11 life-changing rituals for an excellent start of the day

Eevee G, I <3 Intelligence

We live in busy times when most of us have to work around 40 hours a week. In order to lead this kind of lifestyle, one should sort their time and energy properly throughout the whole day. Healthy morning rituals can really have a positive impact on the way you spend your day. Not everyone realizes that what you do and the way you think in the morning can affect your mood, motivation, energy and the way you do things throughout day.

It is of great importance to start your day the proper way in order to grow, feel happier and to be more productive. Read on for ideas on how to make the best of your mornings.

1. Early to bed, early to rise…

If you really want to improve your mornings and work on building some new healthy morning habits, you would probably need more time. Getting up earlier is a way to add an extra hour or so to your day. But if you love the peace and quiet the late nights provide you with and you have turned into a night owl, you would probably love the peace and quiet that the early mornings offer, too. Getting up before others gives you not only a feeling of satisfaction but also provides you with extra time to follow your morning rituals before you leave the house for work/school.

2. Stretching

Most people experience a feeling of stiffness right after waking up. This can be dealt with really easily by following a stretching routine every morning. There are so many benefits to stretching but you can only feel them if you stretch regularly. If you are not sure how to stretch properly, you can find tons of them on YouTube. Choose the ones that you think will suit you best and just do them every single morning. You will sense the change yourself.

3. Listening to music or an audiobook

Listening to your favorite songs in the morning is a great way to uplift your spirit and get prepared for an exciting new day. It sets a positive mindset and gets you pumped for an active day. Depending on the responsibilities and plans you have for the day, you can adjust the genres of music that you wish to start your day with. If you have planned a day for relaxation, music that is not too loud would be best. But still, it is a matter of choice. Another great source of inspiration in the morning is a good audiobook. Listening to one is a great option for a start of the day because it stimulates the imagination, works on your abilities to focus and can inspire you in a variety of ways. Plus, songs can often be catchy which can affect your work during the day, but audiobooks are less likely to influence your day in a negative way.

4. Drinking a glass of warm lemon water

Every day when you wake up your body is dehydrated because you haven’t drunk any water for about 8 hours while you were sleeping. This is why it is so important to rehydrate your body first thing in the morning. Avoiding that and having breakfast right after you have woken up isn’t a good idea because the first thing your body really needs at that time of the day is water. Drinking a glass of warm water with freshly squeezed lemon juice is a perfect start of the day. This beverage helps your digestive system to prepare for the meals you are about to take during the day. Plus, the lemon makes water tastier. You can also add a spoon of honey to sweeten the sour taste of the lemon water.

5. Scraping Your Tongue

Along with brushing your teeth, scraping your tongue is a great way to improve your mouth hygiene. Once you try it, you wouldn’t want to give it up. It does not only help you get rid of the unpleasant morning breath, but you would also taste your food better as it rids you of that “film” over your tongue that stays there even after you have brushed your teeth. If you don’t know what to use for that purpose, you can either buy a toothbrush that comes with a tongue scraper on the back or a plastic triangle-shaped scraper. If you can’t find either of these, you can simply use a spoon.

6. Green Smoothie

Nourishing, your body with fresh food that contains essential for the body minerals and vitamins, is a must if you want to start your day in a healthy way. That is why a green smoothie is one of the best choices for breakfast. It helps boost your immune system, boosts energy and satisfies your hunger. Making a green smoothie is an easy job. You just throw some spinach, kale and other green vegetables or fruit in the blender and voilà! It is an easy way to provide your body with the much needed fiber, phytonutrients and minerals. Just remember not to eat anything else at least 30 minutes after you drink the green smoothie. Try this out and notice the change in the way your body feels during the day.

7. Rebounding on a mini trampoline

Rebounding 100 times is an excellent start of the day. Some of its benefits are that it wakes up your whole body, you train your balance, stimulates lymph movement, works every muscle group of your body, helps the functioning of your thyroid, reduces stress and so on. By the end of the 100th jump, you will feel your body tightened and your mind- awake.

8. Smiling in the mirror

It is amazing how smiling at yourself in the mirror in the morning can change your whole day. This sends signals to your brain that stimulate the release of hormones that make you feel happier. It also boosts your confidence and you feel more determined to go after your goals. It is a simple way to encourage yourself to do your best every day. Once you make it a habit, you will feel amazed of the way it changes your mindset. You become a more positive and happier person. Yes, that simple trick does wonders!

9. Dry brushing your body

This is an old Ayurvedic practice which can help the circulation and sloughs off the dead skin cells. Choose an exfoliating brush that is not too rough but also, not too soft, because otherwise it won’t be able to do its thing. The way to do the brushing is to start from the area where your heart is, then move to the limbs and the rest of your body. After you have finished with this process, take a shower and apply body lotion in the end in order to keep that suppleness. Dry brushing your body can make your skin smoother, and you will feel it much nicer.

10. Short meditation

One of the best ways to clear your mind in the morning is to meditate for several minutes. Remember that there is not just one right way to meditate. Don’t judge yourself if you don’t enjoy sitting in the lotus position or if you have tried other specific methods to meditate and you just haven’t felt it right. It is enough to sit wherever you feel comfortable and close your eyes for a few minutes. Simply enjoying the silence can be enough, as well, to get the positive effects. The main idea is to clear your mind, remove all tension and to stay calm.

11. Today’s top 3

Leading a busy lifestyle can trick you into forgetting which the most important things you need to do for the day are as you have so many responsibilities to do and plans to follow. Making it a habit to do a list of the top 3 most important things that you need to do before anything else will help you avoid the confusion when you do your tasks for the day. If you succeed with following the list of these three things every day, it will give you the feeling of fulfillment and it will become easier for you to differentiate the important activities from the others. Also, you would like to start small as it will be easier to follow that habit every day and after you make progress, you will simply feel more confident to replace the easier tasks with some bigger and bigger goals for the day.

Do you have any other morning rituals that we could add to this list?

Image: Scott Schwartz

This article first appeared at I Heart Intelligence