Establishing a sense of calm in the morning affects your stress and productivity for the rest of your day. By nourishing your five senses at the start of your day, you can set the stage for a more productive day. You can create an energizing, positive day with these four-morning routines.
Energize Your Morning Routine
- Wake up
Each day is a new beginning! The past is over; open your heart, mind, and soul to a new day. Imagine you are being born new each day.
Wake up to a new alarm. There are all kinds of new ways to wake up in the morning including light alarms, sound alarms, nature sounds, or a Tibetan bell.
- Your bed trifecta: breath, yoga, and affirmations
Breathing
- Oxygen wakes up the brain. Invigorate, feed, and nourish your brain with life giving oxygen first.
- Inhale. Take a deep breath through your nose.
- Exhale. Let the breath escape through your mouth.
- Visualize your breath. Close your eyes and see the breath enter and leave your body.
- On the “in breath.” Watch brilliant, energizing, white light flowing into your nostrils and up into your brain.
- On the “out breath.” Watch the slow, sleepy energy going out of you.
- With each breath, experience the pure energy flowing through your body.
Yoga
- Point and flex your feet
- Pull your legs up to your chest, one at a time
- Move your face muscles
Affirmations
Say to yourself:
- “I am grateful for my life.”
- “I begin my life today.”
- “I am perfect, whole, complete, and free.”
- Shower
There is a sensual, energizing, freedom in a shower.
The warm temperature will relax your muscles and invigorate you for the day.
Smell is our most powerful of senses. Scents have an immediate effect on the brain. Experiment with different scented substances (shampoos, soaps, etc.) and see which ones you love. Keep a variety of scents in your shower so each day is a little different experience of fun. Find scents for different emotional experiences, such as scents that invigorate you or scents that calm you. If you are anxious in the morning you may want to use calming scents such as lavender, chamomile or clary sage. Citrus and peppermint wake you up and energize you.
Also, invest in shower music. Some people like listening to energizing music in the shower and singing their favorite songs. Talk about energizing! It’s a great way to start the day.
- Breakfast
Breakfast boosts your metabolism. Don’t make breakfast boring. Variety makes breakfast fun. Keep easy breakfast goodies in one place in refrigerator, in the freezer, and in the pantry so you aren’t digging and wasting precious morning time. You’re more likely to eat breakfast if it is quick, simple, and easy to get to.