The 5 AM CLUB

day 0
I woke up at 4.30. I meditated for about 30 minutes, then I did a lot of stretching and yoga.

 

I had an early doctor's appointment this morning. I got up at 4AM to give myself three hours before I needed to leave.

From 0330 to 0400 I did a Yoga Nidra (relaxing with clear, bright mind) lying on my back in bed.
Up at 0400 and moving through the morning tasks was smooth and effortless.

On the other hand, I didn't do the "duties" hour - I was driving to the doctor, and I didn't do it when I got back. I also bent the "restrictions" by having half a cup of coffee before I left.

Not exactly covering myself in glory, but staying with the spirit of it.

-EK

 

Hi Don,

I don't understand the "Day 0" and the "crash" GIF. It sounds like you're getting up early and doing meditation.

-EK

 

No, @EdricKr, it means another PMO reset. I get up early, because I have to. So far, no meditation today but I'm gonna do it in the most dangerous time for me today when I am alone at home for about 2 hours.

 

I'm back, my temporary suspension has been lifted after 5 days.

Great to see some new peeps in here, welcome y'all.

I’ve got a bad cold atm, routine’s on the back burner but once I'm over my cold I'll start getting back to my '5 AM Club plan'.

I.E. Waking up at 6am, stretch/home workout & meditation before work. No cigs or coffee.

 

day 0 again but not tomorrow
Not my best start of the day - but I got up at 5.30, exercised, had breakfast and did some language learning.

 

I think I will reset and start this challenge afresh. I have failed to wake up on time the last two days and not done my morning routine

 

Day 1. It's easy to say: I hate plan B. (A. Schwarzeneger) But I wonder if he managed to achieve that every single day. I used to read some Men's Health magazines and I read stories about guys who had year-long streak of working out. But life comes with its demands. A longer at work. A problem. An illness. A tragedy. A nervous breakdown. Some people are lucky to have learned better copying strategies.

@TheLinari, I suppose you need to stay in the mindset. I sometimes got up at 8 at the weekends but I stuck with the routine. Today I'm a bit out of energy because there's a long and tiring day ahead of me but I scored day 1 instead of PMO and whining. That's a good start. Little by little, stay in the right mental vibe.

 

Yesterday I spent 13 hours on-site at work. Very unusual day. I got up at 4AM, at work at 7AM, and got home an hour after I usually go to bed.

Today, I did a Yoga Nidra from 0500 - 0530, then 40 minutes of a Dzogchen meditation I call a "clarity pump" It's one of the meditations taught by Wallace that I linked to in my introductory post. The "clarity pump" helps me stay alert lying on my back in the morning, by alternating the awareness between relaxing the body and brightening the mind. Tick, tock, tick, tock at about the pace of breathing. If I only did one meditation, it would be these before getting up. It establishes a relaxed, alert, calm attitude for the day.

Other than that, I was basically running wild, running free. I did two of the 12 hourly meditations, and none of the others. I didn't even make a mark in the planner for today.

Jayasara has a new recording today. She reads what is believed to be Longchemp's farewell address to his disclples as he was dying. It's tremendously moving. Here it is for anyone interested.



Tomorrow is another day. My intention is to rise at 0500 and follow the plan.

-EK

 

Thanks for sharing. I need to be repeated that I'm not the only one that has a busy day. Congrats on your discipline and ability to prioritize! I need to learn it and avoid allowing hard feelings when I can't pursue my interests and hobbies due to tiredness or lack of time. But I can catch up the next day. Usually. Sometimes tiredness from previous day linger on, though.

 

Mixed day. I took a cold-finish shower in the early evening and apparently I got so super-charged I went to bed at 10PM rather than the usual 8PM.

I woke at 0630 and Yoga Nidra and "clarity pump" meditation before rising at 0730. So a very late start to the day.

However, I moved through almost all the morning tasks in an hour. Virtually no resistance. Instead of having to bring the mind around to do each one, I made it a challenge to do them in one pass through the house. If I went into a room, I didn't leave until all the tasks performed in that room were finished. I give a lot of credit for this to the meditations that let me both relax fully and wake up completely at the same time.

The standard for completing the morning tasks is 3 hours. This morning I did them in two. Yay!

On the "Restrictions", I met the "caffeine" restriction by counting the time from "wake" rather than "rise". Didn't meet the "screen" restrictions - I spent much more than 15 minutes writing on NF and texting with friends. No harm done - my mind didn't get captured. I'll have to think about fine-tuning this.

Overall, I'm very happy about how the morning went. Let's see if I can keep it rolling tomorrow.

-EK

 

Day 1
I have stopped making excuses just because I have had a couple of relapses recently. This morning I woke up at 6 am and got down to 30 minutes of meditation and stretching for 20 minutes. I have also had a very productive day at my part-time job. I also managed to dedicate 1 hour to learning JavaScript.

 

Day 1 too. I woke up at 8.30. But I started with meditation. Then I made a lot of philosophical thinking about the meaning of life.

I used to learn JavaScript when I was thinking of retraining but I'm too old for a fresh start. However, I enjoyed learning to code. However, when I started there was no chatGPT so it was hard. But I built some apps and websites that nobody has seen , the same goes for pencil drawing.

 

I started the challenge again yesterday after falling off from Monday to Wednesday
Updates:

Day 1 15th February
Woke up at 6 am, meditated for 10 minutes and recited my affirmations for 20 minutes. I also stretched my body

Day 2 Today
Woke up at 6.45 am, meditated for 10 minutes and recited my affirmations for 15 minutes

 

Day 4

Woke up at 7am since it is a Sunday and meditated for just 5 minutes.