Episode 90 – The Power of a “Sacred Morning” with Michelle Machado
What if the way you start your morning could change the way you show up for your entire day?
In this episode of De-Stress the Nest, Hannah Morgan talks with Dr. Michelle Machado, speaker, author, and mom of two, about the power of creating a “sacred morning” before the rest of the house wakes up.
Michelle shares how she moved away from starting her day with her phone, stress, and outside noise, and instead began using the early morning to pour into herself through reflection, prayer, meditation, and nervous system regulation.
Her upcoming book, Alive Again: Four Steps to Reclaim Your Life in a Distracted World, releases August 11.
Key Takeaways
Start with yourself: Giving your best energy to yourself first can change how you show up for your family.
Avoid your phone first thing: External noise can shape your mood before your day even begins.
Create a small sacred morning ritual: Even 5, 10, or 15 minutes can make a difference.
Know your why: Change is easier to sustain when you understand why it matters.
Expect resistance: Your brain wants to stay comfortable, so new habits take intention.
Consistency rewires patterns: Repeating a morning practice can help create new pathways in your brain.
Quotes
“That’s my time to pour into my cup.”
“When my kids see me in the morning, they’re getting the best out of me.”
“Some of those thoughts that you put into your brain before you even get out of bed can set the scene for how you show up.”
“Start with your why.”
“Take ownership of your brain, rather than your brain running the program that has been running for decades.”
Resources Mentioned
Michelle Machado – Speaker, author, and mental resilience expert helping people get out of their own heads and reclaim their lives.
Alive Again: Four Steps to Reclaim Your Life in a Distracted World – Michelle Machado’s upcoming book, releasing August 11.
Heron House Management - Virtual house management for busy families: we handle your to-dos so you can focus on what matters most. Learn more at www.heronhousemanagement.com.
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This episode of De-Stress the Nest is sponsored by Working Moms Movement, a coaching and system-based program designed to help working moms stop living in survival mode and start building a life that actually works.
Learn more at www.workingmomsmovement.com.
About Heron House Management:
Heron House Management is a virtual house management service that takes the stress out of your busy life by taking on your mental load and managing your To Do list. We provide fractional virtual house management for busy families at 10, 15 and 20+ hours/month.
Meal planning, signing up for kids activities, scheduling doctor's appointments, finding a house cleaner, planning your kid's birthday party, getting quotes for that home renovation project, or scheduling a monthly date night with your significant other and so much more. We do it all! Learn more at www.heronhousemanagement.com.
About Hawkeye Focus Coaching:
Hawkeye Focus Coaching helps ADHD executives, entrepreneurs, and busy professionals turn ideas into action. Through personalized, hands-on coaching, deep work sessions, accountability, and practical systems, we help clients overcome overwhelm, stay focused on what matters most, and make consistent progress toward their goals.
Whether you're launching a business, leading a team, managing a major project, or trying to get out of constant firefighting mode, Hawkeye Focus Coaching helps you work with greater clarity, confidence, and momentum. Learn more at www.hawkeyefocuscoaching.com.
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[00:00] Hannah Morgan:
Welcome to De-Stress the Nest, a podcast for busy parents where experts share bite-sized tips on how to create systems that minimize stress at home. I'm your host, Hannah Morgan.[00:12] Hannah Morgan:
Today's episode is sponsored by the Working Moms Movement, a coaching and system-based program designed to help working moms stop living in survival mode and start building a life that actually works. Through a combination of personalized coaching and building practical real-life systems, Working Moms Movement helps you reduce overwhelm, reclaim your time, and feel more present in both your career and your family without having to sacrifice one for the other. So if you've ever felt like you're doing everything right but still feel constantly behind, this is for you. You can learn more at workingmomsmovement.com.[00:42] Hannah Morgan:
Michelle, I'm so excited to welcome you to the show. Glad to have you on as a guest. Let's start by hearing a little bit about who you are and what you do.[00:51] Michelle Machado:
Thank you so much for having me, Hannah. I'm Dr. Michelle Machado. I am a speaker and author. I'm publishing my book, Alive Again: Four Steps to Reclaim Your Life in a Distracted World, this summer. I'm also a mom of two young girls. What I speak about is mental resilience. I help people get out of their own heads because I think so many of us are stuck inside our own thinking. I know this because I've lived it, and it's what I help people do.[01:18] Hannah Morgan:
Amazing. So glad to have you with us today. Thanks, Michelle.[01:21] Michelle Machado:
Thank you for having me.[01:24] Hannah Morgan:
So, Michelle, today we're going to chat about the sacred morning, as you call it. Let's talk about how you like to start your day, what you recommend to our listeners, and how we can get a jumpstart on a wonderful day from the beginning, especially if maybe you're not such a morning person.[01:43] Michelle Machado:
I love that, and I love that you said, if you're not a morning person, because we often say we're a morning person or we're a night person, but I believe we have a choice in what we choose to do. For me, I wake up about 30 minutes, sometimes an hour, sometimes two hours before the house wakes up.The reason for that is because that's my time to pour into my cup. As a mom of two young girls, as someone who is high-achieving and trying to run the household, run my business, and do everything on my to-do list, I'm constantly go, go, go when everyone else is awake.
If I'm not able to pour into my cup, then when my kids see me in the morning, they're not getting the best of me. I know this because this is how I used to be. I would wake up in the morning, and before my feet even touched the floor, I'd be grabbing my phone, checking messages, checking social media, checking what happened overnight, really allowing all these external things into my brain.
Some of those things would stress me out before I even got out of bed. Those first thoughts can really set the scene for how you show up and move through your day.
So through an evolution of many different things that happened in my life, I created what I call the Sacred Morning. I wake up before everyone else and I pour into my cup. For me, that looks like spending time reflecting, spending time in prayer—I'm a faith-based person—and spending time meditating and calming my nervous system.
When I do that, when I go wake up my kids, they get the best version of me. Even if I have a stressful day ahead, I know I'm going to show up differently.
For anyone listening, it doesn't have to be hours. It can be 10 minutes. It can be 20 minutes. Grab your coffee or tea and just spend a few moments pouring into yourself before the day begins.
If you do that consistently, you begin changing pathways in your brain. Over time, it becomes who you are, and you'll see the impact it has on your children and your family because when you pour into yourself, you're so much more abundant to pour into others.
[04:37] Hannah Morgan:
This is interesting. I've read there's a really strong argument for starting your day with your "me time" instead of ending your day with it. You're fresher, you don't have competition for your attention, and you don't have the weight of the day bogging you down. You get to give your best self to yourself first, and then your family benefits from that.So tell me… how do I become this person? I wake up, I set the alarm. How do I keep myself from snoozing, becoming resentful, or just being a groggy mess? What helps people actually follow through?
[05:06] Michelle Machado:
I think the first question you have to ask yourself is: Why are you doing what you're doing?If you examine your patterns and you're not happy with how you're showing up for yourself, your family, or your work, that's where you begin.
Who do I want to become? How do I get there?
Your brain is programmed to stay comfortable. The moment you start doing something different, it's going to try to pull you back into old habits. That's why understanding your why is so important.
When that alarm goes off and your brain says, "Just five more minutes," you have to answer back, "No. I'm doing this for me. I'm doing this for my family."
Set your phone to Do Not Disturb. Don't look at it first thing. So many of us absorb everyone else's priorities before we've even started our own day.
Give yourself five, ten, or fifteen minutes and watch the ripple effect. You have to start somewhere, and by repeating it over and over, you take ownership of your brain instead of letting your brain continue running the same program it's been running for years.
[07:22] Hannah Morgan:
I love that. Super actionable. Thank you for sharing, Michelle. Here's to many mornings that are peaceful, quiet, and devoted to filling our own cups, because we all know that's usually the first thing to get cut as busy parents. But we also know it's one of the most important things we can do for ourselves—and for everyone around us. Thanks so much for being here.[07:40] Michelle Machado:
Thank you so much for having me, Hannah.[07:43] Hannah Morgan:
We covered a lot of really helpful tips with Michelle today, so let's do a quick recap.Three takeaways from today's conversation:
Number one, don't wait until the end of the day to take care of yourself. Even 10 or 15 intentional minutes at the beginning of your day can set the tone for the entire rest of your day and how you show up for yourself, your family, and your work.
Number two, your brain naturally resists change. So if waking up feels hard, that's totally normal. It's not a sign that you're a failure. It's just something that you need to work on as a habit, and let your why drive you so that consistency can happen every day.
And then number three, protect those first moments of your day before reaching for your phone. And this is important: spend a few quiet minutes doing whatever is important to you—journaling, meditating, stretching, walking, or maybe just even having a cup of coffee in peace before the chaos erupts.
Small habits create a ripple that affects the entire day. So if you want to have a great start to your day, here's just a couple ways to do it.
[09:06] Hannah Morgan:
Thanks for listening to De-Stress the Nest, the podcast where experts share bite-sized tips on how to minimize stress at home. Don't forget to subscribe and tune in every Tuesday for more ways to simplify your life.
