My Morning Routine Over 50- No Matter Where I Live

Before anyone else in this house is awake, I’m already outside. I’ve done some version of this same morning for years now — through multiple cross country moves, a move overseas, several years on an island on the Adriatic Sea, and now back here in Virginia. Getting up before the house does is one of the few habits that has never felt like willpower to me — it feels like the thing I want most. Here’s what my morning routine over 50 actually looks like.

I get up before everyone else.

I grab my water bottle and tip-toe past our bed in the dark so I don’t wake my husband. First things first: I do not look at my phone- no phone until I’m done. I do my hormone routine and drink a full bottle of water while the electric kettle heats up. While I have a much missed Nespresso machine or 2 packed in storage, our current coffee situation is a V60 pour-over set up. I get that prepped then step outside while the kettle is still trying to bubble. I set the space before I do anything else.

Still in my Pj’s. I roll out my yoga mat. I set out my Bible and two, color coded leather journals — one for work, where I jot down whatever’s sitting on top of my mind for the day, and one just for what I’m studying. (I’m a color-associative organizer to the max.) Then I go back in, finish the pour-over into my current favorite mug, stir in a scoop of creatine, my ride-or-die collagen, add a splash of cream, and carry it back outside with me. And the weather has to be REALLY bad, for me not to do it outdoors because that’s all part of the routine.

I sit down before I do anything productive.

Cross-legged on the mat, coffee in hand, I open my Bible. I read slowly. I underline. I check cross-references and theological notes- I dig into what I’m actually reading. When something lands, I write it down — because writing it down is part of how I actually hear it. Then I pray. I sit in it. My shoulders drop. My breath slows down without me telling it to. This is the part of the day I am most at peace, and I don’t rush it. I stay until I’m done, however long that takes.

And then I move.

I set my books and journals to the side and start to stretch. Because I’m already settled, the movement comes easily instead of fighting through the usual morning tightness. It’s a slow, deliberate flow — nothing performative, just attention on every joint. It starts seated and unwinds over about fifteen minutes into something closer to standing sun salutations, ending in a few deep, resting full squats (Malasana).

And then I just sit with it for a minute.

Before I go back inside, I take in the morning — actually take it in, not scroll through it. I listen to the birds, look at the sky, notice the leaves. I write down anything else that’s surfaced for the day ahead. Then I gather my things and go be a better person than I was, with a family and a business and a to-do list.

I’ve done a version of this outside routine almost every morning for years, and I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s carried me through some of the hardest stretches of my life. Not because it fixed anything. Because it gave me one hour where there is release. I am heard and held, before anything is asked of me at all. I’m not telling you this so you’ll do it exactly like I do. I’m telling you because I think a lot of us reach midlife with our mornings still being run by everyone else’s needs — the phone, the family, the inbox — and we’ve never actually sat down and thought about what the most important stuff is. The stuff we don’t want to get pushed aside no matter what. 

You don’t need  a yoga mat and a V60 pour-over setup. You need some minutes to yourself and something in that time that’s real — the space to let your mind and heart breathe out.  A walk, a journal, silence with your coffee, whatever it is that makes your shoulders drop and your mind release. Start absurdly small if you have to. Ten minutes absolutely counts.

I’d love to hear what your routine looks like-  I know we don’t all have the luxury of free time in our mornings, so share if you’ve found something that works for you. Reply and tell me — I read every one.