How do we begin our day once the alarm goes off at 6am, or for those lucky enough to sleep until 7am. How do we prepare ourselves to have a calm, productive, pleasant day?
Apparently research is saying we gain 30% productivity by not checking our emails in the first 60 minutes at the beginning of our day. Emails create reactivity and diminish our strategic proactive intentions for our day. It is important to activate the body and mind with calmer intentions.
Create Rituals
- Consider doing some gentle stretches in bed, or throw in a little healthy sex
- Incorporate some deep breathing techniques to awaken circulation to the body before jumping out of bed. Grounding ourselves in breath will give us a connection to the earth and can prevent muscle spasms upon rushing out of bed too quickly.
- Meditation - I have found the morning to my best time for meditation, as it creates calm within and my day always seems to go smoothly. Research says 15 minutes a day is sufficient. At least that is a beginning but if you can progress to 30 -40 minutes the benefits are even better.
- Write 3 things you appreciate in your life in a journal. Ensure each day is different. Your appreciation journal can be on any topic for eg: family, health, time, work, friends, environment, global issues, even YOU. You may not feel the affects of positive energy in the beginning. It will be like stopping a drug or vitamin for pain and then seeing what happens.
- Some people find a vigorous morning exercise regime prepares them for their day. This will be more beneficial if it was done outside, ultimately increasing your vitamin D intake and waking up the pituitary gland in the brain for energy. Yet, if your morning starts too early- say 5am- you might be doing more harm than good. You would need to move your bedtime up earlier to ensure your adrenal's have time to rest and rejuvenate after a very long day. Even a good morning walk in nature has beneficial effects on the body and mind.
I have found over the years many people are burned out. The adrenal's no longer have energy to supply the body with the correct amount of neurochemicals needed to function. With the function of adrenal's waning, acute and chronic illnesses are becoming more apparent.
It is therefore very important to focus on getting enough sleep. Research points out that most people start to feel tired around 8-9 pm, which means BEDTIME. But how many of us can crash that early with so much to do in the evenings- like taking care of the kids, tending to tasks you didn't complete during the day or managing the home?
And than there is the television. Many people view TV as relaxing "down time" before bed. If the program is humorous like "The Big Bang Theory" all sorts of happy neurochemicals are being emitted into the body, prepping it for a good nights sleep. However, many of us often choose programs that over-stimulate us, like news or dramas, setting us up for a" lousy" sleep.
Keep in mind- the brain needs to be calm before bed!
So if you are hoping for a Wonderful Day, begin it with some pleasant morning rituals and end your day calmly.