In this video, Hadlee Garrison walks viewers through her personalized, Ayurveda‑inspired morning routine, emphasizing that the goal is to inspire rather than prescribe a rigid schedule. She begins by describing a phone‑free wake‑up strategy, using a simple $10 alarm clock and keeping all electronics outside the bedroom to avoid early‑morning scrolling and promote mental clarity. After brushing teeth, she scrapes her tongue—a traditional Ayurvedic practice for oral health—and prepares warm water infused with trace minerals, which she drinks to rehydrate, balance electrolytes, and stimulate peristalsis for a morning bowel movement. A brief skincare step follows, consisting of splashing water, rose water, and moisturizer. She then moves to a flexible meditation segment, varying length, posture, and environment, and offers tips for using an old phone or Do‑Not‑Disturb settings to avoid notifications during guided sessions. Exercise comes next: biking to the gym when possible, otherwise at‑home workouts or yoga, with an emphasis on pairing movement with enjoyable audio to make the gym a favorite part of the day. Upon returning home, she oil‑pulls with coconut oil while showering and performs a self‑massage or dry‑brushing routine, adjusting the method based on climate and time constraints, and advises proper disposal of the oil. The routine concludes with dressing and heading out. Throughout, she stresses the importance of gradual habit building, allowing the body to lead, and warns against sacrificing sleep for a longer routine. The video ends with a promotion for her "Happy Healthy Habits" coaching program, an affiliate discount for Banyan Botanicals, and a call to watch her introductory Ayurveda video.
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I'm gonna share the structure of my Ayurveda-inspired morning routine with you today. My goal is not for you to copy this routine, but rather to get inspiration for your own so that you can create one that works for you. If you haven't subscribed to my channel yet, hit the subscribe button and the bell to be notified every time I post a new video about creating a happier, healthier mind, body, and life. For the past 4 years, I've been helping people implement the habits of Ayurveda in order to feel amazing in their bodies, confident in themselves, and more joyful in their everyday lives. So one of the habits I coach my clients in is called Start the Day Right, which is all about the morning routine. Often people find that when they have their morning routine, life just starts to get a little bit better. So let's get into it. First things first, I wake up in the morning either with an alarm or naturally. I'm very privileged in that I work for myself and have a lot of control over my schedule, so I don't need to get anywhere first thing. That being said, I do like to wake up around the same time each day. So sometimes I'll set an alarm a little later than when I expect to wake up so that if I do end up sleeping in, it won't be for too long. The other piece of this is that I don't have my phone with me. My husband and I keep all electronics outside the bedroom. So not super neat and pretty, but that's what we've got currently since we live in so many different places throughout the year. We make do with what we have. Whatever we have. By keeping our phones outside of our bedroom, there's no possibility of waking up, rolling over, and starting the day scrolling on our phones. This alone is an absolute game changer. It allows me to start my day with me and with my life rather than escaping into the ethers of social media first thing. And this results in more peace And more mental clarity throughout the day. The question I often get asked at this point is, how will I wake up in the morning? I use my phone alarm to wake me up. And I have a $10 solution for you. It's this thing. It's called an alarm clock. It's this old-fashioned device that's sole purpose, its only purpose is to just wake you up in the morning. There are a bunch of them for about $10 on Amazon. I promise it is a $10 purchase that is worth every penny. If you're excited about getting your morning routine on, give this video a like below. So I'm easing my way into the day without distractions, and actually, if I wake up early enough, honestly, my whole body will rebel against even looking at my phone and the potential notifications that might be blasting me when I just don't have capacity to handle them. So I do my morning routine without my phone, and I'm going to show you a trick later for when I do my meditation because I really enjoy guided meditations. And you might be like, well, I need my phone for that. So stay tuned for that tip later. So first I go into the bathroom and brush my teeth, and I walk into the kitchen to heat up some water while I'm brushing. Then I scrape my tongue, which is an Ayurvedic practice that gets all the gunk and bacteria and all the stuff off of our tongue for our oral health, and it's also really great for combating bad breath. You can get a tongue scraper at Banyan Botanicals or really anywhere. If you want to get a discount at Banyan, you can use my code, which is Hadlee. Once my warm water is ready, I fill up my thermos and add some trace minerals, which helps with Electrolyte balance for optimal hydration. And I drink it all. Sometimes I go back for more, even depending on how dehydrated I'm feeling. Drinking warm water in the morning helps to rehydrate after so many hours of not drinking anything. And it also importantly gets your peristalsis going and your bowels moving. And that is crucial in Ayurveda. Having a morning elimination allows us to literally Get rid of the crap from the day before, and it gives us a fresh start to the day, both physically and mentally. Now, if I ever can't go first thing in the morning, I notice that my mood is markedly affected, and I sometimes wonder if the reason I used to be so moody was just because I wasn't pooping regularly. I usually drink my warm water while I do my very short skincare routine, which consists of just splashing some water on my face and then spraying my face with some rose water and moisturizing after that. Then if I feel like I'm ready to go, I go to the bathroom, and if not, I will do my meditation first and then go after that. Again, my morning routine is governed by myself and my body's needs first and foremost. I used to create minute-by-minute lists of what I was gonna do in the morning, trying to kind of get it down perfectly. And that was helpful to an extent, but when I let go of this need to do everything on a perfect schedule and let my body actually lead the way instead, it became a lot more enjoyable, and it also became something that I could actually stick to. Let's get cozy in my meditation space. This is where I really get into my body and my spirit before I get into my mind. Doing this first thing tees me up to stay embodied throughout my day. My meditations vary depending on how much time I have and what my needs are that day. I really like to look at it as a time where I get to decide to do whatever sounds really pleasurable. Sometimes my morning meditations are 2 minutes, other times they're 30 minutes. Sometimes I do them sitting up, other times I do them lying on a foam roller in order to open up the structure of my body and really regulate my nervous system. And when I can, I love to do them outside. Otherwise, I do them inside. Sometimes I meditate in silence, and sometimes I use a guided meditation. This used to trip me up because I'd have to go on my phone, right, to do the guided one. And sometimes there would be some sort of notification that kind of sucked me into my phone. And my goal was obviously to be settling into my nervous system, and that would, that would get me kind of wound up. So I actually started using my husband's old phone. The only apps that I have on there are for meditation, and that's been super, super helpful. If you don't have an old phone lying around, or if you don't have someone that you can ask for their old phone, you can change the settings on your actual phone so that you have Do Not Disturb automatically turned on at certain times. So you won't have notifications to really worry about. Just make sure that your meditation app is on the screen of your phone, and then any apps that you want to stay away from are on the last screen on your phone, and then you should be able to navigate it a little easier. Then I'm off to the gym. When I'm in Michigan, I bike to the gym, which I love, and anywhere that I am in the world where I can bike, I do. This is the thing that obviously takes the most time since I have to get to the gym, do my workout, get back home. So sometimes I do do an at-home workout or a brief yoga flow if I don't have the time or if my body is asking for some more rest. But you guys, my gym time is honestly one of my favorite parts of the day. I absolutely love it. And this did not used to be the case. So if this is not you, that is okay. There is still hope. I used to hate working out. I saw it as such a chore. I really like forced myself to do things that I didn't really like and I dreaded my workouts. Now I do a lot more of what I and my body enjoy. And my biggest secret for starting to enjoy going to the gym is listening to something that you get really excited about. I have podcasts, audiobooks, and music that I really, really look forward to listening to at the gym. And then I also use my workouts to try to get really into my body. So pairing my breath with my movement makes me feel really embodied regardless of what kind of movement I do. It doesn't always have to be a classic yoga asana class to allow you to really get into your body for the rest of the day. Once I'm back home, I oil pull while I do the rest of my routine. Oil pulling is an Ayurvedic practice that is basically just swishing oil around in your mouth To remove bacteria, strengthen your gums, it can even help with whitening your teeth. So I use coconut oil and I just scoop a spoonful into my mouth. You kind of have to chomp it around a bit until it melts and it's for sure really weird at first if you don't grow up doing it. But honestly, now my mouth feels weird if I don't do it in the morning. So the other thing about oil pulling is that it is recommended to do it for 20 minutes. Which obviously sounds like a crazy long time and sometimes it freaks people out, but I do it while I do my self-massage and while I do my shower, which takes about 20 minutes anyway, so it's not as big of a deal. While I'm oil pulling, I shower and do some sort of self-massage, which is an Ayurvedic ritual that increases circulation, gets your lymph moving for detoxification. calms the nervous system, and it really connects you to your body. Sometimes I use oil, and other times I dry brush with either my bare hands or with a dry brush, and sometimes I do both. And again, this depends on how much time I have. It also depends on the season or the climate I'm in. So when I'm in humid places, I dry brush and don't always use oil, whereas in dry climates I use oil and don't always dry brush. Some days I only have time to do parts of my body and not the whole thing, and some days I skip it altogether because I'm just running low on time. And any and all of these things are totally great and totally wonderful, and you don't have to do it any certain way. Don't forget to spit out your oil and do that in the trash bin instead of the Because oil in the drain can actually clog your pipes, especially in the winter when it might freeze. So definitely spit it out in the trash. And then I swish some water with salt and spit that into the sink, and I am ready to go. Now all that's left is getting dressed, and I'm ready to take on the day. I do want to say that all of this took a while to get down. As much as I tried to do it all perfectly right away and cram everything in minute by minute, Doing habits that aren't automated and that you haven't done before always take more time than you think they're going to. So be patient with yourself. Add one thing at a time. Don't try to recreate this routine minute by minute if you've never had a morning routine before. Know that your transitions between each habit will also shorten as you start to automate each one. So in the beginning, it might feel clunky, it might take a while, and that's totally fine. Don't add too many things at once, especially if you have somewhere that you need to be. And then give yourself grace and don't create more stress for yourself with your morning routine. That's the opposite of what we want here. And one last thing, please don't do a morning routine to the detriment of your sleep. This is a huge mistake I see people making in the wellness world all the time. Well, the morning routine is so important, so I'll just sleep less to make it happen. Please don't do that. Sleep is always the most important. So I would rather have you roll out of bed and not do any of this than be sleep deprived. When we are sleep deprived, it is so hard to make healthy decisions throughout the day. So Please get the quality and quantity of sleep that you need first before you do any of this other stuff. If this resonated with you and you want to implement the health habits, behaviors, and food choices that make you feel amazing in your body based on your unique needs, check out my signature Happy Healthy Habits coaching program in the link below. It's not just about a morning routine, though that's definitely part of it. This program literally changes your entire life, and it's not just a quick fix either. We are here for the long haul. I would love to see you inside. If you're new to Ayurveda and want to learn more about what it is and where to start, check out this video next. And if you want more on creating a happier, healthier you, make sure you subscribe and hit the bell to be notified the next time I post another video. See you in the next one.
