Good Mornings

How did you wake up this morning? Jumping out of bed and raring to go? Feeling sluggish or perhaps hungover from the night before? Slowly with much hope you would fall back to sleep? Or you woke up and decided today wasn’t for you and pulled the duvet over your head!

There are many ways we can wake up and when we feel great, moving our feet from the bed to the floor is much easier than dragging ourselves out of bed and trying to force ourselves to feel ready for the day.

If you are a person who actually jumps out of bed each morning, filled with excitement for the day ahead and are keen to get started, then wow! How I would love to have your energy. We all know someone who is bright as a button and 100% all set to go within 5 minutes of being awake.

I’m sure the majority of people don’t really think about how they feel when they wake up. Instead the routine takes over. For me, my alarm goes off and I get up and slowly move to start my day. If I’m lucky I might almost be awake when the alarm buzzes making it easier to get those feet on the floor. Once my eyes are open, trying to go back to sleep is fruitless.

If you wake up and feel sluggish or hungover, perhaps look at your night time routine. Are you going to bed early enough to get a good nights sleep? Are you drinking too much? This will affect the quality of your sleep and how you feel the next day.

Whilst we may not be looking to jump out of bed each day, I am sure the majority of us would love to get up and get on with the day in the right frame of mind and with a little energy.

A good morning starts with a good night time routine, so get yourself off to bed at a reasonable time each night – and ensure you are getting at least 6-8 hours sleep. Try to avoid alcohol or at least have some alcohol free nights each week. Put down your phone or switch off the TV about 1 hour before bed to reduce your exposure to blue light and enable you to drift off easily. Read or listen to relaxing music before bed instead.

So it is morning time, you’ve had a great sleep but you wake up and are still lacking in enthusiasm to get your day started. What can we do about it? Well here are some ideas to get you up and feeling energised as you start your day.

• Alarm – what kind of alarm do you have? is it on your phone or smart watch, or a radio alarm. Whatever device you use to wake up, pick a sound that won’t startle you when it goes off. Instead pick a sound that slowly helps you to stir and feel great. If you feel like splashing out you can get one of those light alarms that wakes you up in stages as though the daylight is increasing. If you can pick a song that gets you moving and then go straight into the next point.
• Music – put on your favourite tune and dance and dance from start to finish. Enjoy any kind of dance move you see fit. This is your 3 minutes and you should ‘dance like nobody is watching’! It doesn’t matter if you are in your bedroom, the kitchen or even in your bathroom, put the tune on and dance like crazy. Notice how you feel afterwards and carry that feeling into your day.
• Outside – go for a fast walk or a jog. You don’t have to go far, just get outside and get the blood pumping. Step outside your back door and jog on the spot or do star jumps or skip! Being outside breathing in the fresh cool morning air will make you feel alive and ready to tackle anything.
• Freeze blast – once you have had your shower, turn to cold and enjoy as best you can the icy blast of cool water over your skin. This is not only good for your immune system, but will wake you up and give you an energising feeling – ok so you might feel energised once you leave the shower and get a cosy towel wrapped round you.
• Mind games – whilst you are on your commute, get your brain active by doing a sudoku or Wordle or crossword puzzles. This will exercise your mind. Why not play a very slow game of scrabble with your partner or housemate. Each morning, one of you has to think of a positive word to put on the board. At the end of the week, the other person has to buy a very small gift for the other or the loser has to do a chore the other person usually does. Get competitive and have fun.
• Laugh – who doesn’t like to laugh. Listen to Alexa tell a joke, or watch something funny online, or put your favourite comedy on, or listen to a funny podcast and laugh all the way to the office.

There are many things you can do in the morning to help lighten the mood and get you feeling great to begin your day. Remember though, we are all allowed to have off days so don’t feel bad, just let this pass and be kind to yourself.

I hope this has given you some ideas to feel good and get motivated in the morning.

Have a great week and thank you for reading.

Love Emma xx