Cindy Crawford shares the morning routine that helps her feel in control of her day — before she even checks her messages
During an appearance on the "Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky" podcast, the supermodel spoke about her morning ritual and how it sets the tone for her day.
Crawford told podcast host Monica Lewinsky that she gets up 20 minutes before her kids so she has time for herself in the mornings.
"I didn't want to wake up to 'Mommy, I need this,'" Crawford said, adding that she had to take care of herself first so she has "a better chance" of being her best self for the day.
In recent years, Crawford says she's made it a habit to avoid checking emails or messages first thing in the morning.
"I probably heard it on a podcast, but it was like 'Think about it. What is the first input you want?'" Crawford said.
"I listen to a Bible podcast or whatever. Every morning, they read a Bible verse, and then someone does a summary of it. That's my first input while I'm doing my dry brushing and I'm putting body oil on. I don't look at my messages or emails until I've taken that time for myself," she said.
Dry brushing is a beauty technique that involves using a dry brush to exfoliate the skin. It is said to also encourage blood circulation.
But even spending those 20 minutes offline can be a challenge, since she has to turn on her phone to access her Bible app and inevitably sees messages come in.
"I'm controlling the first input because what if someone has sent you a stressful text or email, and that's the first thing you wake up to?" Crawford said. "And now you're in response mode, or like, adrenaline gets going, because someone said the wrong word in a text that you took the wrong way. I just don't want that. I want to control my input for as long as I can."
In addition to avoiding messages, Crawford says she likes to spend time outside in the mornings.
"We live in Malibu. I'll go to the jacuzzi. I'm outside, I'm in nature, my feet are in the grass. I have this connection to nature, to source. All of that helps ground me," she said.
"By the time I come in from that, I'm like, "OK, I can I can do whatever," she added.
A representative for Crawford did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.
Other high-profile individuals, such as Hollywood celebrities and business leaders, also have their own morning rituals.
Keke Palmer told BI in May that she usually gets up between 6 a.m. and 6.45 a.m. and practices Pilates in the morning.
"It's the moment of my day that I get to myself, even if I'm in a class with other people. It's just me, feeling it, existing in the world, and doing something for myself. It's really meditative," Palmer said.
Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, said he gets up at 4:15 a.m. and avoids looking at his phone until after his morning workout because it helps him clear his head.
"I think it's vital, in terms of the ability to run a pretty complicated company in a very, very fast-paced world, to have the energy but also to have spent the time to organize one's thoughts," he said.
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