I don't get enough done as it is!

Slow living asks you to make more time for what matters most. But what if it feels like there's no way you can do that right now?

It's always my suggestion that you start small and make gradual changes. It creating a slower lifestyle is going to be possible, this is likely to be the easiest way to find out and then, to do so.

And speaking of wishes long deferred, let's look at morning routines. Maybe your dream morning routine would require a lot more time than you have to spare, as a busy stay at home mom.

But what if you only had to find ten minutes? Here are 5 ideas for a ten-minute morning routine for moms, and one way to create a morning routine that combines them...

5 Ideas for Creating a 10-Minute
Morning Meditation Routine

As an added bonus to immersing myself in the moment, meditating for 10 minutes a day helped me develop a writing habit, a reading habit, a journaling habit, and a happier and healthier life. Simply put, meditation changed my life — and it could change yours too.
– Blake Powell in The Mission, Medium.com

I know. I have heard it, too. That if you really want to benefit from creating a meditation practice, you’ll need more time.

But as stay at home moms, we may not have more time. Should we give up and call it a day? I don’t think so.

You deserve to take time each day to get grounded and centered. Even if you only have ten minutes.

Here's how...

(1) The easiest way might be to simply sit quietly for ten minutes, focusing on breathing deeply and slowly.

(2) You also could meditate on chosen words or phrases, or affirmations, like “breathing in peace,” or “I am centered and grounded,” or “God is with me.”

(3) Your ten-minute meditation could be a walking meditation, spent quietly observing nature.

(4) You could use a guided meditation that is only ten minutes long.

(5) You might spend your ten-minute meditation imagining a peaceful scene, and picturing yourself there. If the weather outside is frightful, staying in and imagining it, instead, might be better.

There are endless variations on these ideas and other ones you can try. The main thing to know is that you don’t have to give up on meditating just because you don’t have much time.

Taking time out to pause during a busy morning will always be a good idea even if that amount of time is short.

And on the weekend, you can give yourself more time to meditate.

On a slow lifestyle Saturday, you could meditate on an intention you have set for your life, and give yourself time to imagine it manifesting, taking in every detail you can think of and really placing yourself there, right in the middle of it.

On your Self Care Sunday, you could meditate on a scene from the past week, taking the time to imagine and practice endless variations of how it could have gone differently.

What if I had said that, instead? Or, what if I had felt more confident, peaceful, or empowered?

Telling yourself a better version of the story and practicing it in meditation may help you create different outcomes in situations that come up in the future.

Or, you can take time during your Sunday morning meditation to dream up everything you want to experience during the following week. Let yourself see and feel it, as you imagine your intentions for the week coming true.

What do you hope will be your best moments in the week to come?

How might you sail through any challenges that come your way?

Giving yourself more time to meditate each weekend gives you the benefit of longer meditation times on days when you’re more likely to find the time to do it. And to enjoy it.

7 Ideas for Creating a 10-Minute Morning Quiet Time Retreat

First, find a place for some quiet and then make yourself go there. It could be a place outdoors, a secluded room in your house, or even a quiet walk in the neighbourhood. The best part about the ten minutes is that it can be anything. During my brief time on the bench I did an examen. You could sit in silence, do centering prayer, ask God a question, or just vent to God.
– Ten Minute Retreat, GodinAllThings.com

Is it ever difficult for you to find time in your morning for a quiet time with God? And when you do take the time, is it hard not to hear that voice in your head that reminds you of what else needs to be done?

As a stay at home mom, I know this struggle all too well. I’ve often decided that there wasn’t time, that I was way too tired to pay attention long enough, or whatever excuse occurred to my tired, beleagured mind in those moments.

But an alternative, on days when it feels like there just isn’t enough time, is to have a shorter quiet time. Here are several things you can do when you only have five or ten minutes…

(1) Read your devotional

(2) Read a chapter in your Bible

(3) Pray a psalm to God

(4) Sing a worship song or hymn

(5) Pray about anything coming up that day that concerns you

(6) Do a brief meditation during which you plug into God’s presence and connect with his love for you

(7) In your journal, write a brief note about any insights that came to you during the activity you chose, whether that was singing, reading the Bible, praying or something else.

Creating a 10-minute quiet time whenever you need one will take away the pressure to spend more time than you have, and free you from worrying about getting it done. But because you love God, you’re likely to long to keep spending time with him.

If you really can’t, though, there are three possible solutions I want to suggest.

One is to set a gentle timer that will go off as you get close to the ten-minute limit.

Another is to have a second and longer quiet time, whenever possible, during a slower evening routine, after the kids are in bed.

The third is to plan for and spend more time with God during your weekends. Here are several ideas for how to do that.

For your slow lifestyle Saturday, give yourself more time with God.

Dig into a Bible passage that is likely to offer wisdom or insight about the week that just ended, or guidance and encouragement for the week ahead.

On Self Care & Sabbath Sunday, give yourself a longer quiet time with God and dedicate the day to resting in him. Ask him for guidance about how to spend your time, and then, listen for what he knows will be most nurturing to you that day.

If you have gone to church that day, journal about anything from that day’s sermon that you’re still thinking about, or want to talk over with God.

Also, write about any challenges you experienced during the week, looking for times when you tried to carry those burdens or solve those problems yourself, instead of trusting God with them.

Hand them over retroactively, and listen for any insights or words of healing about the week you are leaving behind. Write it all down in your journal.

Praise him for all the ways he was there for you during the week and ask for his guidance during the week to come.
 

9 Ideas for a 10-Minute Morning
Journal Routine

Meditation, visualization, prayer, and journaling are all powerful activities that go very well together. But the journaling portion is where you solidify, clarify, affirm, and strategize your insights, goals, and plans. This morning journaling session only needs to be 5-15 minutes. – Benjamin Hardy,
Ph.D, in Better Humans, Medium.com

Is starting a journal one of the things you have wanted to add to your morning routine?

If one of the reasons you haven’t yet done it is that you don’t feel like you have enough time to dedicate to it each morning, the 10-minute idea may be a solution. On mornings when there just wasn’t enough time – even if that was every morning – you wouldn’t reject journaling altogether, you’d just spend a great deal less time writing.

And then, you’d have weekends, if you needed them, to make up for lost time.

Here are several ways to try a 10-minute morning journal routine…

(1) Create a self-care bullet journal and use it in several different ways…

-To write yourself brief love notes or affirmations when time is short.
-To set intentions for the day.
-To prioritize the intentions you’ve already set
-To jot down reminders you want to make sure you don’t forget during your busy morning.

(2) Use your other journal, but set a timer that gentle lets you know your time is almost up.

-Do stream of consciousness writing about whatever comes to mind.
-Choose a topic for exploration and write down any thoughts that come up during that time.
-Think about what is coming up for you that day and write possible solutions for any challenges you know you’ll face.
-Write down any insights you gained during brief moments of meditation or prayer.
-Write a brief story about how you would like for the day to go, and what would be the best outcomes you can imagine for all that you have planned.

Several of these will tempt you to spend more time than you have, especially at first, but you’ll be surprised at how easily you get used to journaling in short, brief bursts. And you can promise yourself you will get back to it when you have more time on the weekends.

During slow lifestyle Saturdays, you can give yourself more time to write. Journal about your dreams for your life. How can you nurture & support them in the days to come?

Think about any ongoing problems that don’t yet have a solution. Writing about them may help you think of one.

Use your Self Care Sunday to journal about the week you are leaving behind, and give yourself plenty of time to think things through and then, let them go. Brainstorm ways to handle any tricky situations that may be coming up in the week ahead, and set your intentions for the coming week.
 

The Ten-Minute Tea Time

With a cup of tea, we are invited to relax into all of ourselves, not letting the busy mind run the show. Allow any questions, reflections, or contemplations, but set aside to-dos for later. Keep breathing deeply, savoring your tea and any chosen mindful activity, landing ever more in the refuge of the present moment. – Katy Taylor, PlumDeluxe.com

My morning cup of tea is one of my favorite parts of my morning routine! But sometimes, commitments I have made for my morning keep me from having the full tea experience I want, with my great big cup of tea.

On those mornings, I make a much smaller cup; one that I can drink fairly quickly, instead of lingering over it to savor it as I usually do.

And sometimes, it’s the next day before I can get back to my regular big cup routine.

Do you love tea, too?

If you do, then, instead of skipping your cup of tea on your busiest mornings, just make a smaller cup. That way, you still get to have it, even though it isn’t the normal amount you are used to drinking.

On your slow living Saturday and Self Care Sunday, you could make a pot of tea and give yourself time to savor each cup, while reading or writing in your journal.

Or sip while watching the trees blow gently from your perch on the front porch.

The 10-Minute Morning Yoga Routine

My biggest complaint, that I was just too busy to do yoga regularly, went right out the window when all I had to commit to was 10 minutes. Even on days when I didn't have time to settle down until 10:00 or 11:00 at night, I could still stretch before bed. This is a good lesson that goes beyond yoga—making time for something that's important isn't actually impossible.
- Kasandra Brabaw, Prevention.com

Here are several links you can click to learn more about creating a 10-minute morning yoga routine...

(1)From Subtle Yogi

(2) Early Morning Yoga from JP Thomas

And here are ideas for yoga on the weekends...

During a slow living Saturday morning, you might go to a live yoga class and meet up with friends who could take the class with you and then, go get coffee afterward. Or, you might do a kids yoga routine with your children.

Or on Self Care Sunday, you might find a longer routine online you’d like to try, and you can give yourself more time that day to do the yoga sequence or poses.

What if you could combine some or most of these morning routine ideas into one ten-minute self-care routine for those days when you want as much goodness in your morning as possible?

7 Ideas for a 10-Minute Self Care
Morning Routine

“Slowing down and starting a self-care practice is one of the best ways to shift the energy of your entire day. Before you dive into all your obligations, deadlines and must-do’s for the day, allow yourself ten minutes to not have a single care in the world...” – EpicMatcha.com

(1) Light a tealight candle

(2) Put the pot on to make a cup of tea

(3) Do a brief meditation or some deep breathing while the pot is heating up.

(4) Say your affirmations while the tea is steeping.

(5) While sipping your tea, visualize the day you want to have & briefly, describe it as an intention in your journal.

(6) As you begin to conclude this self-care ritual, make a wish for your day.

(7) Then, blow out your candle

Repeat this self-care ritual on the weekends, but give yourself more time for each step, and include as many of the other ideas for a slow morning weekend routine as you would like.

Did you get some great ideas for a ten-minute morning routine you would like to try? Let me know in a comment.

See you next time!

Love, Jeanine

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Does your daily schedule or morning routine need a
makeover? Take The Morning Routine Quiz and
find out if it does, how much, and how and
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