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The Miracle Morning

Laura Leigh Birdwell

Updated: Nov 29, 2021


Hal Elrod has a fascinating life story. He has survived the tentacles of death more than once, and now, he is filled with a contagious passion for life. Every day for him starts with the same routine: 10 minutes of silence/meditation, 10 minutes of affirmation, 10 minutes of visualization, 10 minutes of exercise, 10 minutes of reading, and 10 minutes of scribing/journaling.


You might be thinking, why these exercises? After surviving his first near-death experience, Elrod went in search of the best morning routine. He researched the routines of hundreds of successful, productive individuals and realized their mornings all had something in common: All of them included at least one of the six exercises listed above.


So, Elrod had an epiphany. He would do ALL of the six exercises....thus was born The Miracle Morning.


And why 10 minutes? 10 minutes was long enough to reap the benefits but short enough to accomplish all six exercises in 1 hour (exactly 1 hour). I mean, it's no longer a morning routine if it lasts longer than an hour, right?


I LOVE this idea, and there are so many ways to make The Miracle Morning unique to you. Plus, you don't have to do ALL six exercises to have an impactful morning routine -- start with one or two.


Here are some ideas for each of the six exercises of The Miracle Morning. Elrod has uses the acronym SAVERS:


Silence/Meditation: There are lots of great meditation apps out there if you want to go that route. You can also practice breath work (focusing on your breath for the duration of the meditation practice), counting to 5 as your breathe. You could also incorporate gratitude into this practice as well, meditating and reflecting on your blessings. The Washington National Cathedral has a lovely daily reflection that lasts about 10-12 minutes.



Affirmation: I let Alexa determine my affirmation for the day. She's got some great ones! Just ask, "Alexa, what is the affirmation for the day?" and then repeat her affirmation a few times. I like to spend a few minutes focusing on the words of the affirmation -- it helps me believe it. You can do the same affirmation every day, or choose a new one. Affirmation is, by definition, "the process of stating something as a fact." Some people like to affirm their dedication to their goals for the New Year, others prefer to focus on something that will give them confidence throughout the day. Just remember to keep the affirmations practical and positive.


Visualization: Visualization is directly related to your goals. When doing this exercise, you want to visualize 1. achieving the end result (your goal) and 2. visualize yourself engaged in the necessary activity to achieve this end. For example, if your goal is to run a marathon, you want to visualize 1. crossing the finish line and 2. completing the running days that are necessary to get you to that finish line. Visualization can be used for both ambitious, long-term goals and the more simple daily goals (ex, What kind of person do I want to be today? What will make today a win for me?)


Exercise: 10 minutes of exercise feels so good in the morning. We get our endorphins going and our minds ready for the day. You can do a morning yoga stretch or you can up the intensity and really get the endorphins going with a Tabata (click here for some of my Tabatas with a warm-up).


Reading: This is pretty self-explanatory. Read a book, the newspaper, a magazine. The key here is to read from a tangible source -- try not to expose your brain to the blue light of the computer/cell phone screens just yet. 10 minutes of reading a day = 60 hours of reading a year. Wow! You could read War & Peace!


Scribing/Journaling: This, too, is pretty self-explanatory. Of course, you could incorporate journaling into some of the other exercises as well. Here, too, you could focus on your blessings and incorporate a gratitude journal. Check out this Self Journal complete with daily prompts and quotes. Or, you could start writing about your life, your kids' lives. Don't worry about grammar or complete sentences! The idea is to get thoughts to paper.


And that's it! The Miracle Morning! I encourage you to check out Hal Elrod's book The Miracle Morning and follow him on social media -- he's full of optimism and inspiration. If you decide to embrace the full Miracle Morning, all 60 minutes, let me know how it goes!





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