Slowing down your mornings
We are living in a fast-paced world. We are constantly bombarded, overstimulated, overthinking, overworking, and unable to catch a proper break.
Our brains, for the most part, are constantly switched on - professionally, socially, and emotionally. From the moment we wake up until the second we fall asleep, we’re hyper aware of not only what’s happening in our own life, but the lives of our family, friends and colleagues, and of course, what’s going on in the world at large.
Now you might be thinking, “So what? What’s the big deal?” … WELL folks, our bodies and our minds are actually not designed to be in such a constant state of stress and alertness. Think about it, our cavemen ancestors didn’t wake up and worry about their Instagram notifications, or whether the TikTok they posted the night before had gone viral, or if that business proposal ended up going through.
Biologically, we’re not wired to live in a constantly demanding world.
I recently attended a Professional Development course on this very topic, and the key message was: “simplicity is the healing to the fast-paced world”.
So, how can we become more… simple? It actually all starts with our mornings. Think about it - our morning can dictate a lot about how our day goes. We’ve all experienced it; you wake up in a bad mood because you’re still stressed about something from the day before. Then the clothes you need are in the wash, the dishwasher is broken, and the bathroom floods when you have your shower. When you have one of those mornings, it’s pretty hard to turn things around and still have an amazing day.
So what can you do to win the morning and win the day? Let’s start with some things you could try to avoid:
Waking up to a really loud or startling alarm clock.
Say goodbye to that jolting BEEP BEEP BEEP alarm and wave hello to a more gradual wake-up sound. This is because waking up abruptly to those loud alarms can mess with your sleep cycle, leaving you feeling groggy and tired when you wake up. Of course, this can affect how you feel for the rest of the day, and create a vicious cycle of building exhaustion and losing sleep - so it’s best to opt for those chimes or nature sounds to get you out of bed in the morning.
Opening your phone or turning on the TV straight away.
When you wake up and immediately check your phone or turn on the news, you’re suddenly inundated with notifications, information, and other stimulation which often create feelings of stress and anxiety - even if you don’t realise. What’s more, when you start your morning distracted by your phone, you set a certain tone for the day ahead. The truth is that when you’re using your phone immediately upon waking, the information overload hits you before you’re fully awake, interfering with your ability to prioritise tasks for the rest of the day - and that is going to create a general feeling of overwhelm, which is not so good.
Rolling out of bed and heading to the kitchen for coffee.
Every morning when you wake up your body releases cortisol and adrenaline, these are essentially stress hormones, but your body uses them here to get you up and ready for the day. The problem is that caffeine and cortisol are not friends, so when you add caffeine to your already heightened cortisol, you’re creating one very stressful cocktail - probably not your desired result. So instead, try waiting an hour or so to reach for that cup of joe.
Now, here are some things that you can add to your mornings to set you up for the best day:
Sip that sweet H2O.
Seriously, by drinking more water in the morning, your body gets a head start on keeping yourself properly hydrated throughout the day - better for organ function, including your brain!
Get yourself some sunshine.
As I mentioned earlier, when you first wake up, your body makes a stress hormone called cortisol. But what you might not know is that sunlight helps your body make a brain chemical called serotonin, a mood stabiliser that influences your feelings of happiness. So getting 10-15 minutes of sun in the morning helps your body make that sweet serotonin, enhancing the production of dopamine and reducing the production of cortisol.
Do something active.
Find a form of movement that works for you, whether that’s stretching, walking, weight lifting or something in between. When you move your body in the morning, you boost your energy throughout the day, improve focus and cognitive function, and the endorphins released put you in a better mood too!
Have breakfast within the first 30 minutes to 2 hours of waking up.
If you wake up at 7, the best time to eat is somewhere between 7:30-9:00. By avoiding that first 30 minutes you’re allowing your body and digestive system some time to wake up (and giving you time to drink some water).
Wake up 20 to 30 minutes earlier than you need.
I know you love your sleep (I do too!), but when you give yourself time to have a slower morning, you allow your mind and body the chance to properly wake up. It also means you have the time to actually do some of these things that help set you up for a better day - after all, no one feels good when they’re in a rush.
All of these things can be incorporated into your morning routine - another great tool for better mental health and wellbeing.