You are not a morning person. You’ve heard of morning people. You know a few morning people. You kind of hate them.
That being said, there may be circumstances in your life that have forced you to become a morning person — say, two children who wake up somewhere between 4:50 and 5:30 each morning, or a job that requires you start work at 6:30 am.
Although you can’t change your inherent constitutional tendencies on this issue, you can do a few things that will at least help you handle early morning wakeup calls with a bit more grace, pleasantness and energy. Here are the top 6 ways to add more energy to your morning.
Erin Brockmeyer, LAc, is owner and acupuncturist at Solstice Natural Health. She creates custom health plans for patients to help them tackle their most complicated health concerns, including infertility, prenatal care, fibromyalgia, thyroid conditions and chronic and acute pain conditions. Visit her website for more information and to download her free e-book 5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Health Today.
Related Slideshow: 6 Ways to Boost Your Morning Energy
Here are the top 6 ways to add more energy to your morning:
Doing a short 10-minute yoga routine can get your blood flowing without being too strenuous for the start of your day. Working out in the morning can be tricky because if you are not a morning person, you really don’t want to sacrifice an hour of sleep in order to exercise, and likely you won’t. You might do it for a week, but then you’ll slip back into your snooze routine, and your running shoes will be nothing more than a tripping hazard on your floor. You may also be someone who has a hard time working out if you haven’t eaten anything, but then you have to wait for 30 minutes before commencing exercise or you’ll get a stomachache. This is where the 10 minutes of stretching that yoga will give you really shines. You likely won’t need to eat anything before and you probably don’t even have to get up any earlier.
Try a couple rounds of sun salutations, or go back and forth between downward dog and plank. Really almost any poses will work for this purpose, and you can find short morning routines for free on websites like DoYogaWithMe.com. Along with invigorating you and getting your blood flowing, doing a simple morning yoga routine will work out any kinks or stiffness you wake with so that you physically feel a lot more ready to attack the morning.
Essential oils are quite the rage right now, and unless you really dive in to study the biochemistry behind the oils, it can be hard to swallow all of the claims that are being made on their behalf. One thing you can always count on from essential oils is that they have amazing smells. These smells can really go a long way towards changing your mood and helping you feel energized.
Citrus oils are the go-to oils for energizing and invigorating, so try keeping a bottle of lemon, grapefruit or frankincense on your bedside table. Once your alarm goes off, open the top and breathe in the smells. You can even take it one step further by using a diffuser in the morning in the kitchen or bathroom so that you can breathe these oils in as you get ready for your day.
This may seem like a no-brainer, and that is probably how you already start your day. You may currently be dragging so much in the mornings that coffee is something you need just to feel normal. The drug of choice for many people, there can be an art to using coffee for an energy boost. Following this approach is hard at first because it requires that you cut back the amount of coffee you currently drink, but it can be well worth it if you have a targeted energy need coming up such as an overseas trip or a hellish work week.
Start by taking the number of cups of coffee you drink per day (include other caffeinated beverages as well), then add 3 and you will have the number of days before your needed caffeine boost that you will need to start cutting back. For instance, if you normally drink 3 cups of coffee/day, 6 days before your trip you will need to start cutting back. On day one cut out one cup of coffee, and if you have no caffeine headaches from this, you can cut out another cup the following day. If you get a terrible caffeine headache at any point of the process, you may need to cut down by 1/2 cups. Do this until you are down to 1 cup/day. The following day cut back to 1/2 cup of coffee. The day before your trip/terrible work week starts, don’t consume any caffeine. This will reset your caffeine response so that starting the following day you will be more sensitive to the effects of coffee and will get the boost you are craving. You may even find that you are more sensitive to the effects of coffee for several days in a row, which can really help you get started in the morning.
Starting your day with a glass of water can do wonders for your energy. Do this initially upon waking, after the essential oils, but before the yoga, coffee or breakfast. You need water to fuel every cell of your body, and overnight you were basically on a water fast. Often people wake up slightly dehydrated, and one symptom of dehydration is … fatigue.
Starting your day with a solid 8-16 ounces of water is one of the most important ways you can instantly boost your energy in the morning. Not only that, but starting your day out with water may help increase your metabolism, it can increase brain productivity, help you eat less, and helps your kidneys filter out toxins more effectively. There are only benefits to starting your day this way.
Not just any old carb-rich, nutrient deficient breakfast — eat a breakfast high in lean protein and low in simple carbs for a good boost of morning energy. Instead of a bowl of cereal, try a ham and egg sandwich, a bowl of leftover stew, or a homemade breakfast burrito. Read this breakfast article for ideas on how to get a high quality breakfast without spending a lot of time making it. Whatever you end up eating, aim for at least one serving of produce and one serving of protein. The important thing here is that not only will you get the instant boost from the nutrient rich foods, but it will be sustained energy that won’t leave you crashing an hour or two later. Eating this way to start your day will make a positive impact on your energy all day long.
Obviously if you are chronically getting too little sleep, this is where you need to start. If you suffer from insomnia, get help. You can have a sleep study done, talk to your doctor, or go see an acupuncturist who can help you get better sleep naturally. If you are just staying up too late and getting up too early, you need to be realistic about your lifestyle needs and choices. Not getting enough sleep doesn’t only feel bad in the short-term; it can lead to real health problems in the long run. Sleep deprivation can lead to adrenal fatigue, blood sugar issues, thyroid problems. And it certainly does not help you look your best. So if you are staying up late because you are a night owl even though your schedule necessitates you rise with the sun, you may need to suck it up and head to bed a bit earlier. It is totally worth it for your health and for your sanity.
