The Sandwich Method

Most of us wouldn’t think of beginning our day without washing the accumulated dirt from the day before off our bodies. Yet far too often we go out into the day without similarly cleansing our minds. And our minds carry more pollution than our bodies, for they carry not only our own toxicity but the entire world. At the beginning of the day, the mind is most open to receive new impressions. One of the most important things we can do is to take full responsibility for the power of the morning.

-Marianne Williamson

The Sandwich Method is a nondogmatic approach to starting and ending your day with direction, confidence, nourishment, coherence, and healing. Too often, we commit to a certain practice (e.g., morning gratitude journal), find ourselves skipping a day here and there, shaming ourselves, and, ultimately, stopping with the practice altogether.

The Sandwich Method is the anecdote to monotony. It fosters diversity of practice and allows you to cultivate practices aligned with your intuition, intentions, best or worse days, mood, and energies. The Sandwich Method represents the pinnacle of self-development advice: plan your day the day before, review your day the morning of, and prioritize what matters most by time blocking and scheduling your values in between. The Sandwich Method is best summarized from the Marianne Williamson quote above.

Practical Steps 

1. Carve out as little as one to five minutes or more (ten to thirty minutes) at the beginning and end of your day (your daily sandwich).
2. Find a place of solace or refuge. It can be anywhere, such as sitting in your bed or outside on the lawn. Dedicate this sacred time to feeding and nourishing yourself.
3. Prior to any formal practice, make a list of nourishing activities or experiences (five to ten items). Depending on your mood, energies, intuition, or your day’s quality, choose the practice that best speaks to you in the moment. Allow flexibility and avoid making this a rigid practice. Examples include:

• Planning your day the night before
• Prioritizing what matters most by time blocking and scheduling your values
• Reviewing your vision, goals, and values
• Listening to a guided meditation
• Breathwork or coherence exercises
• Prayer
• Listening to a favorite or inspiring piece of music
• Reading an inspiring book
• Journaling or simply contemplating various questions such as: What am I grateful for? What one thing must occur today to make this a great day? Who do I have to become today? What thoughts, emotions, and actions must think, feel, and take today? How did I respond today? How did I show up today? What lessons did I learn today?
• Sitting in silence
• Looking in the mirror and saying, I love you
• The Elemental Diet (see below)
• The Manifestation Method
• Self-realization practices
• And more…