Morning Routine For Amazing Energy or How Not To Feel Like The Pinata After The Party
Hello my friends! I am looking forward to continuing bringing you valuable and practical information on how you can increase your energy. Today's blog regarding an energizing morning routine has had a huge impact on my Health and Fitness, as well as my sleep quality.
Have you ever noticed that the way you start your morning sets the momentum for the rest of the day? Well, today I'm going to introduce you to a routine which not only will energize you for the rest of the day, but also facilitates beautiful, deep, rejuvenating sleep.
So let's get started! The first thing you want to do is to take in 1/2 to 1 litre of high-quality water. The body naturally dehydrates overnight and a being dehydrated by only 5% will affect energy levels.
Next, go ahead and take a cold shower, or alternate between hot and cold with one-minute cycles on each, always ending on cold. This procedure is called Cold Water Thermogenesis and has several benefits including; increasing energy levels, increasing metabolism through the activation of brown adipose tissue, boosting the immune system and reducing inflammation.
Now it's time to take care of our nervous system through a short meditation session. Personally, I use biofeedback with a device called EmWave2. It can be purchased on Amazon Canada and I love it. The device gives feedback as you move from Sympathetic (fight or flight) to the desirable Parasympathetic (rest and repair). You can still do the meditation without the device as follows. Sit comfortably and slowly fill your belly with air, taking at least 5 seconds and exhaling for at least 5 seconds. Next, feel as though you are breathing in and out of your heart as opposed to your mouth. Finally, attach a positive emotion to the breath. I have one client think of her pet, another gets the feeling of being in her garden and another imagines the wind in her face riding her bike as a kid. Simple; slow breaths through the heart with a positive emotion attached. Continue for 5 or 10 minutes and you're done!
The next step is to take care of our lymphatic system. This is super important as it is the bodies garbage disposal system. There are a couple ways in which you can do this. The first is to bounce on a rebounder for a few minutes. NASA scientists have labeled this the most effective form of exercise. Hey, these folks are literally Rocket Scientists! Studies show another effective way is to simply do 100 Jumping Jacks.
Now it's time to step outside and go for a five to ten-minute speed walk or run. This serves a dual purpose. The first, being exposed to the early morning daylight which sets our Circadian Rhythms. Doing so elevates our Cortisol levels which then fall naturally as the day goes on. Melatonin, the sleep hormone, acts inversely and rises as the day goes on, peaking at bedtime. The early morning exercise also spikes cortisol, allowing it to then drop as the day goes on. This one two punch has an amazing effect on our energy levels and helps tremendously with sleep. Huge return on investment for this 5-10 minute practice. Personally, it has transformed my sleep quality!
So there it is; the routine I personally use to start my day off right for maximum energy and a great nights sleep! One final note. Don't forget to add a healthy breakfast in there. Remember, breakfast is not dessert (which most cereal breakfasts are). My go to are 3 eggs mixed with so many vegetables, you can hardly see the eggs; along with an almond milk Superfood Smoothie. You feel this routine will take too long? It will add about 15 minutes to your morning, yielding a huge return on investment! Jerry Seinfeld said it best when talking about his morning meditation, "The thing I desire most; more than love, more than money is ENERGY." For when we have that, the rest tends to come to our way.