Hello (or konnichiwa) from Japan!

A few days before leaving for vacation, I woke up on a sunny fall morning at home. I had a very good night’s sleep and felt very content. The early morning sun was out in full force. My dog was snoozing by my feet. I contemplated my sweet little life for a few seconds then went to turn off my iPhone alarm, conveniently sitting just at arm’s reach on my nightstand.

Then, less than 3 minutes later, I was a stressed out mess. I went from 0-100 with the click of a mailbox icon. Requests, questions, comments and calendar invites hit me all at once. My heart was beating before my eyes were fully open (let alone before my morning coffee)! Even worse? This happens quite a lot – if I let it.

Sound familiar? Do you wake up, snooze or stop the alarm and, before you take a few breaths to wake up, go straight to your smartphone to check your inboxes, Instagram and God-knows-what-else? Am I feeling your head nodding right now? 🙂 

When life stops feeling joyful, calm and fun it’s time for a little reboot. This week, I’m sharing with you 7 sneaky tips and tricks that I use when I need to center myself, calm down and start feeling really good again. Because I don’t want to live my life waiting for a vacation (speaking of, I’m in stunning Tokyo right now!), a Sunday morning or a “day off” to feel awesome. I want everyday to feel gorgeous. And it’s a good, fair thing if you want that for you life, too!

Here are my free, simple tips and tricks that make me feel like a million bucks with some teeny tiny life shifts.

– Be phone free for the first 10 minutes every morning

Did you know that the first 10 minutes after waking are the most instrumental in setting the tone for you entire day? Sit up in bed and breathe. You can meditate for a few minutes or take your tea or coffee back to bed or to the couch.  Just keep your paws off your phone – only for 10 minutes. This way you set the tone for your day, not the outside world. Hey, everyone else will get the next 16 hours of your attention!