3 Ways a Morning Routine Helps You Stay Healthy

Whether you have no current morning routine at all, find that yours isn’t really working for you, or have been thinking it’s time to maximize those early waking hours, there is a lot of health value to be had from the optimal morning routine. 

Good for your mental and physical health, adopting the right morning habits can do wonders for your happiness, and for the entire day ahead.

Dictates "Me Time"

If you start the day opening up your email or logging on] to social media, chances are, there is something that comes up immediately asking for your attention.  In that second, where you are requested to respond to an email, answer a question, offer an explanation or simply make a decision, you are on somebody else’s clock.  The time is not your own that you are dictating, you are letting somebody else specify your time – from the moment you wake up! This is not a good way to start the day; staying away from email and social media for the first couple of hours of the morning allows you to have your own time, where you dictate what you do and when you do it.  This can be the same thing at this time every day, or something different, but it is your own time and you are in control.

Reduces Stress

Starting the day with a routine, with adequate time to do everything you need to do keeps your stress and anxiety at bay from the beginning of the day.  If your day starts in a rush, you sleep in late, or you don’t have time to do everything you need to, it increases your stress level before you even leave the house.  This stress only mounts and gets worse as the day wears on, and you have no strong foundational base line to come back to when things reach a peak by the afternoon.

Encourages Self Care

By having a time set out in the morning that is your own, and that is stress-free, it essentially gives you a block of time for self-care.  Whether that is exercise, meditation or just some quiet time for reading, knowing that this is what the time is devoted to and you don’t have to be doing anything else is very powerful towards making sure you carry out the task.  Once it becomes a habit and a routine to complete this self-care practice, you will just see it as an integral part of your day and your health and wellness will be better for it.  Not to mention, later on, when your day gets hectic, nobody can take away from you the fact that you already went for a run today, or already completed your grounding meditation.

If you are ready to shake up your morning, start small, making one change at a time to ensure you don’t get overwhelmed or discouraged. From there, make additional changes as you are ready until you have crated the ideal morning routine for you and your health.

By: Laura Peill, RHN, BScH –  Viand Nutrition