Most people's morning routine consists of grabbing a coffee and then rushing out the door for work.
Steve Maxwell's morning routine is on an absolute another level. He does more than 25 exercises. Needless to say, he gets his day off to a good start.
This is the second part of the second interview I did with Steve. Check out the first part of this interview here. We spoke about his thoughts on Pranayama breathing and Chi. Also, check out the first interview I did with him awhile back.
By no means is this an extensive description of Steve's routine. It's a good introduction to what he does. He has a video that goes into his morning routine in much more detail. Please check it out.
Also, if you guys want to support us and Steve, check out the shirt that Ted Park and us designed for Steve.
Hope you guys enjoy this one!
"A solid routine fosters a well-worn groove for one’s mental energies and helps stave off the tyranny of moods." - Mason Currey, author of Daily Rituals
Mental Exercises - Affirmations
My first exercise is to make positive affirmations to set the pace of the day. It’s a spiritual mental exercise.
"Today I will see only the good. Only good comes to me. Only good comes from me."
"I will endeavour to be the best person I can be."
"I will try to see the best in everyone else."
Those are only a few, but they give you a good idea of what I do.
If you project love, energy, and goodness, then you will attract the same. It’s the universal principle of law of attraction. If you are manifesting unpleasant situations in your life, then you're projecting negative energy. You are spending too much time concentrating on negative things.
Thoughts are things. Thoughts are energy. If you put the thought into words and speak them, you give them power. You energize the thought. And that thought will go out into the Universe and bring back the exact same energy. So if you are cursing someone or you are coming up with negative statements, you are only going to bring that same type of negative energy back to yourself. So I try to avoid that.
"Even when I had my gym, Maxercise, I still had my morning routine. I would just get up an hour early and do it, which meant going to bed early. Even when I had a full day’s work at my gym, and I used to work some pretty extensive hours, I always did a morning routine."
Physical Exercises
Head
I do a vigorous head massage. I massage pressure points on my forehead, my face, and my sinuses.
Eye Yoga
I also do a particular Chinese eye exercise. I place my thumbs on my temples. I rub my eyebrows under my eyes. I massage my eyes, and then palm them. Then I do blinking and eye yoga. Basically it’s just moving the eyes in all different positions. Sometimes I resist the movement of the eye ball with the finger in a certain direction.
Ears
Then I will massage the ears vigorously. My ears are damaged from years of college wrestling and Jiu Jitsu. They are referred to as cauliflower ears. They have a lot of scar tissue. I was told that because of the damage of the ear, my pressure points are somewhat messed up, but I massage them anyway.
Drums of Heaven
Then I do a Taoist Yoga exercise called Drums of Heaven. I palm my ears, and then I used my index fingers to strike the back of my cranium. It makes the hollow drumming, booming sound in your inner ear. It's very good for your ear nerve.
Juice of Jade
Then I roll my tongue sixteen times. I like to lick the front of the teeth, all around the gums circle it sixteen times clockwise and then counter-clockwise. Then I do the same in the inside of the teeth right where the teeth meets the gums. This produces a lot of saliva. You swish the saliva around 34 times from side to side. This is especially good for gum and teeth health. Then you swallow it three times with the tongue pressed up on the roof of the mouth.
That’s called Juice of Jade.
Jaw and Fingers
Then I do some jaw exercises.
Then I usually massage my fingers, each knuckle, and bend the finger back. I’m not cracking per say. It’s just to bend and twist the fingers, to work those pressure points.
Back and Neck
Then I’ll throw the pillows on the floor and do some neck exercises, side to side.
And then I’ll sit up and arch my back.
I do some baby rolls. I’m rolling over like a little baby. I’m only using my head and neck to do it.
There’s another movement I do. It’s similar to a Jiu Jitsu move where you move your head out of the way like I’m going to do the bump and roll escape when a person is mounted on you. In Jiu Jitsu, this is called the upa. I don’t actually bend my legs, but I kind of do a similar motion with just arching my back and activating the posterior spot.
Then I sit up and do head nods and turn my head back and forth. My feet are on the floor at this point.
Sometimes I’ll do some tapping and massage.
Mouth and Teeth Care
Then I swish with this special mouthwash that I buy from this company called Uncle Harry's Natural Products. It’s unbelievable. This guy makes the best stuff.
I also do tongue scraping.
I then brush my teeth using a special natural clay toothpaste from Uncle Harry’s. I rinse my mouth with Uncle Harry’s special alkalizing mouth wash. I do more gum massage with a gum massager.
Scalp
Then I massage my head with a little round thing that has little points on it. Then I put a couple of drops of Uncle Harry’s hair tonic on my head and massage it into the scalp. It’s very invigorating. The smell is like eucalyptus-peppermint.
Brushing Body
Then I dry brush massage my body. I use a natural bristle brush. It’s called a Swedish dry brush. It's fantastic for the skin. This keeps the skin very supple, youthful, and healthy.
And then if I’m going to go train, I’ll usually take a damp cloth and rub it over the body and just air dry.
"You don't need testosterone supplements."
Cold Water Treatment
Tapping and Kidney Rub
If I’m not going to go out and train, I’ll take an ice cold shower. While I’m in the shower, I do these particular tapping drills for my arms.
I also rub my kidneys.
Deer Exercise
I do something called a Deer Exercise where you hold the testicles in one hand, and rub the hand counter-clockwise. Then you hold the testicles in your other hand, and rub counter-clockwise. You don't need testosterone supplements. The deer exercise get your old t-levels up there really good.
Kidneys and Tapping
Then I do kidney tapping on the back. And then another kidney rub in a circular motion for digestion.
Then I do tapping for the legs, and then I massage them.
Of course you pull the fingers and the toes. This all under the ice cold water.
More Brushing
Then I do a special towel treatment that I learnt from a Russian guy. He was a sauna master. They have a particular routine where you really briskly rub yourself down with a coarse towel. The way to make a coarse towel is just by washing it, and leaving it to line dry, so that it becomes really coarse and rough. Great for the skin.
Walk and Morning Workout
Then I’ll usually go out and take a walk using the Russian breathing ladders, which is another form of Chi training. Lately I’ve been going out and doing my morning workout. If I do a workout, I’ll come back and wash the perspiration off. I’ll do the cold shower treatment after that.
Coffee
I must admit I like my coffee. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with coffee. But we travel with a little micro-filter coffee press. We don’t geek out too much. We don’t buy special coffee beans or anything. We just try to get nice, organic beans when we can.
Bowel Movement
I will not eat any food until I’ve had a good bowel movement every morning. Eating before you have a bowel movement is a really filthy habit. You need to eliminate and get rid of the previous day’s waste before you start gorging yourself with food.
It always amazes me to see these giant fat people in America where the first thing they do is rush down to the breakfast buffet in these Hotels, and gorge themselves with pastries and eggs and toast and cereal.
It makes me want to vomit just watching these people stuffing their bodies. Your body is not nearly ready. It has not got rid of the metabolic waste from the day before. And you know most of these people probably don’t shit for three or four days at a time, so you can imagine what their colons look like.
I personally do not eat until I have a bowel movement. People don’t realize just how important that elimination is. You're basically re-absorbing the waste through the gut membrane into the blood. Eating intefers with elimination. That’s why sometimes I like to have a little workout too.
That routine varies a little bit here and there. But that’s something I do virtually every single day.
Of course, I also wear a fitness tracker. I'm wearing a FitBit Surge right now. I’m pacing as we talk. I’m walking around the room like a caged tiger. I like to walk and talk on the phone with my ear buds in. I’m pretty close to 14,000 steps so far today.
Length
"Get your ass in bed an hour early."
This morning routine takes about 15 to 20 minutes. And then I’ll go out and train. That can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half depending on how I feel and what my goals are for that day.
I’ve engineered my life so I don’t have to go work some job that I don’t care for. I’ve engineered my life where I do have this time to spend.
Even when I had my gym, Maxercise, I still had my morning routine. I would just get up an hour early and do it, which meant going to bed early. Even when I had a full day’s work at my gym, and I used to work some pretty extensive hours, I always did a morning routine. Not too different from what I spoke to you about.
Let’s say you rush in the morning, and you take 15 minutes to have coffee and breakfast. If you had to recommend two or three things that you absolutely have to do in the morning, what would they be?
I’d recommend doing something at night. Get your ass in bed an hour early. There’s no reason for people to stay up so late.
People talk about not having enough sleep, but what they’re doing is they’re stimulating themselves, watching nonsense on the television or on the computer.
A lot of guys surf the web on social media, which is okay. Once you get past ten o’clock, that computer screen has a very stimulating effect on your nervous and glandular system. It also produces wakefulness similar to sunlight.
Probably one of the most horrible things that a person can do would be surfing porn. Pornography is extremely destructive. It destroys your relationship. It destroys any healthy sexual life you will ever have. And a lot of guys are out there surfing porn sites at night. It’s terrible thing.
It’s something that they need to stop immediately. It’s psychically harmful.
If you enjoyed this interview, try out my interview with Dr. Stephen Liben, palliative care physician.
In other words, he works with children who have terminal illnesses. His perspective on life and his work is deeply influenced by Buddhism. And that was the main subject of this interview.
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