There is nothing like the promise of a new day. Each morning when you wake up, you have a choice of what you want your day to be like. We have unlimited creative power to choose what works and what doesn’t. We don’t have to be trapped in unsatisfactory situations, instead we can transform our lives overnight. How liberating!

I find it incredibly useful to have a morning ritual – without one, things can often go a bit haywire. I meditate (or just breathe) for 15 minutes when I wake up. I set the alarm a bit earlier, before kids wake up to make sure I fit it in. I then go downstairs and drink some herbal tea followed by a vegetable juice (green, red or orange). Only then am I ready to eat breakfast, most often porridge which I make in a variety of different ways.

I have a simple theory. If people actually ate breakfast (and it’s amazing how many that doesn’t) and had some sort of mindfulness exercise before leaving the house, life would be transformed on our roads and on public transport. Aggression and stress would be a thing of the past.

Leaving the house in a calm state of mind with a stomach full of good breakfast is more than just satisfying a physical need. It is also our mental fuel, our nourishment and our medicine cabinet rolled into one. Is it lack of imagination or due to being stuck in a rut that makes some of us roll out of bed, shower and leave the house on an empty stomach? Only to grab a strong coffee and sweet pastry en route to work whilst checking emails on a cramped bus. By the time we reach the office our cortisol levels are sky-high and as we know, stress hormones gather around our waist and are hard to shift.

There are enough evidence, blogs and inspiring pix out there to get us started but here are some simple breakfast ideas that only take one good grocery shop (most supermarkets deliver so you can’t use that as an excuse for not having the right ingredients) to be ready for business. Invest in you and everyone around you benefits too.

Simple breakfast ideas for EVERYONE

• Sourdough toast with mashed avocado and sliced tomatoes, herb salt, black pepper and a squeeze of lemon + boiled egg.
• Granola with greek yogurt sprinkled with seeds (sunflower,pumpkin) and fresh berries.
• Scrambled eggs with salmon and spinach, black pepper and a squeeze of lemon .
• Green smoothie with banana, avocado, spinach, nut milk, spoon of nut butter (almond, cashew etc) with added spirulina (spirulina can be bought from most super markets).
• Porridge in all varieties. With cinnamon, nuts and fresh fruit. With sliced banana and blueberries. With turmeric, chia, maca, nuts, seeds and milk of your choice. The opportunities for combos are endless.
• Toast with smoked salmon and sliced cucumber with roiboos tea + boiled egg.
• And last but not least, juice vegetables in all varieties at least 3-4 days per week. If it’s too stressful in the morning with school runs then prepare it the night before and drink it first thing. Then follow on with breakfast. Simple green juice: 1/2 cucumber, 1 apple, 2 handfuls of spinach and a knob of ginger. Add water if you don’t feel it’s enough liquid. Keep adding vegetables as you learn to like the taste. Find more juice recipes from the Green Swede here.

During the day, when you start to feel stressed, try a five minute time out (loo?), where you sit and breathe to calmly allow oxygen to flood your system. No thinking, just breathing. Remember we are more than just our everyday lives, issues and problems. Look after yourself, listen to what makes your heart sing and and surround yourself with people who get you. Commonality of purpose and feelings of being understood fuels our creative energy and makes us blossom. Do that.

Look after yourself. 🙂

Much love,

Birgitta xx