Steps to a Great Morning Routine

A consistent morning routine can be just what you need to get your day started in the right direction. There are a few steps that can jumpstart your day and leave you feeling ready to take on whatever comes your way.

Drink a glass of water upon awakening

Drinking a glass of water right away in the morning causes your body to wake and start working. Sleeping all night without any water causes you wake up in a state of dehydration. Water wakes up your digestive system and metabolism. Water can help elevate your mood, as dehydration can cause crankiness. This allows your body to flush out toxins that have accumulated overnight while your body was sleeping. Water helps to hydrate your skin leaving it glowing. Dehydration is also linked to brain fog so water first thing in the morning can help with mental productivity throughout the day.

Stretching or exercise

Once you have had your glass of water, some simple stretching or yoga poses can be a great way to get your body moving and your blood flowing. After sleeping all night, our muscles and joints can become stiff from lack of movement. Moving and stretching aids in lubricating our joints. A walk can also be a great way to start the day if you have time to fit that into your routine. Sunshine in the morning is great for regulating our sleep hormones and signaling to our bodies that we are awake. It gives us a boost of vitamin D as well to help with our bone strength and many other processes in our bodies.

Meditation/Bible Study/Quiet time

Taking time to reflect within, or study the Bible in the morning helps to improve our mental clarity throughout the day. It allows our brains to relax and prepare for the day ahead. Cortisol levels are naturally high in the morning so this practice can help with lowering those levels. This can help with weight loss and metabolism throughout the entire day. Time with the Lord is always a good way to center ourselves and give gratitude for the many blessings that He has bestowed upon us. Our mental health is so important to a healthy lifestyle and taking even just 15 minutes to get our minds ready can make such a difference.

Protein breakfast

Last but not least, it is important to fuel our bodies so that we have the energy to perform the tasks that we need to during our day. Protein in breakfast is a much better option than the once traditional cereal, muffin or pancakes. Having a heavy carbohydrate breakfast bogs down our digestive system and spikes our insulin which in turn keeps our cortisol high. This is a recipe for metabolic disaster! Protein helps to get our systems working efficiently and provides sustained energy to be active. Some great choices are eggs, a protein shake, a greek yogurt bowl, or even leftovers from the night before. Protein, fat and fiber in breakfast helps to curb hunger until lunch and allows us to have a mental focus.

This is just a glimpse of what a healthy morning routine could look like. Each of us has certain goals that we hope to accomplish and differing amounts of time in the morning before we start our day of work. Whatever your routine looks like needs to be unique to you. It needs to be what makes you feel great and ready to take on the world. Try a few of these suggestions or all of them. Adjust to make it suit your wants and needs. Our goal should be to make us the best version of ourselves that we can be.

You are allowed to outgrow versions of who you used to be. You are allowed to change your mind. You are allowed to shift to what feels more aligned for you now. You are allowed to keep growing. You are allowed to choose. You are allowed to be the best version of you who you dream of being.

-@h.e.l.e.n.m.a.r.i.e