Take control of your morning and set yourself up for success for the rest of the day!
First things first, don’t snooze your alarm!
There are two main reasons for this. The first is that the short time between snoozes won’t get you back into the mode of restorative sleep. The second is related to your mindset. Many of us snooze on autopilot. We are letting life happen to us instead of for us. When you take control of your morning, you take control of your life!
Second, as tempting as it can be, do not look at your phone for the first hour of your day.
Many of us wake up and immediately scrolling, tricking ourselves into thinking we are being productive by checking email, thinking that this will help us “wake up”, or we end up going down the rabbit hole of social media because we’re not yet ready to deal with the realities of daily life. While many of us know that this can waste time and distract us in the moment, many don’t realize that doing this can negatively impact us for the rest of our day. When we wake up and start scrolling, we prime our brain for distraction and can even trigger a stress response!
Third, do a short mindfulness or breath work practice to ground yourself for the day.
These short but simple practices help turn on your parasympathetic nervous system so you can relax, and give yourself some space. We like doing a 6-2 pattern to feel awake. This means inhale for a count of 6 and exhale deeply for a count of 2. We also like 4-7-8 for a calm feeling! This means to inhale for a count of 4, hold for 7, and exhale for 8. Pro tip, it is easier to lengthen your exhales when you pretend you are breathing out through a straw.
Fourth, eat a nutritious breakfast that helps to balance your blood sugar.
This means do not eat carbs alone, but combine with protein and fat. Also, try to cut down or avoid added sugar. Eat real, whole, minimally processed foods as much as possible. Get creative with savory breakfasts, and soon you won’t even miss the sugary stuff!
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