My Morning

I chose to write this article because I feel as though how one starts the morning really sets the tone for the rest of the day. The days turns into months, the months into years and before you know it, these small patterns add up … so it’s worth musing about what makes a good morning routine.

Here are some of my personal suggestions:

1) Sunrise Alarm Clock

I have an alarm clock that mimics the gradual increase in lighting that arises from a natural sunrise, followed eventually by the wake up sound that is a piano melody with birds in the background. I find it a much more relaxing alternative to my old method of waking up — the beeping of my mobile phone alarm.

2) Two things not to do

• Go back to sleep
• Grab my mobile / scroll through social media.
  If I’m really desperate for activity, I would suggest putting morning reading books at an arms length away from the bedside table.

3) Glass of water + Green Tea

Your body gets super dehydrated at night.

4) Breathing Techniques (Wim hof + meditation)

Wim Hof breathing consist of a set of deep breadths, followed by a period of breadth hold, and finishing with a deep inhale. It’s a simple 10 minute exercise but I find it effective as a routine for calming my often racing mind. I try to do it every morning and night. It’s also easier and quicker to do than alternative techniques for relaxation such as yoga and meditation.

5) Doing up my bed in the morning

Its advice touted by famous psychologist Jordan Petersons to the Former commander of the navy seals. It’s another symbolic ritual to remind ourselves each morning that life is bound to the law of entropy, that nature is always descending back into primordial chaos and that it is up to us to engage in the Sisyphean struggle to put order back into our lives, one bed sheet at a time.

6) Exercise before 9am and 6pm.

Getting exercise done before 9am boosts your metabolism and helps burn more calories for the rest of the day. It will mentally energise your day too. Nothing too strenuous that will exhaust you. Gentle exercises are good for this time of day — side steps, ashtanga yoga, kundalini, hula hooping, swimming, swinging around a small hammer and trampolining has been recent additions to my morning work outs.

7) Cold Baths

Symbolically it reminds me to jump out of my comfort zone. Physiologically it forces my body to generate heat which eventually makes the cold bath comfortable. Mentally, it brings my mind back to my body, and how cold it’s feeling, thus providing another way to stop my thoughts racing everywhere.

8) Jade Roller

The lymph system is responsible for filtering toxins and carrying out all the nasty byproducts of metabolism. Thus a good lymph system is correlated with strong immunity and healthy looking skin. Unlike your cardiovascular system it doesn’t have any pumps so transport is dependent on the actions of the individual. Thus to help with lymph flow, I have recently purchased a jade roller and occasionally do TMJ exercises. Finally, I read that trampolining is a surprising therapy for the lymph system as jumping up and down literally shakes the lymph around the entire body.