I knew that morning routines are cool and effective for years, but after reading books like The Miracle Morning or The 5 AM Club, I got convinced that they are crucial for success.
“How you start your morning determines your day.” is not just a simple saying but the absolute truth.
While we sleep, we recharge, our bodies rest, and our mind calms down. Thus, every new morning is an entirely fresh beginning. And every morning, we can decide if we run the day or let it happen.
We often take our lives for granted, not realizing that every morning we wake up to is a pure miracle. Our lifetime is limited, and while I rather talk about the positive, uplifting things in life, death is a truth that we all have to face sooner or later.
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So why wouldn’t we spend each of our days as if it’s a miracle to be alive?
Because it is.
In fact, the odds of you (or me, or anybody else on this planet) being born are close to zero.
You are a miracle.
And so is every new day. Let’s make sure we start our days full of joy, love, happiness, and gratitude.
You can’t control everything that happens during the day but you can control how it starts.
1. Let the sun shine
Due to the significant amount of artificial light that we are exposed to during our days, our bodies sometimes struggle with the biorhythms.
When you get up in the morning, make sure to get some sunlight, or at least artificial light. By doing so, your body understands that the day started, and you will feel more energized.
Don’t keep your curtains and the light off, instead, expose yourself to beautiful lightning and soak up the energy of the sun.
If you want to take it one step further, you can even get an alarm clock that automatically wakes you up with sunlight. This will make waking up and especially getting out of the bed significantly easier.
2. Journal about your dreams
Most people suppress their dreams and don’t pay much attention to them. However, instead of doing so, we can use them as an excellent foundation for journaling about our thoughts.
Even if we are not aware of it, we dream every night. While we sleep, our brain processes everything that happened during the day and also deals with important decisions.
Writing down our dreams (or at least everything that we remember once we wake up) helps to learn more about ourselves.
Just put a little notebook next to your bed and start writing a few sentences as soon as you wake up. By doing so, you might discover new feelings and connect the dots between various happenings in your life.
Another powerful idea is to write down what you are grateful for. You can do that instantly after waking up, or once you got up, both are fine and will boost your wellbeing.
By writing down what we are grateful for, we realize how blessed we actually are. Plus, we perceive much more happy moments throughout the day.
3. Stretch your body
Stretching exercises or light yoga come with many health benefits. For example, they help reduce muscle stiffness, increase your range of motion, improve your posture, and reduce stress.
Even a few minutes of stretching exercises help you to get into a better mood and feel better physically.
You can even do a few exercises in your bed before getting up. By doing so, you will be fully awake and energized once you stand up.
4. Listen to your favorite music
Unless your favorite music is sad and depressing, in that case, please ignore this tip.
In all other cases, listening to music can tremendously improve your mood. It might feel weird to turn on some music right after waking up, but who cares about what’s weird as long as it supports your happiness?
Put together a playlist of songs that boost your songs and push the play button once you are awake. You will immediately experience an energy boost and feel much better.
Plus, you can dance a bit, which is also helpful for staying awake and tuning in for a fantastic day.
5. Drink a lot
Especially a lot of water or unsugared tea.
During the night, our bodies dehydrate. When we feel sluggish and tired in the morning, the reason isn’t that we are exhausted but that we are dehydrated. That’s totally normal as we go for many hours without drinking anything.
Thus, it is crucial to drink a considerable amount of water right in the morning.
On most days, I drink warm water with lemon and turmeric or ginger, or green tea. That doesn’t only hydrate me but also gives me a lot of energy and boosts my metabolism.
6. Don’t check your phone
One of the greatest mistakes people make is checking their phones the first thing as soon as they wake up.
The problem is not the phone itself but what we consume. In most cases, we look on social media, check our emails or messages, and get stressed out before even leaving the bed.
That’s apprehensive because it drains our energy before the day even starts.
Ignoring my phone for at least the first hour in the morning was the best decision I ever made. I still have it beside my bed as I use it as my alarm clock, but I let it on plane mode until I finish my morning routine and feel ready for the day.
7. Meditate
In my experience, meditating in the morning is a bit controversial. While it’s a must-have for some, others report that they don’t fully experience the benefits of meditating when they are not fully awake yet. My boyfriend, for example, almost sleeps in if he tries to meditate in the morning.
However, meditation is a crucial part of many successful peoples’ routines, no matter if right in the morning or later during the day.
Just try it out and experiment with a few different practices until you find out whether it makes your life more enjoyable or not.
8. ..or practice breathing exercises
Sometimes, I find meditating hard. I can’t entirely focus my mind and get distracted too quickly. In that case, I do quick breathing exercises. Those always work out, and even if you just do them for a few minutes, they have a significant impact on your energy level.
What I do is really simple: I breathe in for five seconds and breathe out for five seconds. That helps me to focus my mind and set positive intentions for the day.
However, there are hundreds of different breathing techniques. Some that keep you calm, and others that help to energize your body fully.
9. Use affirmations
Last but definitely not least: affirmations!
Affirmations are positive statements in the present tense. They are simple but incredibly powerful.
Our brains can’t distinguish between reality and imagination, thus, when you repeat something like “I am wealthy beyond my wildest dreams.” day after day, for an extended period, you start believing it. Once you believe it, you act according to it, and you begin creating that reality.
I have affirmations written down in my journal. On some days, I just read them, on other days, I write down new affirmations.
In the beginning, working with affirmations might feel weird, as if you want to trick your brain, but over time, it becomes inevitable. For me, affirmations are the most critical part of my morning routine.
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