Cosy Rituals for Quiet Mornings

The shape of your morning tends to set the shape of your day. Most of us know this and ignore it anyway. We pick up the phone before we are out of bed, skip breakfast and arrive at work feeling as if the day has dragged us along behind it.

The cure is not a complicated routine. You do not need to get up at five. A small ritual or two that takes ten minutes and feels deliberate is plenty. Here are some worth trying.

Drink from a cup you actually like

Not a takeaway lid, and not the mug that came free with something. Use a cup with some weight in your hand, and if it makes you smile, so much the better. Risky Mugs can help with that, depending on your sense of humour. Making the drink slowly and sitting down with it is the ritual.

Light something, or scent the room

A small flame is a signal that says: this part is for me. If candles are new to you, read our beginner’s guide first, and blow it out before you leave the room. Not keen on flames in the morning? A reed diffuser from ScarWick Candles does the job with no effort at all.

Do one thing without a screen

Read three pages of a book. Stare out of the window. Stand at the back door and see what the weather is up to. The screen will still be there in fifteen minutes, and so will whatever is on it.

Do one small physical job

Fold yesterday’s laundry. Water one plant. Wipe a counter. Small, finished jobs are surprisingly settling first thing, because you have already got something done before the day starts making demands.

Keep something to hold

Some people like a small object on the bedside table or windowsill, such as a smooth stone, a crystal or a tiny keepsake. Amy’s Crystals & Crafts has tumbled stones that fit nicely in your palm. It does not need to mean anything to anyone else. It is a little anchor before the day gets going.

Write one line

Keep a notebook by the kettle and write a single line each morning: how you slept, what you are looking forward to, what the sky looks like. A year from now, it makes lovely reading.

How to make it stick

• Start with one. Add a second only once the first feels normal.
• Attach it to something you already do. “While the kettle boils” works better than “at 7am”.
• Get things ready the night before. Put the cup out. Put the book on the chair. Leave the phone in another room.
• Forgive the bad days. Miss a morning and nothing is lost. Children, shift work and dogs all have their own ideas.

The point is not to optimise your morning. It is the opposite. It is to insist that the first few minutes of your day are yours. If you would like some objects to make that feel a little more special, our stockists have you covered, and you are always welcome to come and browse at 15 West Street.