No one fancies the alarm clock ringing in the morning. Most people will just hit snooze over and over again. Others sum up all the energy in their bodies just to open their eyes. Others take ages to get out from under the covers.
The way you kick-start your day in the morning is what sets the pace for the rest of your day. If your morning is characterized by a lot of rushing, then your energy reserves will be depleted by 4 p.m.
Conditioning your body for the day will help you make wise decisions all day long. It will also ensure energy is distributed evenly throughout and this avoids slumps in the afternoon. Want to know how you can condition your body for the day? You’re in luck!
Keep off the snooze button
Most times, your alarm will ring at the peak of your sleep. In such cases, there’s always the temptation to hit the snooze button to conclude the sleeping session. Others snooze with the impression that it will get rid of the grogginess in the morning.
However, if you want to start your day on the right note, keep off the snooze button. Sleeping an extra five minutes will not add to your energy reserves or leave you feeling refreshed.
The first danger to hitting snooze is that you might revert into a deep sleep, which will be twice as hard to wake from. Additionally, getting jolted into wakefulness and then going to sleep may lead to sleep inertia. Sleep inertia occurs when you are suddenly awakened from REM sleep.
And of course, hitting snooze can have adverse effects on your body. It confuses your body clock. It causes the body to think that it can get away with a little more sleep each time the alarm rings.
It’s paramount that you get out of bed when the alarm sounds for the better functioning of the body.
Slow down
Don’t just jump up the moment the alarm goes off. It’s important that you take some time to center yourself before anything else. Take some deep breaths and plan out your day in your mind. This should pave the way into some light morning exercises.
Stretch
A night of sleep is characterized by a lot of lying down horizontally and very little moving. Your muscles and joints are pretty stiff by the morning. Your neck might also develop some pain depending on the kind of pillow you use. To reduce and avoid neck pain, invest in the best pillow for neck pain. All this can also be remedied by a little stretching in the morning.
By doing some light stretches, you boost your mobility and flexibility. This will, in turn, affect how we move throughout the day. Stretching also cultivates mindfulness. It focuses your attention on your body and causes you to think of the present. Mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress.
And of course, if you suffer from serious tension in the muscles, you can opt for massage oils and gently massage them into the sore areas. These oils will help smooth out the pains and leave you feeling like a million bucks.
Drink some water
At the end of a night’s sleep, your body is typically quite thirsty. It hasn’t gotten any dose of water in hours. This slight dehydration has been found to lead to low energy levels.
To remedy this, ensure that you have a glass of water by your bedside before going to sleep. The moment you rise, start your morning by drinking some water. By doing so, you will aid in firing up the metabolism, flush out toxins, fuel your brain and of course, hydrate yourself.
Drinking water will also help keep you awake. This is because drinking water helps to reduce the secretion of melatonin which is the hormone responsible for sleep.
Exercise
Exercising in the morning will help get your mind and body ready for the day. The best exercise in the morning is cardio or aerobic exercise.
Cardio has been found to work wonders. When you run or swim in the morning, it helps in improving your mood, it clears the mind and has also been found to reduce cognitive decline that results from aging.
Additionally, cardio strengthens the lungs and heart and will tone up your muscles. So how about you hit the track for about 45 minutes a day each morning? Your body will thank you for it.
Ditch your phone in the morning
When the alarm sounds in the morning, do you first reach out for your phone? Most people do. You might think that it’s best to first check your emails or Facebook before you start your day. However, this works against you.
Checking Facebook, Instagram, or your emails will only help kick you into reactive mode. It will only cause your body to build up stress and leave you feeling drained.
As such, when the alarm rings, turn it off and then leave the phone on the nightstand. Get on with your morning routine and only retrieve it when you are done. This will help you to start the day by focusing on yourself.
Get some food
Having breakfast in the morning is a good way to start your day—especially if your breakfast consists of three key things: protein, healthy fats, and fiber. Most people’s breakfasts lack these three ingredients.
The average American breakfast, which consists of pancakes, muffins, bagels, and cereal, does not consist of the above key ingredients. It is instead full of refined carbs which are unhealthy carbohydrates that rapidly turn into sugar in our bodies.
A healthy breakfast may comprise of a few eggs, some avocado slices, and Greek yogurt as well as nuts. Not only will these help you feel full, but they will also improve the digestion process and charge your energy reserves.
How you get up in the morning greatly determines the outcome of your day. It affects your energy reserves and your mood too. No need to jeopardize your day by taking up negative habits. With the above activities in your morning routine, you should be on your way to conditioning your body for the day.
Resources— US News, Inc., The Telegraph
