If you have trouble getting up early or finding time meditate, music is an easy way to center yourself.
Music helped Reba Riley , a writer and spiritual sojourner who spend a year exploring different religions, accomplish the goals she set for herself. While writing her book
Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome, Riley said that she would meditate on positive, inspirational music in the mornings.
She told HuffPost, Choose a song that brings out the emotions you want to take throughout your day--like peace, happiness, or empowerment. (I currently use Roar by Katy Perry and Fight Song by Rachel Platten.) Listen to the song once with your eyes closed and really concentrate on the feelings the music creates. Then listen to the song a second time while visualizing yourself tackling the tasks of your day and achieving your goals.
Kathleen Theriot, a Christian life coach from Louisiana, used a similar technique when she was a single mother raising children and working full-time.
Mornings were the worst, so much to do and so little time. Getting up earlier to spend time alone in meditation, journaling or prayer was just impossible, no matter how hard I tried, Theriot said. What I decided to do was this I turned off the TV, radio, etc. and put on either instrumental or chant type music. I played it all over the house from the time we woke up until it was time to leave the house. Of course, my kids rolled their eyes, but the music succeeded in calming all of us, clearing our minds and allowing us to get ready with some sense of peace among us.
One of Theriots favorite things to listen to in the mornings is the ethereal music of
Hildegard von Bingen , a medieval nun.
If you're looking for your own morning playlist, check out this
collection of happy songs assembled by HuffPost Healthy Living.