Mornings are precious times that set the tone for the rest of the day. When you get up before the rest of the world, you have time to contemplate and organize your day. A solid morning ritual, whether meditation, reading, journaling, exercise, or even another wellness practice, can help you start each day with the appropriate mindset to be the greatest version of yourself. Furthermore, research suggests that developing excellent daily routines and habits can enhance your mental health and well-being while preparing you for success. We’ve compiled a list of evidence-based morning rituals to help you resist the impulse to start your day by scrolling through social media or checking your email.
What Exactly Are Morning Rituals?
Morning rituals should not be confused with morning routines. The two have a major difference, and it impacts your thinking. A ritual is a everyday practice that has significant personal meaning or cultural importance tied to it. In contrast, a routine is a regular action or behavior with no meaning or purpose. A morning ritual sets a tone for the day and allows you to control your attitude instead of allowing it to dominate you. A morning ritual allows you to be more present, better utilize your time, reduce stress, and boost your productivity as you begin each day.
The Health Advantages of Morning Rituals
Starting your day in the correct mental space can greatly reduce stress, which has numerous physical and mental health benefits. These are four benefits of adopting a morning habit for your health.
Improves Mood
Starting each morning with a mood-boosting ritual is one of the most puissant things you can take for your mental health. A morning ritual that includes exercise, positive affirmations, meditation, or getting outside in the sunlight can relax your mind and enhance serotonin production in your brain, which governs sleep, memory, mood, and other cognitive functions.
Enhances Relationships
When overloaded, even tiny concerns can elicit unwanted feelings, causing us to vent our displeasure on those closest to us. In addition, stressing out on family and friends can harm relationships with the people you care about the most, worsening your stress levels. As a result, having a consistent morning practice that puts you in the correct mentality and reduces stress can help you improve the way you interact with others.
Inflammation is Reduced
Morning rituals can help reduce stress, which can help reduce chronic inflammation. When your body is always under stress and has chronic inflammation, your immune system targets healthy tissue and organs. Unfortunately, this increases your risk of developing chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Improves Productivity
A morning ritual can aid in the elimination of emotions of burnout, which hinder productivity. Establishing healthy daily habits through a morning routine significantly removes burnout and increases productivity. Adopting a daily meditation practice has been demonstrated to improve cognitive function, productivity, and job performance.
Meditation
Meditation does not have to take up a lot of time. Even 5 minutes a day can make a big difference. Because you’re rejuvenated from a whole night’s sleep and the world is serene and quiet, early morning is a wonderful time to meditate.
Meditation provides numerous health advantages, including stress and anxiety reduction, improved sleep, mood enhancement, and blood pressure reduction. Practicing morning meditation can help with pain, anxiety, and despair at times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Exercise
Everyone knows that exercise is beneficial, but did you know that exercising early in the day is linked to increased energy, faster metabolism, and greater blood sugar control? Morning exercise can also help with focus, visual learning, and decision-making.
Journaling
You might be shocked to read about the several advantages of early journaling. Morning journaling allows you to clear your thoughts, analyze emotions, reflect on your goals, eliminate self-doubt, and boost creativity. Furthermore, writing down your ideas every morning helps you become grounded and start each day on a positive note, which improves your attitude and productivity.
How to Include Morning Rituals into Your Routine
One of the greatest ways to build a steady morning ritual is to integrate it into an activity you already do daily. Choose activities that you are looking forward to and like doing. Finally, the idea is to make morning rituals a way of life instead of just a part of it. For some, this could be practicing breathing methods in the shower or some other simple ways to start your day with good intent. Here are some ideas for incorporating morning rituals into your routine.
Consider Your Objectives
Consider what you truly want to receive out of your daily routine. Do you want to be more efficient? Do you have greater energy? Decrease your stress? Should you be more present? Is it all of the above? Finally, spend some time journaling about the advantages you hope to gain from a morning ritual. This will assist you in determining the activities to include in the morning rituals that are most appropriate for you. According to research, people are more likely to maintain behaviors that are consistent with their long-term goals if they develop good daily habits that become second nature to them.
Experiment
Discovering the right morning ritual for you will need some trial and error. For example, some people may benefit from 20 minutes of meditation, while others may benefit more from a quick walk outside or reading a book. However, keep in mind that nothing is set in stone. One day, 20 minutes of meditation may be all you need/want, while the next day, a brisk walk outside may be all you need/want. Experimenting and learning about yourself and your needs is therefore essential. If you are no longer reaping the benefits of a specific habit or activity, it indicates that the ritual has grown stale and that it is time to move on and try something new.
Maintain Consistency
Consistency, like anything else good in life, is required for success. You can’t expect to reap real, long-term advantages if you simply try something once or conduct your morning ritual when you feel like it.
Developing good habits that stick requires constant repetition of the practice. But, the experts also stated that missing a day here and there will not derail your efforts in developing healthy behaviors or sticking to your morning ritual. Morning rituals will assist you if you are habitually good rather than occasionally amazing.
Kim’s Final Thoughts…
Regardless of your age or stage in life, adding a morning ritual into your routine can provide numerous benefits, such as improved mental health, stress reduction, increased productivity, and giving your life a clear direction and significance. Nevertheless, don’t make too many changes too quickly. Instead, gradually develop your morning habit around one or two adjustments at a time for a more realistic and lasting approach. Decide which habits or behaviors you want to incorporate into your morning routine, then experiment with them until you find what works best. If you still have trouble getting into the correct attitude after adopting the steps, consult a mental health professional.
