Create a Morning Routine
Last week, we looked at the importance of exercising early in the day. Creating a morning routine is key to ensuring it happens.
Fundamental to creating a morning routine is ensuring you have an evening routine that supports it. Getting enough sleep is crucial to your success in the early morning. I know I need 7-8 hours of sleep a night to function at my best. That means I need to be asleep by 10pm. I start my nighttime routine by 9:30pm, to ensure I have time to snuggle up with a good book. I chose fiction before bed because reading fiction has been shown to be the best way to disconnect, getting that deep rest. The New Yorker reports that:
“Reading has been shown to put our brains into a pleasurable trance-like state, similar to meditation, and it brings the same health benefits of deep relaxation and inner calm. Regular readers sleep better, have lower stress levels, higher self-esteem, and lower rates of depression than non-readers.”
There are many resources out there that can help in creating that ultimate morning routine that gets you up at at the studio ready for that 6am class.
If we look to Ayurveda, the sister science to yoga, encourages waking before sunrise everyday. Ayurveda is very linked to the seasons, so that wake up time can vary between the seasons, though generally it is advised to wake up before 6am every morning. Along with other Ayurvedic suggestions, like tongue scraping and self massage, it is always encouraged to move your body.
A great book on creating the ultimate morning is The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. There are great resources on his website as well. I have read the book and adopted a few of the strategies into my morning routine. For example, in the book, Hal Elrod speaks to adding visualizations into your morning routine. I have taken a moment, before I meditate in the morning to visualize my Why?! Why do I want to be up early? I want to feel strong, confident and ready to tackle my day. I then take a moment to visualize what that looks like for me. It may be that I handle a mini- crisis with the kids, or that I attend a fantastic yoga class.
Another method to enhance your morning routine is called, Habit Stacking. Essentially, habit stacking is when you add a habit to something that is already established as a habit. For example, every morning I wanted to start scraping my tongue. In order to make this a habit, I stack it onto my already established teeth brushing habit. Now every morning before I brush my teeth I scrape my tongue.
Tips to get you up and ready to get to the studio:
- Pack essentials for yoga or indoor cycling class the night before
- Lay out your yoga or cycling clothes the night before
- Set your coffee maker to be finished brewing when you get up or fill the kettle the night before to boil water for tea
- Use Peppermint essential oil to create alertness
- Eat a small breakfast or break your fast once you are home
- Ask a friend to be your accountability partner
- Create a bedtime routine
- Plan a reward – make it a game – For example, our brains respond really well to if I go to indoor cycling 3x this week, I will reward myself with an hour of free time on the weekend.
- Make getting up early a routine – even if you don’t make it to the studio
- Pre-Book using our App (Android users, Apple Users) – book your bike or spot – This holds you accountable to not “waste” any of your passes. It is to your benefit to show up!
What tools or tricks help you create a morning routine?
About Raechelle Masuda
Yoga has become an important part of Raechelle’s life, and her practice has helped her grow stronger, more flexible and fearless, both on and off the mat. Raechelle is passionate about her family, writing, being active, reading and adventure. She started out part of Halifax Yoga’s Energy Exchange, then joined HY’s Yoga Teacher Training in the Fall of 2017. She is now the assistant manager at Halifax Yoga and is excited to share her passions and inspirations.
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