If you’re a morning person, or someone who wants to become a morning person, I’ve got you covered. Having a morning routine and habits to start your day is crucial to how you’re going to perform and feel all day.
I’m going to be sharing my favorite things to do in the morning that start my day off on the right foot and put me in the best mental space possible!
Morning Routine Habits
1. It starts the night before
A truly solid morning routine starts the night before. There is no way you can feel rested and ready to go in the morning if you didn’t set yourself up to do so the previous night.
One of the best ways to set yourself up the night before is staying off your phone at least 2 hours before bed or using blue light glasses. If you’re looking at blue light at night that comes from phones, computers, or TVs, you’re tricking your body into thinking that it’s daytime and to produce the stress hormone, cortisol.
We don’t want to be stressed at night! Give yourself time to unwind. I can be guilty of trying to work late into the night, but it never ends up working out. There’s nothing wrong with slowing down at night, having a good snack, and getting proper rest.
2. Stay off the phone
Back to the phone! I used to look at my phone and check it first thing when I woke up. When you’re doing this, you’re immediately giving yourself to others and making yourself reactive to what others are doing. If the first thing you’re seeing is what others are doing that you’re not, you’re setting yourself up for comparison.
I would be lying if I said I didn’t look at my phone in the morning. After all, I have to look at it to turn my alarm off. Usually, I’ll just glance at the notifications on my home screen, but I won’t touch them or respond to anything for at least an hour.
If you really wanted to be dedicated to staying off the phone, I would recommend getting an alarm clock that’s not your phone and charging your phone in a different room so you don’t even have a chance to look at it. Try doing this for a few days, and I promise that you will feel calmer and less reactive.
3. EAT
You know this had to make the list! I cannot stress enough the importance of eating in the morning, especially again for my lady friends who have hormonal issues! When you wake up, your blood sugar is low because you’ve been “fasting” overnight.
Having low blood sugar can be a stressor on our bodies, and increase that stress hormone again, cortisol. Instead of unnecessarily raising our stress, we can prevent it by eating. You don’t need to have a gourmet breakfast to do this. Try some of these recipes that can be made in less than 5 minutes: Brownie Batter Overnight Oats, Microwave French Toast, or Chunky Monkey Chia Pudding.
4. Yoga or gentle movement
Doing some kind of gentle movement has been a key part of my mornings. Notice how I say “gentle movement.” A few months ago, the first thing I did when I woke up was a 40 minute HIIT workout. Not so gentle.
Even though exercise has so many benefits for our physical and mental health, it’s ultimately a form of stress on our body. By doing a high-intensity workout first thing in the morning, you’re giving your body some stress, which can affect your hormones. This is especially important for women, especially women who are trying to get their period back.
Some people prefer working out in the morning and that’s the only time they have. I’ve found that doing slower movements like yoga or Pilates in the morning puts me in a better headspace. It’s trial and error, and what works for me may not work for you!
5. Meditation and breathwork
I have finally gotten into meditation and breathwork, and can truly say that it’s amazing. After I do my yoga practice, I’ll lay down or sit and take some deep breaths, then do alternate nostril breathing. I’m not really sure how long I do it for, because I don’t time it. It usually feels pretty long to me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was only for 2 minutes.
If you want to get into this, start small. Start with just 1 minute of quiet breathing, then work your way up. There’s no use in jumping into a 20-minute meditation that just seems so foreign if this is something you want to stick to.
6. Get outside
This is totally weather and location-dependent, but if you could get outside in the morning, I really recommend it. Personally, I don’t do this all the time due to my schedule, but I would love to do it more. Just getting outside for a quick walk or having your coffee outside can gently wake your body up and give it some vitamin D.
7. Make yourself unavailable
I don’t want this to come across as mean or selfish, because it’s not. This kind of goes along with the phone. When you check your phone right away and start answering emails and messages, you’re giving up your precious morning time for others.
With more people working from home, it can be easy to assume that everyone is on their phones, which makes people want immediate responses. I heard Lauryn Bosstick explain it this way on her podcast… When someone is messaging or texting you, they’re asking for your time and coming into your energy. Don’t feel that you need to compromise your mental space or morning routine to answer a message that could be easily answered in an hour.
8. Don’t rush through it
Your morning is precious and doesn’t last all day, so don’t rush through it! When you’re stressing and doing homework during the day, you’re going to wish that you gave yourself more time to wake up.
I like to work backward when I’m making my morning routine to allow myself enough time to wake up. If I have class at 10:00, and I want to do yoga for 20 minutes, meditate for 5 minutes, read for 15 minutes, and give myself time to freshen up, then I need to wake up at 8:45.
Your morning routine may just be 5 minutes of breathwork, which is great. Lengths will vary, but as long as you have at least one thing that is consistent and you give yourself time for, I promise that you will see a difference in your life.
xoxo
