I don't believe in morning routines. Yes, you read that right. In fact, I have an adverse reaction to them. 

Not only am I not a morning person but I'm a professional night owl. I have never been able to resonate with anything structured. Not in the morning, not in the evening; never.

Sure, I get that everyone thrives with a bit of structure and a container to work within, but I hate being told what to do and when that's paired with feeling pressured and rushed first thing in the morning, forget it. I'm tapping out before I even get in.

I have a firm believe that morning routines are for some but not for all. There's no one way to do anything, especially how to spend the sacred time right after you get out of bed. And if you read an article or someone's post on social media about "the morning routine guaranteed to make you successful" or something along those lines, please proceed with radical discernment.

I'm not dumping on those people, the ones that are up at 5am, go for a run or do yoga, then breath-work, 30 minutes of journaling, a cold shower, MCT oil crack coffee, and then take on the world all before 7am. I'm just NOT one of them.

And I figured, if that kind of rigid morning routine makes me cringe and want to stay in bed even long, then I must not be alone. There's gotta be a whole cohort of people who also cringe but who want to do something in the morning that helps them prepare for a bangin' day of being productive, creative, inspired, and LIT from within. And if you've ever tried one of those morning routines and fell of the wagon a few days later, there's bound to be some shame and guilt. And I am NOT here for that!

So here I am, coming out of the morning routine closet with an alternative option: a morning ritual.

Rituals in the magical realm are sacred, but you don't have to be a witch to perform one. The thing about rituals is that they are intuitive, ever-changing, and deeply in alignment with your inner and outer worlds. 

I've been an entrepreneur in the spiritual industry since 2015, and in this time I've not only decided to stop saying yes to shit I hate, but I've also gotten deeply in touch with the things I love.

Once I identified what made me happy, like working hard from 2pm to 9pm rather than the standard 9-5, I opened up a whole new world of possibilities. As I said, I'm not a morning person. It's not that I'm grumpy or in a bad mood to be awake, I'm just slow. My brain doesn't fully turn on until about 10am and even then, I'm just starting to scan emails and get organized for the day. 

My window of work and creativity is from 2pm-9pm and since I've given myself permission to not be so rigid to the 9-5, I've realized that I can get so much more done, faster than those 5am-ers take their cold showers. 

So now that I don't push myself to work before noon, because I know I'll have peak energy at 5pm, I flow through my mornings with grace and ease. 

I give myself permission to do whatever feels best that day.

• EFT Tapping (this is almost every morning)
• Yoga
• Intuitive dance party
• Meditation and breath-work
• Journaling
• Pulling tarot and/or oracle cards
• Sitting in the sun
• Taking a bath
• Snuggling my dog
• Reading
• Studying/taking a course
• Staring at the wall

As I've allowed myself to choose from a menu of things that I love, I've been able to fall in love with my mornings.

My morning ritual is always intentional and intuitive, never forced or rushed. If I don't feel like doing any of those things, I also create space for that and accept myself exactly where I am. 

While I flow through my ritual, there's one thing I do partake in each and every morning, and that's drinking RYZE Mushroom Coffee. At the beginning of 2020, I decided to stop drinking coffee. It's always made me feel all sorts of crazy. I get the jitters and can't focus. I'm sweaty and riddled with anxiety. My stomach is in knots, and I can't write or think or be productive. And then, after a day filled with nonsense and guilt for not getting anything done, I can't fall asleep at night. Tossing and turning, thinking about the length of my to-do list was simply not an option for me anymore. 

So I quit drinking coffee. But the ritual of having something warm in the morning was something I craved deeply. So when I found RYZE, I knew I'd hit the nail on the head. Mushrooms for clear cognition and focus? Superfoods that are good for body and brain? A tiny bit of coffee, but not so much that I can't think or sleep? Yes, please! Sign me up!

Drinking my RYZE Mushroom Coffee is something I look forward to daily. I don't do anything before I've quietly sat and had my favorite drink of the day, and sometimes, that's all I need.

About the author

Morgan Garza is an author, teacher, entrepreneur, and community leader living in Denver, Colorado. Her new book, Soul Magic: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Mystics, is a treasure trove of centuries-old secrets and ancient wisdom to enrich your life, guide your choices, and heal your mind, body, and soul.