A good start

Wake up early. 6ish. Before the rest of them. I lay in bed a few minutes. Just . Eyes open, mind calm, sleep slowly receding. I linger in the warmth of the rajai just a little bit more, then peel it off. Hoist myself off the bed.

Walk to kitchen. Squeeze half a lime into a glass of warm water. Sip, sip, slowly. The sourness tingles the taste buds. Tea or coffe, I think? Always, a decision I make in the morning. It's a mood thing.

Turn the cofee maker on. Set the coffee to brew. French Vanilla. Sometimes, Colombian dark roast. Tetley Orange Pekoe, if tea.

Roll out yoga mat. Position feet. Raise arms over head. Nice and long. Streeeetch. Slowly bend . Touch my toes. Up again. Hands to namaskar. Prostrate. Get into downward dog. Then, mountain pose. Back up again. One cycle of Surya Namaskar. 30 seconds break. Then, repeat. No counts. Keep going till the mind and body know to stop.

Sit myself on the yoga mat. Half lotus. Back straight, stretched. Inhale. Exhale. Slow. Inhale . Exhale. Slow. Keep the focus on the breathing.

End with the child pose. My favorite. Has always been.

Then I saunter back to the kitchen. Which is now smelling of freshly brewed French Vanilla. Mmmm. Pur myself a cup. A little bit of cream. Lots of sugar. My only sugar fix for the day. Hence, sweet as hell.

Light an agarbatti. Some days, lavendar. Others, nagchampa. Or occasionaly burn the oil lamp. Always, satsuma.

Sit on the couch. Mentally make a note of the day. Things to do, meals to make, people to call, stuff like that. Sip, sip. On some days, pick up a book. Start to read.

Then, Gia starts waking up. Soon, Rohan and Rajesh. Diaper change. Rohan's breakfast. Put on some music. Good morning world.

I am a morning ritual person. I love my morning rituals. It's my thing. It's that time of the day, which is just mine. Sometimes as short as 15 minutes. Some lucky days, longer. Whichever one, I'm just happy sto start my day that way. My way. With the cleansing of the lime water , the energizing of the yoga, the taste of the beverage, the aroma of the incense, the calming of the Pranayama.

Because I never know what the day will bring. Excitement, bad news, good news, fatigue, peace, tension.

But I do know that I had a good start.