5 Powerful Morning Habits To Supercharge Your Day
Many people despise mornings. They pound the snooze button again and again, trying to snatch every last minute of sleep possible. Then they lie in bed scrolling through Facebook or checking their text messages. Finally, they roll groggily out of bed, throw on some clothes, grab a quick mug of coffee and rush hastily out the door.
It’s really a shame that most people have such little respect for the morning. The morning is the most important and sacred part of the day. The morning prepares us for the rest of the day. It sets the tone for the entire day. Our morning habits help to ensure either success and productivity or failure and misery.
All wealthy and successful people have been known to start their day with a powerful morning routine. Ben Franklin rose at 5am each morning to wash himself, plan out his day and eat a hearty breakfast. Abraham Lincoln also woke up early to spend time working out before breakfast. NBA superstar Lebron James rises at 5am each morning to eat a healthy breakfast and start his training routine. Bill Gates also rises early and spends an hour running on the treadmill each morning.
Many wise and successful people were strong advocates of a healthy morning routine. Thomas Jefferson said, “The sun has not caught me in bed in 50 years.” Aristotle Affirmed this idea and said, “It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth and wisdom.” And Jonathan Swift stated, “I never knew a man come to greatness or eminence who lay in bed late in the morning.”
It is clear that our morning habits have supreme significance for achieving success and thriving in life. Our morning habits lay the foundation for a life of fruitfulness and influence.
So what are the best morning habits to adopt? Which morning habits are the most important factors in determining our success?
While there is no perfect or magical morning routine, there are several key habits that are especially powerful in starting off your day.
Here are 10 habits that will supercharge your day:
1. Meditation
Meditation is an excellent practice to incorporate into your daily morning routine. Meditation will help to focus your mind and prevent anxiety from overtaking you early in the morning.
Meditation is the practice of focusing your mind on a particular phrase or concept and being aware of the present moment. Meditation often involves practices such as deep breathing, yoga or reciting mantras. There are many different forms of meditation such as nature-based visualization or deep-breathing meditation, but the purpose is to focus your thoughts and calm your mind.
Meditation is practiced by people all over the world. Buddhist monks meditate. Hindu gurus meditate. Christians meditate. Many athletes practice meditation or visualization of some kind.
Meditation has powerful, science-based benefits for both the mind and body. The most well-known benefit of meditation is that it reduces anxiety and stress. One large meta-analysis conducted on 1300 people found that meditation reduced anxiety levels, especially in those with severe anxiety. Another study, conducted at Google and Roche, found that using meditation programs for eight weeks reduced anxiety levels by 31 percent.
Meditation has a plethora of other mental health benefits beyond reducing anxiety. Meditation also helps to improve mood and lower symptoms of depression. The same study conducted at Google and Roche found that meditation reduced symptoms of depression by 46 percent!
Furthermore, meditation also helps to improve focus and concentration. Meditation helps people become focused again after distractions in daily life. Meditation has also been shown to help people improve their response to daily stressors, such as bad traffic, annoying co-workers and solving problems. By controlling stress better, people are better able to stay focused on the task at hand. Finally, meditation has been shown to reduce symptoms of ADHD in children with special needs.
Meditation also helps to improve memory and prevent age-related cognitive decline. Additionally, meditation helps to improve sleep, lower blood pressure, decrease pain and improve immunity.
If you have never practiced meditation, try meditating for a few minutes each morning. Then gradually increase the length of your meditation to an hour or two if possible. Meditating may be difficult at first, and you will be easily distracted. However, if you make meditating a habit you will grow better at it over time. The results of meditating will be greatly worth the struggle and discipline of learning it!
2. Drinking Water
Water is vital for optimal health and wellness. Our bodies are composed of about 60 percent water; every cell needs water to function properly. We need water for optimal digestion, blood plasma, bowel movements, liver detoxification, cellular metabolism and lubricating the tissues of the mouth, eyes and nose.
We need to drink water all throughout the day to perform at a high level. However, the best time to drink water is in the early morning. This is because we become mildly dehydrated during sleep. We breathe out water vapor during the night and do not drink any fluids to replace it. This causes us to wake up thirsty in the mornings.
It’s important to hydrate well in the early mornings, especially if you are fasting. Hydrating well will help increase your energy levels and flush out toxins. Hydrating will also help stimulate bowel movements. Additionally, drinking water in the morning will help you maintain greater satiety and eat less throughout the day.
You must also realize that drinking coffee does not count toward drinking plenty of water. Coffee does not hydrate the body. It actually dehydrates the body because it is a diuretic.
This does not mean that you shouldn’t drink coffee. It just means that coffee cannot serve as a good substitute for drinking plenty of water. Always try to prioritize drinking water above all other beverages, including coffee.
Always make sure that you are drinking water that is purified by a high-quality filtration system. Tap water contains a high amount of toxins, pesticides and other contaminants.
3. Oil Pulling
Oil pulling is an ancient ayurvedic practice that has been used for thousands of years. It is used to promote better oral health and detox the entire body.
Oil pulling involves swishing around a small amount of coconut or olive oil in the mouth for 5 to 20 minutes and then spitting it out. Afterward, you should brush and floss your teeth.
Oil pulling is a simple practice, but has extensive benefits. Oil pulling is excellent for overall oral health. Swishing around the oil helps to cleanse deep sockets of the mouth that cannot be reached with normal brushing or flossing. The oil helps to kill bacteria and eliminate toxins in the entire oral cavity. The oil also helps cleanse root canals, which are a breeding ground for bacteria and other microorganisms.
By detoxing and sterilizing the entire oral cavity, oil pulling helps prevent cavities and gum disease. It also freshens the breath, whitens the teeth and prevents bleeding gums. Additionally, oil pulling strengthens the jaw and gums and helps prevent and treat TMJ and jaw soreness.
Oil pulling can also help prevent heart disease, dementia and digestive disorders because these maladies are linked to poor oral hygiene. Oil pulling will kill toxins and harmful bacteria that can leak into the bloodstream and harm the body in various ways.
Oil pulling is most often done with coconut oil, but you can also use olive or sesame oil. Just be sure the oils you are using are organic and extra virgin. You can also add a drop or two of an organic essential oil to increase the antimicrobial activity.
You can do oil pulling at any time throughout the day. However, oil pulling should be done away from meals. The early morning is an excellent time to practice oil pulling because it cleanses your mouth before you start swallowing harmful bacteria throughout the day.
When practicing oil pulling, you do not need to swish the oil around very forcefully. Just move the oil around gently in your mouth. Also, be careful not to swallow the oil because it is filled with toxins and bad bacteria. Always spit the oil into the trash because it can clog the sink.
Happy oil pulling!
4. Get Sunlight
Sunlight is essential to good health and well-being. Sunlight provides us with vitamin D, which is very important for our immunity, strong bones and mental health. Sunlight also increases seratonin levels, which improves the mood and lowers anxiety. Additionally, sunlight regulates our circadian rhythm and helps us sleep better.
However, not all sunlight is the same. Morning sunlight provides different kinds of rays than afternoon sunlight. Morning sunlight is rich in UV-A and IR-A (infrared) rays but low in UV-B rays. For this reason, morning sunlight contains greater benefits than sunlight that is produced during other times of the day.
Morning sunlight is also very powerful in regulating the circadian rhythm, which regulates the body’s sleep and wake cycle. Morning sunlight increases serotonin levels throughout the day which then converts to melatonin at night. This increase in melatonin helps us sleep better at night.
Morning sunlight also provides many other health benefits, such as increasing mood, reducing anxiety, preventing macular degeneration, improving skin health, preventing cancer and boosting immunity.
Additionally, morning sunlight has been shown to increase longevity. One study conducted on 30,000 Swedish women showed that those who spent more time in the sun lived an average of two years longer than those spent little time in the sun.
It’s best to aim to spend about 20 to 30 minutes in the sun every morning. However, even 10 to 15 minutes in the sun will still produce some benefits.
5. Intermittent Fasting
Many people believe that eating a healthy breakfast is the best way to start the day. Many believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. They religiously consume three eggs, pancakes and orange juice every morning.
It is true that a healthy breakfast can benefit many and provide quality fuel to jumpstart the day. Breakfast with a moderate amount of protein and fat can provide a steady source of fuel and help eliminate cravings later in the day.
However, skipping breakfast can also be a healthy way t9o start the day. Abstaining from food until lunch can be a powerful morning habit if one is physically capable of doing so. This is commonly referred to as intermittent fasting.
Intermittent fasting refers to the idea of fasting for a moderate amount of time. This kind of fasting is most often done for 16 hours. However, intermittent fasting can be done for time periods of anywhere from 12 to 20 hours. It most often involves fasting overnight and during the morning hours, but can be done during any time frame of the day.
Intermittent fasting is fast gaining popularity in the world of natural health. Natural health doctors and coaches are loudly proclaiming the benefits of intermittent fasting and using it in their treatment protocol.
And all this praise and hype is well deserved. Intermittent fasting is not a passing fad or new idea designed to generate more income for doctors. Intermittent fasting has been practiced for thousands of years by our primal ancestors.
Our primal ancestors also fasted for moderate and long periods of time. However, their fasting was not a discipline conducted by choice. The fasting our ancestors did was forced upon them by necessity. Food was often scarce and they had to wait long periods of time until they found another animal to eat.
Even though intermittent fasting has been practiced for centuries, we are just now starting to uncover its many scientific benefits. Intermittent has some powerful benefits for the brain and body. Here are a few of them:
- Increases HGH (Human Growth Hormone)
2. Lowers blood sugar levels
3. Aids in weight loss
4. Boosts cognitive function
5. Stimulates autophagy
6. Lowers inflammation
7. Helps prevent Alzheimer’s
Intermittent fasting also helps reduce the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia. One study revealed that a lifestyle of intermittent fasting helped to reduce the severity of Alzheimer’s in 9 out of 10 people.
8. May Increase longevity
These are only the most popular benefits, but there are certainly far more benefits to the human body.
Intermittent fasting will be difficult if you have never done it before. It is best to ease your way into fasting, just as you would an exercise routine. It takes time for the body to adapt to fat burning because it is used to burning only sugar.
Start out by doing a short fast of about 12 hours. Then work your way up to 13 or 14 hours. Then finally you will be ready to do 16 to 18-hour fasts daily. Once your body gets accustomed to fasting, it will become very easy. You will not even get hungry during your fasting period.
If you have a severe health condition, adrenal fatigue or are underweight, intermittent fasting may not be best for you. Always check with your doctor if you are uncertain whether fasting may benefit you.
These are some powerful tools to get your day started on a positive note. These practices will help to calm your mind and lift your spirits in the morning. These disciplines will strengthen and improve your willpower, focus and cognitive function. You will be better prepared to tackle the challenges and problems of the day.
So add these practices into your morning routine this week and enjoy the benefits!!
- Meditation
- Fasting
- Drinking Water
- Washing Your Face
- Oil Pulling
- Sunlight
- Exercise/Yoga
- Make your bed
- Reading
