Hi there! I’m Darya (like Arya from GoT, but with a D!), and I’m an intuitive business coach and wild human exploring the depths of life on a daily basis. I partner with soulful entrepreneurs to co-create an epic and profitable business from the heart… while guiding them through deep internal shifts, of course.
When I’m not strategizing on my business or obsessing over my students and mentees, I loooove diving into ancient spiritual philosophies, biohacking and wellbeing optimization, shadow integration, and all things NeuroAlchemy – my potent blend of modalities in all things neuroscience, magick, and the unconscious mind. Psst – I was actually planning to be a neuroscientist until one day I threw out all expectations and started a travel blog instead (and no, it doesn’t still exist on the interwebs!)
I’m a huge believer that life is to be lived at the highest caliber of freedom, expression, and joy, so I tend to gravitate to all things intense and weird. If that’s you, grab a bulletproof matcha or glass of red, and come dive into my very Virgo-y world of morning rituals.
What time do you wake up in the morning and how do you wake up? (To an alarm, music, the sun, etc.)
When I’m feeling activated and on fire? 7 am. When I’m honoring my winter phases and listening to my body’s wisdom? Couldn’t tell ya. It might be 9 am or I might get a huge intuitive insight at 4 am and spend the next three hours journaling on whatever is coming though *shrugs while giving the finger to societal expectations and rules.*
As far as how… I wish I could tell you I was all happy-go-lucky jumping out of bed without an alarm, but, nope. This girl is a 7-alarms-every-10-mins kind of gal.
What’s your go-to morning beverage?
Ooo wait, was I not supposed to give this away in the intro? Whoops. Bulletproof matcha, all the way. If you’ve never tried it, your life is about to change. Ghee, MCT oil, monk fruit extract (8 drops), cinnamon, vanilla extract (the good good kind), ceremonial matcha, a bit of frothed plant milk. Someone in my community once said it was “the elite way to drink matcha” and I agree.
If you try it, tag me. Let’s drool together.
What would we find on your bedside table?
Like, allll the beverages. A beverage graveyard, if you will. Tea, water, wine glass from the night before (mostly weekends, maybe…), whatever mid-day potion I whipped up.
Besides that, I’m kinda obsessed with earthy, organic scents of any kind (woodsy and floral being faves). So incense and/or an essential oil diffuser are key.
Also:
- Glossier balm dot com in Rose (THE best lip balm ever – don’t @ me).
- Blu Blox blue light blocking glasses (the RED red kind, in aviator style).
- Oura ring charger.
- Lion’s mane extract and magnesium complex supplements for sleep (told you I love biohacking, if you haven’t caught on yet).
- Necessaire hand and body lotion.
- Pachamama CBD.
- Journal (Wit & Delight is my obsession).
And of course, one of the 3-4 books I’m reading at one time. Right now, it’s Existential Kink (again), The Body Keeps the Score, Shakti Leadership, and Meta Human.
Do you prepare for your mornings the night before? If so, how?
This has seriously been crucial for me to not feel like a raging, anxious lunatic the next day, so, yes. Besides just making sure I have a clean environment around me (or clean-ish, at least), I take a quick peek at my Clickup to see what my commitments are for the next day.
Then, I write out these things in my journal:
- Celebrations for that day! Any accomplishments, synchronicities, wins, results, or just fun things that prove how epic life can be.
- Room for improvement. Whatever didn’t go so right, where I dropped the ball, etc. Be gentle with yourself here and have compassion, but also recognize that failing is awesome (and just feedback) and you should do it more often. After a while, you start to get bored of your own bs patterns and can shift them more easily.
- Action steps. Everything that could be improved, shall. Each item from the prompt above gets a quick little action of how to better go about this tomorrow. I just keep this list handy and open to peek at the next day and infuse it all into my subconscious mind.
- To-do for the following day. I write out alll the tasks I’d LIKE to complete. Next to each, I write how long I [realistically] expect each to take. Typically, at this point, I’ll have about 15 hours worth of tasks that I would have totally tried to do if it wasn’t for this nifty little exercise. Then we snip and delete anything that isn’t truly a priority or getting me more of what I want.
- Today. This is my agenda for the following day. I keep it pretty loose and flexible but I like to get an idea of when I might be doing each of these tasks making sure to leave room for changes and inspiration, as well as nourishment and soul-care.
That all takes me about 30 minutes. Not bad for having total clarity and direction the next day. I can’t say I do this daily, but definitely during times when I’m needing a bit more structure.
What are your skincare/body care rituals?
*Squeals at this question* I’m the person who scoffs at people who buy designer handbags (no judgment if that’s you ;)) but will drop $400 on luxury skincare products without hesitation. Whatever, it’s self-care, right? My only conditions are that the products truly work, and that they’re good for my overall health and hormones.
My current routine looks something like this…
- Makeup remover at night: Boscia Makeup-Breakup cleansing oil (only if I’m wearing makeup)
- Cleanser: Glossier milky jelly cleanser. It’s low PH, non-foaming, and smells delish.
- Morning serum: Osea Malibu hyaluronic sea serum. The most expensive product I own at $88, but nothing gets your face as bouncy and tight while enhancing moisture as this bad boy.
- Night serum: Curology! Saved my skin.
- Eye oil: Kora Organics Noni radiant eye oil. It’s simple, portable, and not as heavy as most eye creams.
- Moisturizer: Biossance squalane + omega repair cream. A thicc boi with some serious moisturizing powers.
- Oil (mix with moisturizer): Chuck & Sam Herbalist facial oil. Like a green juice for your face.
- Body: Osea Malibu Undaria algae oil (Victoria Beckham is obsessed with it) or the Necessaire cream I mentioned above.
What does your morning routine flow look like?
I love to leave room for whatever I’m craving that day, and it really does differ. But, I also love a good schedule, so a typical “all-out” day might look something like this:
7:00 am – Wake up, brush teeth, tongue scrape, wash face, drink hot water with lemon, and start brewing my tea/herbs.
7:20 am – Breathwork 15 minutes, drink tea/herbs, meditation 20ish minutes.
8:00 am – Journal 30 mins, read 30 mins, and somewhere in there make bulletproof matcha.
9:15 am – Workout! I love yoga, strength training, and The Class by Taryn Toomey.
10:30 am – Shower and get ready for the day, which usually means attempting to tame my bangs and doing said skincare routine above.
When do you kick off your workday? And do you have any starting-work rituals?
Around 11 am, and pretty much never earlier than that. Sometimes if I don’t feel like starting til after lunch, I’ll honor that. I do all my favorite things in the morning to show my unconscious mind that my joy and nourishment matter more than whatever is going on in the business.
No rituals! Except maybe some smoke clearing (ethically sourced palo santo, especially) or incense. I batch my days so every day of the week looks totallyyy different!
How does your morning routine change on the weekends?
As much as waking up early makes me a better, happier, more productive person, I live my life in ebbs and flows, and the weekends are definitely an ebb. I sleep in until 9 or 10, lounge in bed (with lots of cuddles) for at least a couple of hours, read a book, and eventually order delivery food. Now that’s my kind of productive.
What does your mindset look like at the beginning of the day? Do you have any tips or tools for getting in a good mindset?
Typically, anxious but excited. I’m an overthinker so I’ll have a million things swirling in my mind, which is why my morning routine is sooooo sacred to me because it allows me to get clear on my priorities (which, if I’m being honest, are rarely that email I have to respond to or that IG post I want to post).
The thing is, you can’t just “get into” a good mindset. You have to LIVE from a good mindset (whatever “good” means to you). And the key to doing so doesn’t lie in affirmations or journal prompts or thought catching. It’s who you are BEING on an energetic, spiritual, emotional, physical, and finally, mental level.
Your identity creates your beliefs and thoughts, so stop trying to tweak those and, instead, have the courage to step into the next-level version of you, now.
What’s non-negotiable vs. what does an extra-luxurious morning look like?
Luxurious but real morning looks like the schedule above. EXTRA-luxurious morning means I throw in a deliciously juicy cacao ceremony, a self-pleasure practice, or some of my own NeuroAlchemy work.
When all hell breaks loose, my non-negotiables that will never budge are:
- General hygiene stuff? Bathroom, teeth, tongue scrape, skincare sort of thing.
- Hot water with lemon, tea, and matcha.
- At least 10 minutes of meditation.
- Some sort of movement, even if that means 20 minutes instead of my usual 60-75.
What would you like to improve with your mornings?
Feeling into the PLEASURE and JOY of every day. Honoring how my body is feeling even if that means releasing some of the nonnegotiables I just mentioned. Getting ultra-intentional about the impact and shift I’m making in the world that day.
What’s your #1 recommendation to others who struggle with mornings?
Do something that makes you feel alive.
