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As an occupational therapist and someone who used to have my own health challenges, I personally know and recommend to clients that altering your morning routine probably has one of the biggest and quickest impacts on your mental and physical wellbeing, as it has the power to determine what your entire day ahead could look like. Change your day ahead every single day, and that’s a huge impact on your whole life in the grand perspective.
My mornings pretty much consisted of waking up to immediately recall all everything that I need to worry about in my life, including my work day ahead.
I'd then check social media to see what part of Bali all the influencers are living in and how everyone's lives looked much better mine then chug copious amounts of disgustingly strong coffee to function. I would then have just enough time to throw myself into the shower and out of the door to sit in traffic listening to all the dystopic news on the radio, wondering what episode of black mirror we're currently living in.
So how could your current morning routine be contributing to your stress levels?
Your brain is a sponge, whether you’re intentionally absorbing the information around you or not, it’s still being registered. When you wake up and start scrolling on your phone you’re immediately absorbing fear based articles and likely comparing yourself to others who you perceive to be living better. When we’re in a state of hyperarousal within the nervous system or anxiety, we tend to reach for our phones to gain a sense of control by taking in all the news and information that we can. We’re more likely actually contributing to our anxiety by taking in information that we’re unable to have any control over. This sends signals to our survival brain, deep down in the centre of the brain, that there is a threat, priming our nervous system to respond with stress whilst being in this hyper aroused state.
Two systematic reviews showed that increased time on social media had strong links to anxiety and depression, in fact participants who spent more than an hour of time on social media per day had a 70% increase in self-reported anxiety and depression, among other symptoms such as low self-esteem, loneliness and poor sleep quality. Avoiding social media and news first thing in the morning and generally reducing time spent on social media throughout the day is probably one of the most important and quickest ways to start improving your mental health.
The moment you become conscious to how you’re unconsciously living out your life on a loop is the moment you can free yourself from behaviours which are holding you back from whatever your wellness goals might be.
The morning is the easiest time to hijack your behavioural patterns holding you back, because your subconscious is at its quietest first thing in the morning. It’s the easiest time to be still and silent and listen to what’s going on.
By implementing a healthy morning routine, you’ve already achieved a huge amount in your day before you even start your working day. I've found that making healthy choices in the morning has this domino affect for making better choices for the day ahead.
Go within every day and find the inner strength, so that the world cannot blow your candle out. –Katherine Dunham
"Atomic Habits" by James Clear has reportedly had a profound impact on it’s readers and clearly resonated with a huge population. The success of the publication is due to it’s simple blueprint of achieving personal and professional growth by emphasising how achievable larger goals are by creating incremental changes that compound over time to yield remarkable results. By breaking down habits into their fundamental components, we are powered to focus on the process rather than fixating solely on the end goal. Or, basically SMART goals.
What does the research say specifically about morning routines?
Well there’s not a huge amount of research on morning routines in particular, more anecdotal but there is tonnes of good research of routines which focus on wellbeing including meditation, mindfulness, exercise, breathing techniques and yoga can have the following physical and emotional benefits:
Reduction in depression and anxiety
Regulating body system functions such as blood sugar levels, blood pressure and heart rate
Improvement in immune system function
Improvement in cognitive function
Enhanced emotional resiliency
Improved sleep
Improved self esteem
Having an established routine can regulate our nervous system by having predictability and stability which is reliable, providing us with a sense of security setting the tone for our day ahead, grounding us into responding to situations rather than reacting with stress.
Journaling and setting intentions for the day ahead can boost productivity and organisation towards achieving your goals, by pointing your subconscious brain in that direction. You could do this with reciting a mantra when you wake up. I like to ask the yogis in my morning class to set their intention for the day and concentrate on that throughout their practice, which is a fantastic way to set up your day.
As well as all the benefits I’ve mentioned above, I’ve found huge benefits to my creativity as quietening down the chatter of the mind has really allowed me to create space for ideas to flow in.
I started off a solid morning routine with these simple changes and used these morning routine hacks to improve wellbeing :
10 minute meditation immediately on waking up/5 minutes breathing exercise
Drink a pint of water
15 minute yoga
No social media for one hour
From this simple routine I started a couple of years ago, this has had a knock on effect to my life including taking better care of my physical health and cutting down on things like sugar, cutting out caffeine, finding I generally have a lot more energy now. I feel much more grounded and calm and I’m able to achieve so much more with my physical fitness. To add some more personal context and to convey to you how drastically my health has changed, if you'd have told me a few years ago at some point in the future I'd be getting up at 5am for jogs and teaching yoga never mind just being able to walk up a slight gradient, I would have choked on my cigarette, spat out my donner kebab and told you to pull the other one. I can only look back fondly on that awful brilliant sweaty grey mystery meat on a donner kebab, which I'm having indigestion just thinking about now.
My morning routine currently looks like this:
30 minutes of breathing and meditation on waking up
Rehydrate
1 hour slow flow yoga or 1 hour ashtanga (which is brutal but a very nice moving meditation)
30 minute walk or jog, or just making sure I get out into the sunshine for a bit
Cold shower
No social media for 2 hours minimum
But don’t let that lengthy routine put you off, I would have actually vomited at the idea of getting up at 5am and doing any amount of exercise not so long ago. With small changes to my routine it’s built up and I wouldn’t feel right not doing it now. I know, so smug.
If you want to change your habits and maintain your new routines permanently, the most important things to consider are:
Make a simplified version of your new routine for your worst day and build it up for your best day. My "worst day" low energy routine is just to have a 5 minute breather in bed, drink a pint of water and have a 5 minute stretch. There is just no way you will be at the same energy levels every day, learn to accommodate your life and energy levels.
Your routines have to align with what's meaningful to you. If you're not into running or yoga, then don't force yourself to try and jam it in to your morning. If it's not meaningful to you, you will not get up early for it. Don't look to other people's routines to find yours, it might not make sense. It might be your thing to journal first thing or take the dog for a walk, make it yours and make it meaningful.
The implementation of a morning routine with wellbeing as the focus holds immense potential in achieving your wellbeing goals, reducing stress and anxiety by increasing our physical and emotional health. Time hack your wellbeing by taking charge of your morning and set the stage for a healthier more fulfilling life.
Thank you anyone who actually took the time to read that, and if you've got this far, then I'd love to know what your morning routines are, your advice or what you plan on doing on my morning routine posts on Instagram by clicking the button below:
Albert Camus
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