Some people quite like routine, perhaps getting up at 5 a.m. every day to run, meditate, do yoga and breakfast like a king – and finding solace in this kind of rhythm. Where there is rhythm, there is life. However, others might recoil in horror at the thought of monotony and ritual, and prefer just to see what happens at the start of each new day. It’s good to follow your own inclinations here, but whatever your preference, one thing to ensure you don’t miss out on is breakfast.
Here are my top breakfast tips:
Serves 1
1 small cup organic rolled oats
1 tbsp raw nuts: walnuts, almonds, cashews or Brazil nuts
1 tsp raw seeds: chia seeds, linseeds, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
Milk or nut milk to serve
Method: mix together the ingredients in your favourite breakfast bowl.
This breakfast can work especially well if you have an early start and not much time! As you can choose which combination of nuts and seeds you prefer, it’s also a good reminder of the way we can create our own perfect meditation practice. A sprinkle of this, a handful of that, a dash of the other.
Serves 4
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 shallots
4 organic small to medium-sized beetroots, with the leaves on
1 stick celery
1 green bell pepper
1 bunch of radishes
1 small bunch of rainbow chard
½ tsp Himalayan pink salt
Freshly-ground black pepper (to taste)
½ lemon
1 tbsp freshly-chopped parsley, to garnish
Method: heat the olive oil in a large pan. Chop and add the vegetables to the pan, leaving aside a few radishes. Cover the vegetables with boiling water and heat until the beetroot begins to turn soft. Allow to cool and then blend into a thick soup. Water down the mixture to your taste before serving. Divide into four portions and serve with lots of freshly-ground black pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and garnished with a sprinkling of chopped parsley and a few radishes on the side.
TIP: The short story ‘Gooseberries’ by Anton Chekhov is a great accompaniment to this healthy, grounding soup.
It’s important to read something motivating each morning. The text doesn’t have to be spiritual, but certainly reading something that is inspiring to you – maybe in the form of a short piece of prose or a heart-warming quote – can help you to start the day firmly in The Middle.
Keep a quote book specifically for the beautiful insights you’ve garnered and the many things in life there are to be grateful for. Then you can dip into it before you start the day.
Why is this helpful? Our conditioning – the way we have been brought up to see the world – is often heavy and multi-generational, so it’s good to keep reminding ourselves of those uplifting things we once read about and resonated with.
TIP: Leave a little digital gap for yourself by keeping your devices switched off until you decide you are ready to communicate with the outside world.
The list below is a beautiful collection of poems, one for each day of the week. My favourite line at the moment is from ‘Victoria Market’ by Francis Brabazon. It’s the bit about the sun coming up between the rows of vegetables, which reminds me that wonderful changes can happen little by little.