Social media star’s elaborate wellness ritual reveals concerning lack of actual job responsibilities

Instagram wellness influencer Ashley Sunrise posted her complete morning routine Tuesday, accidentally revealing she’s unemployed and has approximately zero responsibilities. The six-hour ritual involves meditation, cold plunges, green juice preparation, content creation, more meditation, and somehow still not starting an actual workday.

The Routine That Raises Questions

‘I wake up at 4:30 AM because I’m committed to my wellness,’ Sunrise explained to her 890,000 followers, who mostly wake up at 7 AM in a panic and eat breakfast in their cars. Her morning includes: 45 minutes of meditation, 30 minutes of journaling, an ice bath, 90 minutes at the gym, smoothie bowl preparation and photography, another 30 minutes of meditation, and finally checking emails around 11 AM. Forbes notes this schedule is only possible for people whose job is posting about having routines.

‘Hour three is when I do my gratitude practice,’ Sunrise said in her viral video, filmed during golden hour lighting that required waking up even earlier than 4:30 AM. ‘Then I make my adaptogenic matcha, which takes about an hour because I source each ingredient mindfully.’ Her followers, currently eating gas station coffee while commuting, found this relatable content inspirational. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American commute is 27.6 minutes each way, meaning most workers spend nearly an hour daily just getting to work – time wellness influencers spend on their third meditation session.

As Jim Gaffigan would observe: ‘She’s got a six-hour morning routine? I’ve got a six-minute morning routine: hit snooze four times, contemplate life choices for ninety seconds, sprint out the door. That’s wellness.’ According to Business Insider, the influencer morning routine genre has become increasingly absurd as creators compete for the earliest wake-up time and most elaborate rituals.

The Economics Don’t Add Up

Sunrise claims her morning routine is ‘accessible to anyone committed to their best life,’ ignoring that most people have jobs requiring them to be somewhere before noon. ‘Anyone can do this,’ she insisted, describing a lifestyle requiring: no children, no commute, no boss, flexible schedule, and significant disposable income for organic açai bowls, gym memberships, and cold plunge equipment.

‘I don’t understand how she affords this life,’ commented follower Maria Santos, who wakes at 6 AM, gets kids ready for school, commutes 90 minutes, and arrives at work exhausted by 9 AM. The Wall Street Journal estimates maintaining Sunrise’s lifestyle costs approximately $80,000 annually, funded by selling the idea of this lifestyle to people who can’t afford it. Research from the Pew Research Center shows that 72% of American adults use some form of social media, but only 0.1% successfully monetize it as full-time influencers – meaning most people trying to replicate these routines are just exhausted and broke.

The Part Where She ‘Works’

Around hour five of her morning routine, Sunrise ‘starts her workday’ which involves filming herself doing all the things she just did, editing content, and responding to brand partnership emails. ‘My job is being authentic,’ she explained while promoting a $60 supplement containing ingredients your body produces naturally. Her definition of work would make most employment lawyers uncomfortable.

According to TechCrunch, wellness influencers have successfully monetized the appearance of not working while calling it entrepreneurship. ‘I’m building my brand,’ Sunrise said, a phrase meaning ‘I take pictures of myself and sometimes companies pay me.’ Her morning routine video was sponsored by a mattress company, creating a recursive loop of being paid to show people how you wake up.

What About Actual Jobs?

‘I used to have a corporate job,’ Sunrise told followers, ‘but I couldn’t maintain my wellness practice while working for someone else.’ Translation: She couldn’t do a six-hour morning routine and also have employment. Bloomberg reports this is common among wellness influencers who abandoned careers to film themselves being healthy, creating content for people still working those jobs.

Her followers’ comments reveal the disconnect: ‘Love this! Trying to incorporate into my schedule’ (impossible), ‘So inspiring!’ (depressing), and ‘Goals!’ (unrealistic). One honest commenter wrote: ‘I have two jobs and three kids. My morning routine is survival. This isn’t inspirational, it’s science fiction.’ Sunrise replied with a prayer hands emoji. The American Time Use Survey shows that employed Americans spend an average of 8.8 hours per day on work-related activities, leaving little room for six-hour morning wellness rituals that require being independently wealthy or monetizing the performance of wellness itself.

Sarah Silverman summed it up: ‘These influencers are like: Here’s my morning routine! Step one: Don’t have a job. Step two: Have money somehow. Step three: Tell people with jobs and no money that they’re not trying hard enough. Revolutionary.’ Sunrise’s latest post shows her evening routine, which apparently takes four hours and includes something called ‘intuitive rest.’ The rest of us call that sleeping because we’re exhausted from working. Different worlds.