Morning Routine...

[pinoybuddhist]

Wake up at 5, lie in bed until around 5:30. Get up, get my tab (which has the Insight Timer app), a small towel, and the WiFi thingy, and exit the bedroom. Kneel in seiza in front of the butsudan, ring the bell. Gassho, Three Refuge verse, gassho. Ready the timer, the kneeler, and the towel for supporting my hands in the mudra. Zazen (usually anywhere between 8 to 15 minutes). Then recite the Four Bodhisattva Vows. Go down, make coffee and breakfast. Workout, eat, and short piano practice (if there's still a little time). Take a shower and get ready as the rest of the family comes down for breakfast. Then it's drop my son off at school then off to work.

[Entai]

Oh my. I am by no means a "morning person". My routine is typically getting ready for work and reciting the Heart Sutra. Then I hang out with my wife and our furry children for a while. My sitting routine generally takes place right after work. I'm really amazed at some of the routines listed here! Not sure how you do it!

Gassho, Entai

[Daiyo]

"I love the smell of Nag Champa in the morning" ( had to say it).

I wake up at 5:30 - 5:45. Wash my face, sometimes get a cup of coffee before sitting.
On weekends perhaps I wake up an hour later.

I light a candle and an incense stick.
I sit most days for 40 minutes. Sometimes, the first ten minutes I silently recite metta.
After that shikantaza.
Then, I recite everyday the Verse Of Atonement and then the 4 Vows.
Somedays I chant in soft voice the Heart Sutra in Japanese or English. I will switch soon to spanish, in order to learn to recite it by heart.
After that, I wake up the kids and my wife.
Prepare breakfast, walk the dog, take kids to school, go to work.

(On sunday mornings I sit the zazenkais)

That's it. Pretty simple.


Gassho,
Walter

#SatToday

[Oheso]

I claim to need my first mug of coffee before becoming fully cognizant after waking. the institution of the morning sit right after has seemed like a natural fit schedule-wise and is a great "orientation" for the day. I also like to bow twice in the direction of my parents' graves before sitting.

gassho, O

today, I sat

[Ongen]

Morning Routine...

Hi!

6:15 wake up, sneak down creaky stairs without waking the family -> meditation in itself, zazen for 30 to 40 minutes depending on how long it takes to get started. By then the house is awake and morning ritual, kids, school commences. Usually I sit again at night.

Gassho

Vincent

#SatToday

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jizu]

Hello all,

Thanks for sharing, interesting to hear of everyone's routines...

Wake up at 5:00, grab a quick snack and feed the dog. Then, wait for the dog to do his business. He is not as regular as he used to be so sometimes this takes a while. I read news, Treeleaf or lately, as Waterfox has decided to reincarnate itself to default each morning, I spend some time resetting the preferences and fiddle with its configurations. Tomorrow may be the day.

I prefer to sit in the half light before the sun rises above the hills but it depends. As if he is an oracle, I first wait for a sign from dog.

Then sit.

Gassho,
Jon
#SatToday

[dharmasponge]

Ha! We have creaky stair too...I look like a slow motion ninja skipping stairs in order to be quiet of a morning!

[pinoybuddhist]

dharmasponge I know exactly what you mean! Navigating the floorboards requires ninja footwork.

Gassho,
Raf
#SatToday

[Anshu Bryson]

6:00 Up and at 'em; wash my hands and face with cold water, and drink a glass of water. NOW I'm awake...
6:05 Some light stretching
6:10 Zazen
6:40 Shave, shower and other hygeine related activities...
7:00 Brrrrrrrrrreakfast! Catch up on overnight news (part of my job requirement)
7:30 Off to work

I sit again in the evening. Usually between 25 and 35 minutes. Up from 20-25. Which was up from 15. I don't think I could last the weekly Zazenkai - and certainly not the monthly 4-hours - if I hadn't have been a little disciplined about sitting twice daily and sitting a wee bit longer each time. Osteo-arthritis in both knees has seen me go from full lotus in my 20s and 30s to seiza in my 40s and now Burmese in my 50's; I just don't bend the way I used to...! I am well off-topic now; my point was that, for me, morning wasn't enough, and that an incremental increase in frequency and duration has paid off, I think...1

Gassho,

Bryson

sat today

[Jamie]

I Sit at 6.00am for a half an hour, recite the four vows and do metta once or twice a week.
Zazenkai some Saturdays.
Gassho
Jamie

Sat today