How does your morning routine inspire your day?
Whether you bounce out of bed or hit the snooze button 4 times these quick tips for a wholesome morning routine are sure to set you sailing through the day.
1 . Banish the Sleep (Snooze) Button
The snooze button is not your friend. When your alarm goes off, it interrupts the REM cycle, and the repeated intrusions every 10 minutes only ensure that your body’s natural rhythm is off.
Set your alarm for when you need to get up and resist the urge to lye in – your day will be all the better for it.
2. Wake to Smooth Tunes
Sound has the ability to change the molecular structure of our bodies so you can only imagine what the horrible buzzing sound is doing to your insides. Try setting a favourite song or pleasant sound as an alarm so that can wake in a more gentle and relaxed way.
3. Stretch
Awaken your body – after hours of lying flat gently reach into all of your limbs, through the tips of your fingers and toes, lengthen your spine and reach back with your arms – take some long deep breaths. Even a few minutes of stretching is enough to ease the body into being up right and moving around, you will find your body responds with agility and awareness.
4. Let there be light
Whether it is natural or artificial light, light helps to send a message to the brain that it is time to wake up. With this little insight the brain can turn off our sleep hormone (melatonin) and kick things into gear. So open the curtains, switch on the light and welcome the day!
5. Drink Water
That feeling of a dry mouth when you wake is a good sign that your body is dehydrated after a night of sleep. Be sure to drink a good glass of (room temperature) water to awaken your muscles and organs.
6. Eat with Mindfulness
Prepare your breakfast in a mindful way – we suggest a good serve of protein (like eggs) for some long sustainable energy. Be present to your food, find a place to sit, enjoy each mouthful without the distractions of a TV, phone or internet. Avoid multi tasking – food is our way of nourishing our being and each mouthful deserves the utmost attention.
7. Get Moving
Of course exercise was going to be on this list – perhaps lets re-frame the word exercise and replace it with ‘movement’. The morning is the best time to move and that movement practice can be your own unique thing – put music on and dance, deepen your morning stretches by flowing into a yoga session, walk, cycle, swim – let your practice be a gift to yourself.
8. Feel Inspired
There are many ways to uplift our energy – for some ‘Quick and Easy Ways to Raise Your Vibration’ click here. >
If you are a techno surfer and like to wake to your computer or phone try using technology to inspire your day – whether you sign up for a daily inspirational quote or find a health site that offers good smoothie recipes – technology can be source of uplifting inspiration if you allow it. Set a timer for browsing time to keep your morning on track and bookmark your morning websites for ease (and less distractions!)
9. Get Ahead
If you are a to-do-list kind of person spend a moment before climbing into bed at night to write a little list of the things that are on your mind and pick out what you want to wear for the next day. These two things will allow your mind to rest, save time and reduce stress in the morning.
10. Breathe
Breathe deeply – and know you are breathing. A few deep breathes can bring us into the moment, out of our heads and into our bodies and it is in this wonderful moment that great things are happening! Try sighing or making a noise with your out breath – using it to let go. Breathe deeply into your belly and allow the oxygen to fill you. You don’t have to make time to do this practice, you can be doing it any time you are mindful… so start your day with some mindfulness!
