Having a solid training regime and diet plan sorted is great; feeling well-rested and energised when you wake up is the perfect addition to the diet and fitness.
If you’re one of those people who constantly feel like you’re struggling with the whole getting up and feeling invigorated thing in when you wake up, the chances are that you’re missing some elements in your life that help you to sleep, or there’s a number of things that could be inhibiting it.
Ideally, you want to have a healthy way of getting up in the morning that doesn’t force the issue too much, The Sleep Advisor website recommends, because if you’re forcing the issue then there’s something not quite right.
Essentially, you should be waking up feeling well-rested enough to feel okay with getting up and going about your daily life.
Some will always struggle more than others when it comes to getting up and that depends on whether you’re a morning person or not, but there are ways to sleep well and wake up energised, which we can give you some insight into here.
You should be receiving the recommended daily amount of sleep each evening, which experts advise is anything between 7-9 hours, depending on the person.
So, with that in mind, if you manage to get a full sleep on board every night and you’re still waking up feeling less than energised, then you will want to consider the tips we have for you that are on hand to get you kick-starting your day feeling more motivated and rejuvenated in future.
Avoid that tempting use of the snooze button
If you’re not ready for it, the sound of your alarm clock going off in the morning to wake you up can be one of the most demoralising sounds ever! What’s worse, is when you put yourself through it several times when you opt to hit that snooze button that’s oh so tempting!
The simple solution is to not press snooze. Easier said than done at times, right? Well, when you consider that hitting snooze may allow you to doze for what seems like some precious extra minutes, but your brain is a super-complex thing and it intrinsically knows that you have valuable little time left in the sack, and as such, the quality of your snooze-based sleeps won’t be restful or beneficial.
In fact, when the alarm goes off again, you’re much more advised to simply bite the bullet and get up, or run the risk of feeling even more tired after snoozing, Neuroscientists say.
Alcohol is off limits before bed
We’ve all had a few drinks, woken up in the morning and thought that we’ve simply nodded off and had a good sleep with a little help from the booze. Wrong! Alcohol does not help you get solid slumber; it has the opposite effect.
Sleepfoundation.org explains that alcohol interferes with your brain activity, and prevents you from having regular brainwave patterns that guarantee deep and restorative sleep is enjoyed. If you like a glass of something with dinner, just make sure you restrict yourself and don’t have anything at least three hours before your bedtime.
Water in the morning is a natural winner
A warm cup of black coffee might be your first thought to drink in the morning, but if you want to feel awake and reinvigorated naturally and more healthily, then you should be drinking a nice big glass of water that you’ve thought ahead and placed next to you for when you wake up in the morning.
Having the ability to rehydrate the moment after you’ve woken up is essential and goes a long way toward supporting a wholesome flow of oxygen – and that will make you feel greater-rested and more energetic.
Soak up the sunshine in the morning
One of the best things you can do in the morning is getting some sun first thing; this gives you a lovely boost and truly helps to make you feel awake.
This isn’t always possible, depending on your location, but if you can then do get those rays because it’ll help to send your body’s internal clock the correct signals that now’s the time to be awake, alert and full of get-up-and-go!
You don’t necessarily have to go skipping through the meadows in the morning, but if it’s sunny out, simply draw back your curtains and allow the light to shine through while you’re getting yourself ready for the upcoming events of the day.
As we mentioned, this isn’t always possible. So, for those who don’t get much sun, or if it’s during the dark and rainy months, then acquiring a Seasonal Affective Disorder lamp might be a sound investment.
Songs for anti-sluggishness success
Music is a wonderful addition to your morning routine and studies have established that by turning on your favourite songs, your brain discharges notable levels of dopamine which will make you feel happy and better over-all.
Also, music is the single stimulus that produces your whole brain to light up on a PET scan. While this in mind, if you put on some spritely, upbeat tunes in the morning, it’ll help you too feel readier and more enthused.
Get active in the mornings
For some people, the idea of going to the gym or going for a run in the morning is literally the worst thing imaginable, but if you add it into your routine then you will feel the benefits in no time and the likelihood is that you will change your opinion when you start feeling a million bucks after several weeks of this.
If you’re truly an anti-morning person when it comes to physical activity, then just taking 5-10 minutes in the morning to stretch is a swift, straightforward way to begin your day feeling start the day with increased energy, says Nicholas Licameli, a physical therapist at Professional Physical Therapy. He explains that stretching in the morning can improve blood flow and lower stress before you go about your day.
Make sure you consume a high-quality breakfast
It’s so tempting to skip breakfast when you’re hurrying to make it to work or an appointment, but what’s essential is that you prioritise what is actually the most important meal of the day.
No matter if you wake up feeling like you’ve got an empty tummy and you’re hungry or not, eating a healthy breakfast will assist in making sure you’ve started your day off energised correctly.
National Sleep Foundation’s Natalie Dautovich explains that if you choose to eat foods that are rich in protein and fibre, you will be doing the right thing. Try to swerve anything that contains unsaturated fat, potassium and magnesium as all of these things can make you feel lethargic and sleepy again.
There’s nothing to say that you will instantly be reborn into a morning person if you struggle with being one, but if you take these tips on board and give them your best shot, mornings could well become less painful. What’s more, you might even be more productive during the day and that can only be a good thing!
