A Good Morning Routine is Key to Starting the Day Right
The goal of this specific morning routine is to facilitate a natural way to wake up, increase overall energy levels, and make you more resilient to the stress you encounter throughout the day. By following this routine, you’ll experience a range of benefits that can enhance both your physical and mental well-being.
All activities in this routine are carefully selected to contribute to a more energetic day. By starting with energy-boosting activities, you ensure that your body has the necessary energy to tackle the day’s tasks. Through physical activity, cold showers, and breathing exercises, you train your body and mind to better handle stressful situations.
Following a consistent morning routine also creates a sense of structure and discipline, which is likely to have positive effects on other areas of your life.
By performing this morning routine, you will achieve:
- More sustainable energy
- Increased resilience to stress
- Enhanced discipline
- Improved focus and concentration
- Better mood and overall well-being
- Stronger immune system
- Improved sleep quality
What is stress and why it’s not a bad thing
Stress is a natural part of being human, and it plays an important role in our ability to survive and adapt to challenges. The primary stress hormone, cortisol, is crucial for many of the body’s functions. It is cortisol that wakes us up in the morning and helps us get out of bed. In short, without cortisol, we would struggle to respond to the demands and challenges of daily life.
Cortisol is known as the body’s “fight-or-flight” hormone and is released in situations where we experience stress or danger. But cortisol also has many other functions. It helps regulate metabolism, reduces inflammation, and strengthens our immune system. Keeping our cortisol levels balanced is therefore essential for our overall health.
It’s important to understand that stress itself is not a bad thing. It is excessive and chronic stress that can have negative consequences for our health. By learning to manage stress through techniques like breathing exercises, cold showers, and physical activity, we can use stress to our advantage.
Morning Routine Step-by-Step
If you manage to follow each step in this morning routine, I guarantee you will experience an energy boost like never before.
8:00 AM: Wake Up
Wash your face with cold water: When you wake up in the morning, it’s so tempting to stay in bed a little longer. Instead, try heading straight to the bathroom and splashing some cold water on your face. Trust me, this will wake you up instantly and make you feel refreshed and ready to tackle the day.
Drink a large glass of water: After you’ve washed your face, grab a large glass of water and drink it down. This simple act will kickstart your metabolism and help you feel more awake. Your body gets dehydrated overnight, so it’s really important to rehydrate first thing in the morning.
8:10 AM: Go for a short run outside
Going for a short run outside is a fantastic way to wake up your body. As your core temperature rises, you’ll start feeling more energetic. Plus, the increased blood flow means more oxygen and nutrients reach your brain, helping you think more clearly.
Getting some natural sunlight during your run also helps regulate your internal clock, which means you’ll sleep better at night and have more energy during the day.
8:30 AM: Take a cold shower
Taking a cold shower might sound tough, but it’s amazing for boosting your adrenaline levels. You’ll feel incredibly awake and ready to handle anything the day throws at you. The cold shock increases your alertness and energy levels right away.
Starting your day with a challenge like a cold shower can also train your body and mind to handle stress better. You’ll become more resilient to the challenges and stressors you face throughout the day.
8:45 AM: Perform 3-4 Rounds of Wim Hof Breathing
Breathing exercises like the Wim Hof technique are like a secret weapon for generating more energy. Here’s the routine you can try to see the benefits for yourself.
- Find a quiet place to sit or lie down. Start by inhaling deeply through your nose or mouth 30-40 times. After the last inhale, exhale slowly and hold your breath for as long as possible.
- When you cannot hold your breath any longer, take a deep breath and hold it for 10-15 seconds before exhaling. Repeat this pattern 3-4 times.
This breathing exercise floods your body with stress hormones, which trains you to stay calm in stressful situations. If you haven’t tried this type of breathing before, starting slowly is a good idea not to get overwhelmed.
Practical advice
Consistency is key to success. If you find it hard to stick to the full routine right away, start with just a few activities that you can easily maintain. It’s better to build a habit gradually than to overwhelm yourself by trying to do everything at once. As you become more comfortable with the routine, you can slowly incorporate more activities.
Another helpful strategy is to use a monthly overview. Tracking your progress with a monthly overview can be incredibly helpful. Write down what you did and how you feel each day, especially when things don’t go as planned. This will help you identify patterns and make necessary adjustments to improve your routine. Looking back on your progress at the end of the month is a powerful motivator and helps you stay on track.
Start Your Morning the night before
Setting yourself up for a successful morning routine begins the night before. Before you go to bed, take a few minutes to write down your plan for the morning. Visualize yourself going through each step of the routine: putting on your running shoes, heading outside for a run, taking a cold shower, and performing the energizing breathing exercise.
Even if you have the plan memorized, writing it down can significantly impact it. This process primes your subconscious mind, which continues to work while you sleep. You might be surprised at how much easier it becomes to follow your routine when you’ve mentally rehearsed it the night before.
One last thing
Remember to reward yourself for the effort you put into following this morning routine. Rewards can provide you with something to look forward to and make the process of establishing new habits more enjoyable. By consistently rewarding yourself, you reinforce the positive behaviors associated with your morning routine. Over time, this positive reinforcement will help establish these habits as part of your daily life.