S9E21: Effective morning routine for SS (5tips)

0:00 Hello beautiful survivors, how are you? This is Karina, the host and creator behind the podcast Stroke Surviving the Odds. My show is all about moving forward past the events of the stroke. It's helping you reclaim your identity. And how I do that is by sharing all my tricks, hacks, how to's, all kinds of strategies that have helped me in the past 27 years as I'm a stroke survivor myself.

0:27 In 1999, I had a brain stem dissection that led me to come up in the lacton syndrome. As you can see, I'm here and I vowed to share with everybody around the world. If I can help and one person around the world feel better about the situation, my mission, my life will be complete. Well, this is what I'm doing now.

0:49 Our show is top five around the world. So thank you to all of my listeners. So before we come in today's episode, I have a little bit of clean house as I usually do. I want to make sure to tell you to like, follow and subscribe on any and all of the platforms that I currently am on, which is Spotify, Apple iTunes, YouTube, you name it, baby, I am there. I also would love to ask if you guys can share, share the podcast.

1:21 It tells the algorithm that we are active, that the show has power amongst the community of stroke survivors. And it's free. And you know what I say, if it's free, it's for me. So all that being said, I need to remind you guys, grab a pen and paper because the faintest of ink is better than the best memory.

1:46 And come and join me here as we are recording today's episode. Are you a morning person or not? Do you need to have two coffees before waking up? Then you're in a crappy mood for one hour, you have your two coffees and you're good to go. Or are you like me and you're good to go right away? Well, I know that mornings can be rough.

2:10 They can be tough. I know that I am more of an energetic person in the morning, but I lived and I currently live with someone that is not quite a morning person. So it's important to adjust and they need to adjust to us. But when I wake up, I'm stiff guys. I am so spastic. My arm hurts, my leg is hard like a popsicle stick, but it doesn't matter.

2:45 I get up first thing I do, I open the curtains. Hello world. For a stroke survivor, it's worse. It's worse than you might think because everything we go through as stroke survivors appear to be worst. While I've tried and tested over years and years, everything I'm going to be talking about today and give it a try. See if it works for you because I'm always saying if it works for me, why can't it work for you? Take the contents of what I talk about and flip it into your own life, into your own story.

3:24 See how you can get all this to fit into your life. Over the years, I found that having a morning routine is very essential. It's essential because we know what to expect when we go to bed. We know what we have in the morning when we wake up, and it primes us. It's a very powerful thing because it primes us and it sets the tone for the whole day.

3:51 That's what I think. And mornings can actually boost your energy. Yep, Yep. Do you want to know why? Well, because like I said, you will know exactly the night before what the morning and what the day ahead is waiting for. That way you know exactly what your morning is going to look like the night before.

4:22 It's all about mindset. It has a lot to do with perception. The reason why I started talking about this topic, telling you that tomorrow starts tonight, it's because I always tell my stroke survivors that if you are ready the night before, you know what to expect the next day. If you have a doctor's appointment, you make sure you have your Medicare card. You make sure you have your clothes, you have your glasses, you have your keys.

4:51 Everything is by the door the night before. That way you have all evening and all morning to get set that when you leave the door, when you commence your day, you start on the right foot and you put yourself in the right mind place. Having a morning routine also creates a lot of stability. I'm going to tell you a very brief story. You guys know that I was a caregiver to my living father-in-law.

5:25 He was 97 years old. What would I do once supper was done, the dishes was done and my father-in-law was in his pajamas and it was time for the night routine. Well, I would get ready for the morning routine. I would set the table with his morning stuff. I would put his little, his favorite morning bowl for his cereal, his favorite cup. I would have the utensils on the table. Everything was set for him.

5:57 When he wakes up, his clothes is already on his wheelchair. Everything is set that way. It allowed me to be more productive, but it also allowed him as the survivor, if you will, to have a routine and know what to expect. And I can tell you this because he did, because I was always anticipating what was going on. He liked that, and he pointed it out that it helped him become more structured.

6:34 For anybody, stroke survivor or not, there's nothing worse than having to rush out of the house. Do you agree with me? And somehow when we leave the house, there's always traffic. We get all the red lights. There's too many people in front of us at the coffee house. Oh, my goodness. Now stroke survivors can't be abruptly woken up.

6:59 We're not in the army here. But when you wake up, it's important that you get a good stretch. Stretch as much as you can. Your operative side. If you can't move at all, your left your, your affected side. I want you to get a nice big stretch on the operative side. And I would like for you to inhale 4 counts, exhale 4 counts. Do that three time.

7:34 So that way it gives time for your organs to really oxygenate and wake up also. And one thing that I found is waking up in gratitude allows you to have a check in instead of waking up in the morning and saying, uh, I'm still here. Well, how about you wake up and you say you're happy. You woke up, you're happy, you have a bed with blankets, you're happy. You might be in a house or in a tent or something, but you are covered and you're happy to see what the day has in store for you.

8:15 But when you wake up in gratitude, it also sets the tone for the whole day. Gratitude means a deep appreciation for what is, but also for what is not. That means it's coming to you. That means you are making it happen. I love to say good morning. Are you someone in the morning? I will say good morning.

8:44 Or do you stay a little bit bitter until you have your coffee? Maybe just in the morning instead of a grumpy good morning, Just elevate your your tone and good morning. As a matter of fact, good morning. That makes a big difference. That vibration that's inside of you creates something beautiful.

9:16 Higher vibration, better gratitude, better gratitude, more abundance. You see how everything works? More abundance. Wow, you might be walking or standing better see what happens to you. See what happens to you. I have a fun question that I also asked in my Facebook groups. Are you someone that has your breakfast and your coffee in the morning when you're dressed or when you're still in your pajamas? That's that's that's there's no right or wrong. I mean, I am pretty much always in my pajamas when I have breakfast.

9:54 But I like, I like to ask because when I was in rehab, first thing they would do is they would teach me how to get dressed. So in the morning, I would get dressed before going downstairs in my wheelchair to have breakfast. But now that I'm home, I like to be in my jammies. But again, sometimes getting dressed is also a powerful thing because it sets the tone.

10:22 Like I can't imagine the CEO of a business of a corporation getting up and lounging is is pajamas. I think that they tend to get dressed that way. It sets a direction for the day. And if you stay in your pajamas, it's kind of or sweatpants for that matter. It's kind of like, but if you get dressed and you put your clean sweatpants and you put a clean shirt with the sweatpants and maybe you, you're a girl that puts a little bit of mascara. I never leave the house without mascara. Just mascara is already a huge thing. Maybe I'll have a girl edition.

11:06 Right now my podcast is for everybody, but maybe in my Facebook group, I'm going to do a girl's edition. Stroke survivor women. Yeah, I think I'm going to do that. OK, Anyways, let's move on. It's proven fact, guys, that when you do set an intention, when you set the intention of having a good day, it makes it easier for the day will not be perfect.

11:36 Don't expect it, baby, because it will not happen. But the fact that you set the intention of having a great day makes it that when bad things happen, when either ordeals or disagreements, when things happen, you are easy. It's going to be bouncing well. You are going to bounce back much easier. You're going to be able to take it in stride, not take it to face value, not get affected.

12:08 Don't start crying, don't get emotional, just it is what it is for the time being. But I am having a fantastic day. And not be sarcastic about it but be honest about it. Like I will say, you can fool everybody else but you cannot fool yourself. I want to end with this. Remember that however you feel, you are more than your limitations. Last but not least, the 5th strategy that I'm offering you is I'm repeating start tomorrow, tonight. Look forward to it.

12:47 How? Well, here's how you're going to write down one to three priorities, things you would like to accomplish tomorrow. I don't care if it's making yourself a ponytail or changing the the tire on your car or reading a chapter in a book or just writing your name, just writing your name. I don't care what it is.

13:15 But if you have something to look forward to in the morning when you wake up, you're going to look forward at the beginning. You might say, oh, what is she talking about again, this one. But eventually you're going to understand that you're going to have something to look for. And last part of my fifth strategy is to plan your plan your alone time, plan your rest. When you go to the doctor, you book an appointment and you're gone for about two hours in a day, right? Going, coming back and waiting in the waiting room. So the whole thing takes roughly an hour and a half, two hours. I would like you to schedule an appointment with yourself. Please trust me with this.

14:06 Schedule an appointment and respect it because the minute you do not respect it, it means that you don't value yourself. So you need to start valuing and respecting yourself by scheduling and by presenting. Show up for yourself, guys. This is what I have for you today. I hope that you found this useful.

14:31 You find this pleasant. I gave you food for thought. Make sure you subscribe or download the episodes. Oh my gosh, yes. Download the episode as a stroke survivor. You can listen to it again. I want to remind you that if you would like to have my PDF on the morning routine as well as my PDF on the emotional regulation checklist, please let me know in the comments or go right ahead in my description. I'm writing my Facebook group in all the different ways you can get in touch.

15:08 Please do so. It is my pleasure to give you all the help I can. That being said, remember I love you immensely and I'll talk to you soon.