With everybody striving to be happier and healthier in the modern-day world, we are all becoming more mindful about our food choices, keeping active and having a work-life balance – all to achieve an optimal level of life. If you are already on this journey to bettering yourself, then it is an excellent time to start building some healthy routines to start your day that will stick. Having an early morning routine to boost your mood can give you a mental boost and keep you in a good perspective for the rest of the day.
Here Are 5 Morning Routines That Will Get You Off To A Good Start!
Wake up with The Sun
Having a good morning routine means you will make more effort to get up that little bit earlier in the morning. In most spiritual practices such as Buddhism, monks would go to bed very early at about 7 pm and then get up for sunrise as many traditions believe that you should wake up with the sun and go to sleep with sunset to live a healthy life, healthy morning and get the most out of your day. Studies have shown that people that wake up early increase their happiness, health and general productivity. Getting up early means you can get more done, which means you will be less stressed as you won’t be running around so much having to catch up on stuff.
Tongue Scraping
If you have been a guest at TheLifeCo you will be familiar with tongue scraping in the morning – we even give guests a tongue scraper in their welcome goodie bags. During detox, a white coating develops on your tongue as toxins leave your cells, demonstrating that the cleanse is working. When your tongue returns to its normal pink colour, your body is free of toxins.
Tongue scraping is based on Ayurveda (an ancient Indian practice of health and well-being), to be done ideally upon waking by gently dragging a curved metal/plastic scraper repeatedly along the tongue to remove bacteria. Removing bacteria stored inside your mouth all night long helps manage bad breath in the morning and makes your tongue taste flavours better. If you can’t get hold of a tongue scraper, a metal spoon will also do the trick.
Foam Rolling
Foam-rolling is excellent to do first thing in the morning if you have time to set aside about 15 minutes to dedicate to this little practice, you won’t regret it once you feel the benefits. It breaks down tight tissues that cause stiffness and pain, poor circulation and muscle problems which can often lead to significant issues. First thing in the morning, use a foam roller to go over sore, stiff muscles, usually caused by sitting at desks all day and not being active enough. The best way is to choose one major muscle to roll each morning – e.g. calves on Monday and quads on Tuesday.
Morning Meditation
We face all the stresses of modern-day life on a daily routine basis. Whether it’s your morning meeting at work, worrying about getting your rent paid, or an interview for a new job, morning is when that mental treadmill in your head is in overdrive. Simple 10-minute breathing meditation can calm your mind and make you feel less anxious, allowing you to focus on the present moment and start your day with a positive mindset. Set a timer on your phone for 10 minutes and sit on the floor or chair with your back up-right up and your legs crossed together, close your eyes and focus on your breath with long inhales and exhales; thoughts come in; keep going back to your breath. You won’t feel the benefits overnight. However, after a few weeks of fitting in meditation to your morning routine, you will feel much calmer and overall have more clarity and control over your thoughts – you’ll never be able to go a day without it again – I promise!
Drink more
When you wake up in the morning, the first thing you should be drinking is at least 2 large glasses of water – you have spent the last 6-8 hours in bed with no water, so your body needs hydration. Drinking water benefits your whole body – your skin, hair, nails, joints, and organs and drinking it first thing in the morning will help bowel movements keep you regular. Once you make sure you drink a good amount of water in the morning before you do anything else, you will feel the benefits almost immediately.
If you want to boost your immune system, we strongly recommend that you join our get fit and healthy program.
