What I Actually Do Every Morning to Prepare My Body, Energy & Mind | Guy Lawrence

Please note, this is an automated transcript so it is not 100% accurate.

Guy:
A few weeks ago, I put out a video called Six Ways of Navigating the Shift, and it became one of my most popular solo episodes that I did. Clearly it resonates. But what I’m noticing is what many people ask me, especially on my retreats and events when I get to sit down with people in person, they go, “Guy, what does your morning routine look like? How do I apply these concepts actually into my day?” So what I thought I would do today is share a little bit about how I navigate on a typical day. Let’s jump in.

Guy:
Okay, first of all, this isn’t advice, this is just what I do. Secondly, something you must consider is that we’re all in different phases of our life. We all have different … Our lives are set up all very differently, and this is how I have worked towards navigating my life. Yours, you do what you wanna do with this. But this is what I tend to do and the morning routine. For me, the morning is the most critical part of the day, especially before the world gets up. You know, the, when … If you get up in the morning, nice and early, even before the sun, sun is up, there’s a stillness and a quality to the energy that just allows you to really connect to yourself.

One of the biggest challenges I feel in our life is that we are running so far, uh, out of disconnection from ourselves that from the moment we get up, we’re engaged with the world, and without even giving ourselves an audit internally. And what I’ve noticed, when I, when I prioritize myself first before anyone else, my life is then much richer and much fuller, and I can, be of service and support, uh, not only to my family, my loved ones, but to people that I w- work with, uh, on the retreats and the events. And it’s critical. It’s, it’s critical, but if I don’t look after myself and practice what I preach, then, uh, I’m not the best version of myself for all other aspects of my life. And for me, I don’t wanna live my life like that now. I’m, I’m 51. How old am I? 52 soon. Jesus, goes quick, doesn’t it? Um, and I’ve just got to a point now in my life where, uh, I know who I am, I know where I’m going, kind of, into the unknown more and more.

So I, I see things differently. So the first thing I wanna mention, I got no list today, I just felt, uh, an urge to sh- to share this podcast with you. Uh, the first thing is, is really before the morning routi- routine is how you set yourself up the night before If I’ve got things that I need to be doing the following day, uh, that I have to be rushing off for, naturally I prepare. I mean, I, I tend to when I’m home, I’m home. I, I, I work from space. But when– even when I had a, a job per se, if I had to make my bag, do my gym kit, do different things, do the water, all the little menial things that take time in the morning, I would start to prepare for the night before, including my meals and things like that.

So how you set yourself up the night before is critical for how you get up in the morning. One thing that I do, that we do at home here is that when, uh, the light is naturally coming down to help get in circadian rhythm, we have rock lamps everywhere that, you know, they’ve got this beautiful orangey red glow just like a fire, you know, uh, that happens. So, so we tend to avoid, um, you know, unnatural light anywhere in our house, uh, in, in, uh, conjunction with the rising of the sun and the setting of the sun and the, you know. So that’s really important because that helps you f-start to find your circadian rhythm as well. The other thing that I do as well is that I don’t tend to eat, uh, after 6:00 PM, or we don’t as a family, actually.

So, so for me– for us, that works really well, and I’ll lead into why as well, uh, moving forward. But I tend to, uh, have all those things done, and I’m normally asleep by 9:00 PM, you know? It’s, uh… I find if I go to bed later, I struggle the next day because I’m up early and my body clock is wired that way. Now, what I certainly wouldn’t be doing is, you know, staying up till midnight, 1:00 in the morning, then expecting to jump out of bed full of energy. And quite often, what I’ve noticed with many people is that we, we just don’t have the energy. We’re just lethargic, and we’re just tired. And that’s why the work that we do is– comes into being so critical because not only do we have to address the physic-physical, the emotional, the mental, and the spiritual, all these components we start to, start to nurture into our life more and more, and you will find the, the energy starts to shift over time.

The, the want to change your lifestyle habits, want to change over time. And for me, I get excited when it’s time to get up in the morning. Um, now, I don’t know what a Monday is. I don’t know what a Friday is. I don’t really, uh, look f- I don’t have a life now where I’m governed by this linear timeframe where I’m hanging for the end of the week and the weekend to come. Um, that’s not how I’ve set my s- my life up, and it’s been the most freeing, rewarding thing. Um, and I, I wish everyone got to experience that because, um, not that I don’t work. I work very hard, but I don’t call it work because it’s passion, and it’s passion transferred to others. It’s how I live my life now.

So- through that then the routine is setting me, setting me up every day to, to get it right. Do I fall from grace sometimes? Of course I do, but It’s, it’s how I, how I’m doing it. Anyway, where am I going with this? All right, so morning, what I tend to do is, so I, I sleep and generally, unless there’s a lot of energy moving through my body which c- which can happen sometimes or spirit wakes me up in the mo- in the middle of the night or there’s clear messages, but I g- I actually go to bed and set given boundaries around that as well. You can do that, and it can be, I imagine, given, uh… there’s a beautiful… if you look at my Jim Self podcast, I can’t, uh, one of the, the last one I did with him, he talks about this rose, this technique, and I do that every night. I actually imagine giving the rose back to the people that I’ve engaged with, with the day, and that is giving them back their energy.

If you wanna find out more about that detail, there, there’ll be a link, um, to the podcast below with this as well. But, you know, so I sort of have a energetic end of the day hygiene that helps me when I go to sleep, and obviously I work with a lot of people as well. So in the morning, my alarm tends to go off, which I rarely wake up to, to be honest with you, unless I’ve, I’ve, I’ve been to a retreat, uh, facilitating, then I tend to sleep heavier. Um, but I tend to naturally wake up around 5:00 AM, quarter past 5. And with that, soon as I get up in the morning, obviously I just go to the bathroom, and then I have a meditation stool. Now, there’s two things I do at this point. One is, um, because my kids start getting up, uh, you know, an hour later, so maybe they’re starting to sleep in a bit more.

Now my youngest one, uh, uh, Ellis, is now g- getting up around 6:30, 7:00 AM, which is kinda cool. So it’s giving me a bit, me and my wife, more space in the morning. But we both have our independent routines, and then we start to come together for the day. So I get up, I’ll sit in the stool, and go into a meditation practice. Now, people always ask me what meditation practice I’m doing. What does it look like? Uh, you know, that could… that’s, uh, depending on where you are on this journey, I don’t think that’s really relevant, to be honest with you. But the, the key tips is that I always, I always feel into gratitude. I always feel into my heart.

They the go-to places, and I normally just breathe through my energetic channel and just naturally, just like a gentle wheel of breath. I don’t, I don’t tend to go into these, uh, big, um, you know, more, more aggressive breathing practices that, uh, that can be done as well. I just tend to just naturally breathe, imagine my chi moving through my body, connecting to, and then I just let it all settle down. I’ll scan my body to see where I’m feeling stiff, energetically stuck, and then I’ll go into the heart, and then from there I g- generally generate deep emotions of love, peace, and gratitude. I connect to Mother Earth, I connect to Father Sun, I connect to the moon, I connect to the universe, I connect to spirit, I connect to my guides.

And I connect into this beautiful space, and then I let the energy move me and practice. That’s not how I used to do it. Uh, it’s, you know, it’s taken a lot of different vers- reiterations of myself to get to a point where, uh, I connect to energy very, very easily and, uh, let it inform me. So that will take normally… I normally spend about half hour, 45 minutes, something like that, uh, in the morning just sitting there being, being with what is, you know? And I, I general- I generally don’t get off until I know I’ve connected to myself. So it’s not about going through the motions as, like, a tick and then doing it. It’s actually a, a place of sacredness and presence and, and really honoring my body, my, my soul, my spirit, my heart, and that space.

And then what I do as well is I allow the faces of my loved ones and the people in my life start to present, and I send them love. And that’s what I do, and I connect to, to that, and it just fills me up. And then from there, I normally… I always thank Spirit. I always thank, um, my, my, my own I Am Presence and, and my guides and everyone, uh, in my life. I’m always grateful, always thankful. And generally, I, I will, I will, um, ask to, uh, you know- Uh, be guided and, uh, be of service for my highest good today, you know? Or some- somewhere along different words. It changes every day. I don’t, like, have a set mantra, but it’s connecting into that, that, that self, and then go from there.

Now, on the flip side, the other thing I do, which I’ve been doing about three times a week, is I have an infrared sauna. And the infrared sauna, I set for the timer, so when I get up at 5:00, 5:15 in the morning, it’s actually hot and ready to go. So I set it, it, it, you know, turns on 20 minutes before. And then I’ll actually just go and do the very same thing in an infrared sauna instead. Uh, and that’s– I’m really enjoying that as well. Um, sitting in the sauna, actually getting the sweat on while I do my meditation. No phones, no technology. I’m not checking anything. The outside world can’t get ahold of me. My phone is off. And then I’ll do the sauna, but I also have an ice bath. And then from the sauna, I’ll, I’ll generally, uh, come out of the sauna and stand for about five minutes.

So I, I– if you do hot and cold therapy, what I’ve found, it’s really important that, um, you allow your body, if it’s, if it’s been in the sauna, to naturally, naturally, um, find its, you know, um, correct temperature again, its natural homeostasis, before getting into the, the cold exposure. You don’t wanna use the cold exposure to cool you down from the sauna because you’re actually undoing the benefits of that. And I find just the way it pushes the blood around too much, you wanna let the body naturally do that from the vital organs. It’s– especially if you’ve got ill health problems as well, that, that’s really important. So I stand there, uh, and I’ll, I’ll meditate while I’m standing there outside, continuing to connect to Mother Earth.

And then, and then once I calm down, uh, my body’s back to its temperature, I’ll jump in the ice bath. And the ice bath, I generally set it now these days around five degrees, uh, Celsius, so five zero. Uh, when I first started ice bathing 10 years ago, the ego used to, um, take effect and, you know, I’d be breaking the ice off in the morning. It would be, like, one degree or something like that. And, uh, to be honest with you, it’s just not necessary. I don’t think so. Five is, is plenty cold. Um, and what I do now, because even if I don’t sauna, I will always ice bath. I’ll normally jump in the ice bath around 6:30 a.m. if I’m not doing the sauna routine. So I’ll always do 10 deep breaths in the ice bath. So a deep breath would be, you know.

And the exhale is always longer than the inhale. And basically what I find, ’cause I d- I, I do honestly jump in that thing five or six days a week, the ice bath, um, and, and I just generally normally do about 10 steady breaths. And because my body’s so well attuned to that, um, it only takes 10 breaths for the n- for the nervous system to really settle down because you… if you feel your way into it, you don’t force it, you don’t fight it, you’re just really in the moment, and d- deep breaths into the belly, into the core. My body settles down. It’s overcome the stimulus to a degree, and I feel I could end up staying in there for a few, you know, two, three, four. I used to do five minutes, which I, I really don’t bother with anymore.

I find this just nice, effective, tops me up, and then, then I’m, I’m out of the ice bath. Now, what I find with those things as well, and um, it, i- it’s, there’s so much study, there’s so much, uh, science behind the, the, the positivities from a physical aspect. But also I’m very, uh… over the years, I’ve m- not only moved away from the physical aspect, but it’s creating a sacred space for them and really connecting at a deeper level. So creating a ritual and a sacredness around it is very supportive as well. You know, uh, I mean, th- just from hormone production and, uh, cell stimulus, mitochondria functions, c- all the systems, the circuitry system, respiratory system. There’s so many vast amount of things, um, that, that are benefits from it.

But after that, I can tell you, I am, I am like a Ferrari engine purring, ready to go. Like, it’s amazing, um, when you start to do those things. And I know not everyone’s got a sauna, not everyone’s got an ice bath. I get it. But, you know, you start tailoring in different things for you. It’s, it’s not hard to jump under a cold shower to… and do 10 breaths at the end of your shower and let your body warm up naturally, right? It’s, you know, getting up in the morning to do those things. So these are c- these have become critical components of my day, and the only time I don’t really do these things is after an event or a retreat. I tend to I actually spend so much time meditating and, um, um, I tend to just try and allow the body to sleep, rest, and not, uh, sometimes I can just feel my nervous system just needs a rest.

So I, I won’t do any of those things and not even meditate. I’ll just be, be present. And, you know, I, I feel that one of these– along with these things, the ultim- what I’m noticing is that the, the meditation becomes more and more part of your sense of being and day anyway. As you start to do that, you’re always kind of more in a meditative state, uh, in general, right? So the, the mind, the story, and all the other things that tend to govern our mind a lot just fall away. They fall away. Look, I, I don’t drink alcohol. Uh, I haven’t done in years, you know, and again, that’s just something that fell away. I used to enjoy a glass of wine with my wife on a Friday night, you know, but, um, I’ve just got to the point now where I am on my journey, and it, it’s more inhibitive than it is enjoyment.

And I, I’ve– and not that I’m against alcohol in any shape or form or anything, but I, I feel those things need to be done from a place of, um, celebration and a place of openness and enjoyment and, and connection, not from, “I’m gonna have this to escape the underlying feelings that I’m feeling, uh, that I just can’t shake, so this is gonna numb my- numb myself,” or just, just that, the, those habitual habits that we don’t even really know why we’re doing these things. Sometimes we just do them, right? Anyway, I’m going off on a tangent. So that’s what my early set morning looks like. And then from there I’ll have a– I’ll enjoy a coffee, and that’s normally, um, with, with my wife. Now, if the kids ain’t up, my wife will be gone to do her yoga, uh, and I will then, um, do some fascia release, which I’ve– uh, it’s a habit I’ve gotten into due to my back pain from, um, many years of trying to solve the problem.

But one of the things that I’ve found is that there are different fascia points, uh, that’s also been supportive of energy, transfer of energy and information through the body. Anyway, fascia’s incredible. So I’ve got this fa- I don’t have this tool with me, but I’ve got this fascia release tool, and I tend to leave. I’ll do some diaphragm, diaphragm breaths and, um- And I’ll work through all these release points, even all the way to the back of the jaw here, underneath. There’s a signal in… Like, it’s amazing once you… I, I can’t even remember the guy’s name of, who, uh, teaches this stuff. God, I should be more prepared for these off-the-cuff podcasts, I’m sorry.

Uh, but I’ll spend about 10 minutes doing that, moving fascia, moving the system. I do some gentle, um, qigong, T- Tai Chi kind of exercises. Uh, and that little routine will take me about 15 minutes, something like that, all up. Not- nothing too long, but it’s just waking up, waking up my body. And then I, um, I have a rebounder as well. Uh, we have sitting at… The kids love it. We love it. We just have it s- in the living room. So then I’ll jump on the rebounder, and I make sure I engage my calves, um, while I’m on it. I’m on my toes, I’m on my heels, I’m on my toes, jumping around. And sometimes I’ll just hop on that for five minutes, 10 minutes.

I don’t know. Feels bloody good though. And for detoxification and lymphs, it’s amazing. ‘ Cause one thing I’ve found, um, as my, as, as my journey progresses and the more Uh, ability I have to, to basically be a conduit for this divine healing energy. That’s what’s happening. And this space, um, the body, anything that is not in that resonance is, is being let go. It’s detoxifying. And that’s why so many people can feel like shit after leaning into this work at first, not better because, because the body is releasing, and what you gotta do is set up your life to, to really release those, those toxins, right? Which are many, many ways, but I don’t wanna stray from it.

So that’s– this is why I do what I do, so I can hold space and understand that. my mindset is of a spiritual athlete. Like, that’s how I look at it. You know, the retreats and the events are like game day, and if I’m not, and if I’m not in alignment in my life to support those things, then I’m gonna struggle. I’m not gonna be of best of then supporting others. Um, so my life is dedicated to these things, but, but if it’s c-completely congruent, and I’m living in my truth, and, and it’s a beautiful thing, and that’s great, you know? And that’s what I do, and that’s what’s right for me at this moment, and it might continue to change.

So then that’s what normally happens, and then the kids get up. Uh, we get the kids up around the, you know, the, the day’s coming alive. Uh, we generally then, I’m doing the kids breakfast and sort ’em out. My wife’s helping support getting the kids ready for the day as well. So we got our little routines and things like that. So we make sure they’re in the flow, everything’s moving. And then I generally don’t eat breakfast till earliest, uh, eight, eight thirty, nine AM. Uh, it depends, right? So I, I like to… Now I’ve had DNA testing. Um, there, there are links below. I’m affiliated with the, the, the DNA company. They’re fantastic. I’ve had all my DNA done, genetics, that kind of thing.

So you can, you can kinda see what works for you better and how you can best support yourself. Um, which, uh, you know, I reckon it’s a one, it’s a one, one-off test that you do. It’s not like something you keep going back to. I definitely recommend these things. Um, uh, I found them helpful in my own journey, but, you know, that’s up to you. So for me, like, uh, having this, you could use the word fasting window, but, uh, you could just say digestive rest. That’s how I like to, like to do it, and my body adapts well for that. So that’s why I finish eating by 6:00 PM, and then if I’m not eating till early 8:00 or 9:00 AM the next day, that’s giving it a good, what’s that?

Like 14, 15-hour window normally. And then sometimes I’ll, um, once a week, I’ll push that window a little bit later as well. Um, do I do fasting per se? Not really. Um- But, uh, it’s something I’m not saying I, I wouldn’t explore at all as well, but I find that, that helps to me and, and sometimes, you know, I’ll push it out to like 18 hours or something like that, especially if I’m traveling and things like that. But a lot of the things, um, that has support me, uh, I feel good. You know, my blood sugar levels are, are steady. I’m not insulin resistant. You know, I, I, I… I’ll then, you know, once… Then my day tends to free up for a little while around about 9 a.m., something like that. I’m normally recording a podcast.

That’s my window. Sometimes I do a 6 a.m. podcast, uh, as well if I got somebody on the States. So, you know, that, that, that’s the way I do. I have a look at my to-dos and things like that. I’ve got a e-bike that, um, uh, ’cause I used to cycle everywhere if you follow me. But, um, an e-bike that we purchased while I was living in Yamba. It was br- amazing. I used to stick my daughter on the back of this thing, and we used to go everywhere together on it, but I still have it. So I use that generally daily as a little cafe I like to go to, and I’ll get on the e-bike. So that gets my body moving 10, 15 minutes, uh, each way, which is really important.

You know, it– and it– with the, with the, uh, the, with the electric on it, like it’s– ’cause it’s pretty hilly around you. Um, it’s like, you know, doing a brisk walk, something like that. It’s, it doesn’t really tax me in any way. I mean, the, the, the battery’s taking up 50% of your pedal power probably, but that’s fine by me. I’m, I’m not here to push, smash my body anymore, you know? Um, and with the, with the cafe, there’s a, there’s a gym next door, which is perfect. So then, um, that gym, I just go in and I’m pretty much in there five days a week. Uh, and I’ll do like a 20, 30-minute weight training session. Just enough. I, I, I really, I’m, you know, uh, I find just chipping away, chipping over like that is supporting my body, especially as it continues to, um, adapt to the, you know, these energies that are continuing to move, uh, more and more through the work I do.

So that’s pretty much my routine in a nutshell. Um- Yeah. I don’t really… I, you know, I’ve nor- I normally check my emails. Depends. Depends. I might check them over coffee, and that starts percolating what, uh, so that’ll be, like, around about the 6:30 mark, percolating what I got coming on my day. But sometimes I won’t. Sometimes I’ll wait till, um, I’ve kind of freed up, and then, then I jump in. Um, just, just depends what I got going on and stuff like that. You know, and that’s my day, really. Um, if you’re wondering what I eat, um, uh, what do I eat? All sorts of stuff. Um, but my rule of thumb personally, and again, I just found this is right for me, I’m not saying this is right for you, is first of all, I generally just drink water, and the water’s filtered.

So I have a big, um, water bottle like this. The water’s filtered, and then, uh, I put a natural electrolyte in, so it’s, uh, completely natural and, um, that helps remineralize the water as well, even though the water filter has minerals that come through. For me, it’s critical drinking filtered water. Interestingly enough as well, I, um, uh What was I gonna say? I partnered with FLFE. I had them on the podcast. They’ve– I’m sure you’ll see a little clip up. Uh, beautiful company in the USA, uh, that h- that, uh, basically send quantum energy to your home or to your space, which my home is set up in. The infrared sauna has actually got, um, biogeometry on it, which is this stuff, and, uh, FLFE is running through this whole household, which h- helps harmonize the, the, the effects of the electro EMF, right?

But the point is, is this water bottle, the FLFE is dir- directly being sent to this on a monthly basis, and that continues to then charge the water. And interestingly enough, when I started drinking this water after the FLFE, I found myself thirsty for a few days, which I found fascinating. And, and I know the quality of your w– because just ’cause you drink water doesn’t mean you’re hydrated, okay? There’s a lot of factors that, that allow in for the uptake of that. So, uh, it’s worth checking out, honestly. Um, like I said, I partnered with them. There’s a link below. Uh, just thought of that then. Um, if you wanna see what that’s up to as well. But if your body’s in any kind of crisis or healing crisis or you’re wanting to better yourself, all these little things add up.

Uh, they really do. I, I think how you do one thing is how you do everything, so I’m always constantly… It’s just in my nature, that curiosity aspect, um, coming in. So when it comes back to, to food, sorry, um, I don’t eat seed oils. I don’t eat a- I don’t cook with any seed oils. Um, anything that’s been– oils that have been processed, uh, they’re really inflammatory. Inflammation, uh, yeah, it could go on about that. Um, so I tend to use butter, ghee, uh, little bits of coconut oil, not huge amounts, and olive oil. Olive oil. Um, I’m Welsh. I’m not from a, an island, okay? A tropical island. My, my genes are not set up for, you know, too much of this, um, coconut oil stuff and that.

That’s just my, uh, take on it, all that. Uh, but nutrition’s a really hot topic. It’s funny. I do eat meat, um, but the meat that I eat is, um, ethically raised and sourced. We do our best to, to nurture it that way and the way the, the animals are raised and killed. Um, but I also eat lots of vegetables, lots of greens, um, and my fat, my, my fat intake’s re– I’ve c- tend to seem to function well on that, uh, with quite a bit of fat in my diet. Um, do I count calories? No. Um, but it’s more a case of making sure my body is ticking over nicely, it’s metabolically efficient. Uh, I don’t eat sugars. I, I avoid sugars. Um- Uh, will I, will, will I eat a bit of birthday cake at somebody’s birthday party? Yeah, I’ll have a, I’ll have a little bit. Not to be antisocial, but it’s not my…

Uh, I don’t gravitate to it. It’s not like this thing I need. Will I have a nice piece of dark chocolate at night? Yes, absolutely. It tastes delicious. And I’m all for food, you know. But when you cut out all the crap and all the processes, and you know what’s going in every meal, and, and you, you really embrace food like how our great-grandparents would have eaten, you know, with the allotments at the back and growing the vegetables and, and just really getting back to, you know, as close to source as possible without the packaging and the processing and the refined carbohydrates and the breakfast cereals and all that garbage. Um, when you refine and you start to do that and you bring in exercise, you bring in these different, uh, ideas of creating a stress response with ice baths and saunas and little bit of windows of rest in the digestive system, all these things start to work in your favor, and you realize how toxic so many things are that are coming into our body and our life.

You know what I mean? Like, so they are things that I do. I’ve kind of rambled on you. Wow, this has turned into a half-hour podcast. But, um, yeah, hopefully you got something out of that. That’s, um, the way I look at it in a nutshell. Let me know. Does this… Any of this resonate, okay? Like I said, this is just what I do. What you do is up to you, but, uh, I found this has helped me as well. Uh, any updates, any news? A couple of things. There’ll probably be a link below. Um, I’m gonna be doing, uh, I’m gonna start s-small and start scaling it out, but I’ll be doing small, uh, group healing sessions for people that want support. Um, so there’ll be a link below to, to find out more about that.

Uh, USA, we’re coming. Should be a link below for that as well. And yeah, and like I said, FLFE, Biogeometry, all that kind of jazz will be, uh, linked below as well. Website, DNA, go get it. Go after it. Just love yourself enough to do these things. Like, jump into it. Find out what’s right for you. Be the explorer. Honor your body. It’s… I don’t care if you’re a billionaire, I don’t care if you’re the most intelligent academic person in the world, what it m- what matters, without your body, without your health, you can’t do shit, okay? This is the vehicle that’s allowing you to experience life. Love it, nurture it, honor it, have it working with you. Life can be amazing. All right, that’s all from me. I’ll see you soon.

Guy:
I’m standing here right now in Lake Taupo in a beautiful retreat space, and there’s a vast difference between an intellectual experience and passive listening to a fully embodied lived experience, ’cause that’s what retreats can do. They can help you land, start to truly reconnect to yourself, to others, to nature, and to spirit as well. There’s so much in it. That’s why we created Live in Flow, and that’s why we are so passionate about getting this work out there and bringing people together. If you wanna find out more when our next retreat or event is coming up, just check out the link below.