After waking up, my first move - after turning off the alarm - tends to be to browse social media portals.

Although I grew up at a time when we didn't have social networks, mobile phones - let alone smartphones - or even internet access, yet in just a few years it became an almost vital part of my life to regularly check "what's going on in the world". Of course, these social networking sites only show me a very small slice of reality - this is obviously because it is people who share information, who filter and share it on their own channels according to their own discretion, as we all do. Moreover, the range of possible sources of information is further narrowed by the simple fact that I follow very few people's profiles.

But even with all this, browsing social media platforms regularly has become part of my "basic movement". However, for some time now, I have been thinking that it is not the best thing to "attack" my mind with a large amount of information early in the morning, with a tired brain. I think that the short period after waking up - between sleep and active daily occupation - is a very sensitive period. Our mental landscape is still very fragile and the very first sensations, the received information can strongly determine our mood during the day.

So for a while now, I've been aiming to take at least 5 minutes early in my day to just sit, preferably quietly, and do nothing other than maybe drink my first cup of coffee, and just let my brain acclimatise to the new day. This way I am not only mentally but also energetically better prepared to receive, process, manage and possibly avert the stressors of the day.

5 minutes doesn't seem like a lot, but if I can do at least that much to set my mood for my whole day, then it's significant. Plus, I think I really deserve to take that much time out of my day before I dive into "shared experience".

And if you regularly do cleansing or protective energy work on yourself, you can even take some time to do that. It's worth a try.