I have a regular early morning warm-up routine that is part literal warm-up and part woo woo.
I usually do my heaviest actual guitar practice early in the morning. As the day goes on my playing is more teaching, writing.. On and off, and a bit random. But in that crucial early morning real practice-centered time, I start off in the kitchen with my hands, soaking in hot soapy water (sometime seated epson salt) in an old serving bowl that I got from my mother and has been in the family for fifty years -the sentiment actually helps I think. It really makes my hands feel a lot better.
As for the other part; I’ve been lucky enough in my career to play with three absolute top-notch studio/sideman players to the stars, and if there’s anything I’ve taken away from working with them it is how they are just seemingly always immediately and completely in the zone. They're like buddhas and guitar playing is meditation -fully present not bogged down by the monkey mind going all over the place. I've also learned that it can be cultivated. So to that end, for my ten minutes of soaking in hot water, I do a simple meditation practice on an app I have. Ten minutes later I’m toweling off, freshening up my coffee and hitting the guitar in a solid undistracted frame of mine, with hands that feel young again – if only for a while
