By Dana DeMercurio
Waking up is hard to do – we get that. To make your morning more bearable, take up these a.m. rituals that will seriously change your life.
- Meditate: Proven to increase productivity, promote stress reduction and even obstruct negative thoughts and emotions, meditation has become a common. Whether practiced on its own or during yoga, meditation is one of the easiest antidotes for your daily woes.
- Find something to be thankful for: Starting the day with a grateful heart will have enormous benefits lastly well beyond the morning hours. And what’s more, it’s healthy! Scientists and researchers have long found that gratitude is associated with greater happiness and helps people build stronger relationships with positive emotions. Giving thanks doesn’t just sound good, it actually feels good.
- Prep your to-do list the night before: Waking up with a purpose and goals in mind will make for instant satisfaction once you start crossing things off your list. Even the smallest accomplishments throughout your day will gradually add up and will inspire you to life each day to the fullest. Spending just 15 minutes every day organizing your thoughts and goals in this way will cut out all those hours of unproductivity whether at home or at the office.
- Reflect: By the end of the day you’re dragging your feet and begging for bedtime, but before you turn the lights out or lay your head down on the pillow, make a habit of reflecting in a journal or verbally with your partner. If you don’t consider the mistakes you made throughout the day, you’re doomed to repeat them. Reflection is a positive precaution for those seeking insight on how to improve upon their daily life from a positive perspective.
- Make morning-sex a routine: Adding a quick (or not so quick) lovemaking session in the AM can not only boost your overall mood, but also improve the quality of your hair, nails and skin. And if that’s not enough, here’s this: research scientist and author of Because It Feels So Good, Dr. Debby Herbenick, states that “morning sex can strengthen your immune system for the day by enhancing your levels of IgA, an antibody that protects against infection.” Further research has found that having sex multiple times a day – including in the morning – can cut your risk of stroke or heart attack in half! If that’s not a good enough excuse for being late to work in the morning, we’re not sure what is.
- Get your heart rate up: Whether it’s a morning bike ride, a sweat session at the gym or outdoor yoga, getting the day started with physical exertion helps boost brain power, sharpen your memory and increase creativity and productivity for up to two hours afterwards. Skip the snooze button and refresh your body and mind with some AM cardio instead. If that sounds like torture, try apps like 7 Minute Workout and Pocket Yoga for extra motivation.
- Don’t skip breakfast: Have you ever heard the old adage “Eat like a king in the morning, a prince at noon and a peasant at dinner?” If you haven’t, it’s time you learned this easily applicable weight management tool to keep your waist slim throughout the day. Skipping breakfast wreaks havoc on your metabolism and doesn’t allow for a proper jumpstart to truly get your mind and body going in the morning. Eating a well-balanced breakfast helps you lose weight, feel energized throughout your day and increases blood flow to vital organs such as your heart and brain. And don’t forget to wash it all down with hot tea or a few glasses of water. Your body will thank you throughout the day, we promise.
