3 Ways To Get The Most Out Of Your Morning

The fact is, mornings can be hectic. Given the hustle bustle of most, it only makes sense that you get the most out of yours. Exposing yourself to morning time light, hydrating your body, and taking an instant to breathe are 3 hugely effective ways to do just that. Exposing your eyes and skin to light helps properly set your circadian rhythm for the day, while drinking enough pure filtered water first thing is key to your body functioning well. Taking time to stop and breath resets your nervous system and allows your rest and digest (parasympathetic) state to take hold.

We all get it, life can be fast paced. When it comes to mornings, weekend or work day, we all want to get the best out of what they can offer. Given the prolific speed and demands most mornings place on many, doing what will best support your health and set you up for success is, for all intents and purposes, the only way to help effectively leap into your day.

Science has shown that waking up exposed to morning light will properly set and super charge your circadian rhythm for the day. In order for the physiology of your body to function right, having your internal ‘clock’ ticking at the right pace is an essential part of starting things right. Research has proven that by exposing your eyes and skin to day light within minutes of waking up, activation of your suprachiasmatic nuclei (in your brain) synchronizes your circadian pacemaker for the day. With a proper circadian rhythm in place, your body better functions for you and at the times it needs to throughout your day. Light, as it’s been proven, is the most important stimulus for this to occur.

Waking up and drinking pure filtered water has been shown to boost the function of your body in a multitude of ways. Most assume that water is a ‘neutral’ liquid. What many don’t understand is that water is an active and essential compound for your body to properly function. We all know that without water, life could not exist, however when it comes to your day to day health, water becomes a necessary intermediate in the majority of physiological pathways in your body. What does this mean for you? Drinking adequate water first thing in the morning helps prime these pathways to function more optimally and unencumbered and better sets your body to accomplish what it needs to for the day.

Cortisol spikes early in the morning. This stress hormone is valuable in waking you up and helping charge your body for the day. Unfortunately, the amount of added stress that many deal with the moment you wake up (getting to work on time, organizing meals, getting kids ready etc) only counteracts and scrambles cortisol’s genuine benefits. Once stress takes over, the sympathetic (fight or flight) response turns on. By taking a moment to stop and take 1-2 breathes amongst it all, you quickly encourage your body to flip from stress induced to stress-less. A few deep breathes have been proven to shift your sympathetic response straight into a parasympathetic (relaxed) state.