Morning Routines You Need

Sleep Psychology

It’s a well-known fact that, as human beings, we love and look for predictability in our everyday lives – your morning routine being the perfect place to start. When we sleep, our brains go through what can be described as a detoxification, where toxins and waste are discarded through the body’s lymphatic system. This process ensures a safe balance of chemicals exists within the brain, and it also prevents fatigue and brain fog. After resting for enough time, we experience an immediate surge in cortisol levels, which triggers our bodies to wake up. The level of cortisol that you start the morning with has a monumental impact on your emotional and cognitive state for the rest of the day. If you’ve ever woken up and felt like no amount of sleep would be enough, this is probably because of your cortisol levels.

Cortisol levels – also known as the ‘stress hormone’ – can be affected by many factors such as caffeine, eating late at night, or going to sleep feeling stressed or anxious. Likewise, another reason why we experience feeling fuzzy and extremely fatigued is because of sleep inertia. Sleep inertia is a state in which our bodies are fully awake, but our brains haven’t caught up yet. It’s hard to believe, but this temporary state can reduce our brain’s functioning and performance by up to 51%. This is why these periods can feel demotivating and mentally draining.

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The Relationship Between Morning Routines and Cognitive Functioning

The human brain is considered to be the most complex organ in the human body, with each of its many regions responsible for a different cognitive process. One particular area of the brain, known as the basal ganglia, is entirely dedicated to building habits. When we start to build habits in our daily lives, these regimes move to a new region of the brain, where they become automated responses instead. At this stage, they’re often referred to as neural pathways, which can get stronger and stronger the more times that they’re repeated.

Remember when we mentioned predictability earlier in this article? Here’s where it comes in. When we create consistent routines, and we continue to repeat them day-to-day, neurotransmitters in the brain release dopamine – the feel-good hormone. This process works like a positive feedback loop, where the release of dopamine then allows the habit to be built into our neural pathways deeper, making it easier and more automated the next time we do it.

Why Is Predictability Important In Our Morning Routines?

When we face situations that are unfamiliar to us, cortisol is released in the brain. Elevated cortisol levels, although absolutely necessary, can have negative effects on the brain and body – especially in situations where there’s no real threat to us. High cortisol levels are also responsible for feelings of anxiety and stress. It’s important to recognise that cortisol is extremely safe and not of any concern as long as it’s not too high or too low. Consistently high cortisol levels, also known as chronic stress, can lead to high blood pressure and weight gain. Predictability in your morning routine can significantly reduce cortisol levels in the brain as well as improve emotional control for the day.

How Can I Adapt My Morning Routine?

To make your morning routines more predictable, don’t just think about typical habits like food and exercise. It can start as simple dental habits, which are helpful in creating consistency for the brain, but are equally important for taking care of your oral health. It’s recommended to start your morning routine with hydration – but don’t overdo it. A large glass of water as soon as you wake up is enough to help restore cognitive functioning and replenish all the water that’s lost when we sleep. 

Any easy and sustainable way to build new habits into your daily routine is to habit stack. Habit stacking involves introducing new patterns into your schedule by stacking them with old ones. Start with the habits you already do and link them to a new habit immediately after, so your brain gets used to the order it needs to follow.

The most beneficial habits to build into your morning routine are habits that are good for your mind, body and soul. From journaling to applying your favourite lip gloss, any habit that you can easily build into your routine and most importantly stick to, is a habit that can set you up for a productive day.

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Hydrate As Soon As You Wake Up

When you’re asleep your body dehydrates, and so the best thing you can do when you wake up is to drink water to rehydrate, jumpstart your metabolism and aid digestion. Before bed, put a bottle of water on your nightstand, then when you wake up and your alarm goes off, you can just drink your water and you’ve already done something really positive for yourself as soon as you wake up! It can also help your body to remove toxins, so your kidneys can flush out waste products that have accumulated overnight.

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Get Natural Light Exposure

Before you go to bed, pick out an outfit, put it onto the floor by your bed and when you get up in the morning, head straight out for a walk. Even if it’s not super sunny, getting natural light exposure is fantastic to help with the circadian rhythm, naturally waking the body and helping to provide more sustained energy throughout the day. You’ll feel more alert, your mood will be enhanced and it will also help you to sleep better the next evening as your circadian rhythm was adjusted in a positive way!

Gentle Movement

On the same theme, gentle movement is important in the mornings. If you wake up and do a really intense workout, then you’re at higher risk of injury because of stiffer muscles and you’ll likely experience reduced performance. Also, it spikes your cortisol levels, which can cause your body to feel more stressed and you to feel more fatigued through the day. Instead, a walk outside helps to wake up your body to gradually wake up and prepare you for the rest of the day. Whether it’s 15 minutes or you have time for something longer, it’s a great way to start your day. Why not meet up with a friend and make it a social occasion!

Have A Nutritious Breakfast

Taking time to make yourself a nutritious breakfast is so important to start the day right. When you have a balanced breakfast with protein, fibre and healthy fats, it helps to kickstart your metabolism, keep you feeling full for the morning and boost your energy levels. If you grab something quickly on the way out the house, often it won’t provide what you need to feel satiated and energised for the morning.

A great breakfast if you love savoury food is to have eggs, wholemeal sourdough, spinach and tomatoes with a drizzle of chilli oil over the top. If you like sweet, a bowl of Greek yogurt with granola, nuts and fruit will set you up perfectly, to make your morning happier and healthier.

Slow Down

One of the best things you can do for your body is to slow down. If you rush in the morning, jump up right out of bed and move a million miles an hour, it doesn’t give your body the time to gradually wake up and get ready for the day. Instead, try to give yourself the first hour of the day to naturally wake up and adjust!

Instead of rushing straight to the gym or leaving it as late as possible to wake up so you’re in a rush, wake up, make your delicious coffee, head outside for your walk, make yourself a nutritious breakfast, get ready and then head out of the house. You’re likely to be so much more awake and prepared for the day, as well as feeling fresher for longer and not crashing mid-morning!

Make Yourself A Coffee

For many of us, starting the day with a delicious coffee is a pretty good way to kick things off. However, it’s recommended to not have your coffee for an hour after waking up, so once you’ve headed out for your walk and prepped your breakfast, you can enjoy your caffeine without it spiking your energy and causing you to crash. Getting yourself a good quality home setup, with a great espresso machine and DF54 grinder, will help you to create cafe-quality coffee from the comfort of your home!

The post Important Morning Rituals For Your Body appeared first on Health Diet Guru.

While pumping is a thing and it’s a blessing to help mothers get a break from the constant demands of their newborn, it should be taken advantage of because getting those extra minutes and hopefully hours to yourself is very important to keep your sanity.

I have put together some self-care strategies that have helped me and thousands of mothers take advantage of those minutes we can take for ourselves.

Morning Routine

While your morning routine before you had the baby is out of the window and gone forever (sorry!) that doesn’t mean that you can’t have one ever again. Having a routine that works for both you and your baby is what will keep you sane and give your day structure rather than just winging it every morning. 

I find a morning routine sets me up for the day and without one, I just feel gross for the rest of the day which isn’t ideal. While you might not have to do a 12-step skincare and makeup routine, keeping it short, fresh, and simple will allow you to do a quick reset and allow you to feel like yourself again. 

Try a morning positive mantra as well; starting the day off with positive words seems to help me keep positive for the rest of the day.

Read: The Impact of Food Spoilage: A Complex Challenge We Can’t Afford to Ignore

Sleep When The Baby Sleeps

While this might already go without saying and you’ve heard it everywhere, that’s for a reason. Getting naps in here and there will give you the energy to get through the whole day, and while you might take advantage of nap times to get housework done like the washing, a shower, or a gym workout, nothing is more important than sleep.

I would much rather stink than miss out on sleep and the countless research studies that tell us that sleep is the most valuable thing we can have. I would truly advise every mother to ask your family or even friends to help around the house while you get some much-needed rest. That’s what they are there for and they do say it takes a village to raise a baby. Integrating premium cruelty-free beauty products into your daily self-care strategies nurtures your skin with clean ingredients while aligning your personal wellness routine with ethical choices.

Nourishment

While it’s easy to order takeaway every night because the babies are taking up too much attention to get any cooking done, I saw this couple that meal-prepped breakfast, lunch and dinners and collected at least a month’s worth of food to help them get through it and avoid spending hundreds of pounds of crappy takeaway food. 

Meal-prepping nutritional, filling and tasty food that is as simple as defrosting and waking it in the air fryer will do the trick. Alternatively, again ask your mom to bring around some food now and then to help out because you shouldn’t have to struggle alone and people need to quit suffering in silence and ask for help.

Stay Connected

As I have mentioned a lot, getting friends and family around to help but also getting them around to socialise with. Spending time with just the baby and your partner while it’s nice and wholesome does get quite boring and just some different conversations that aren’t about you is what keeps us sane. It’s nice to laugh with friends and be confined to family so don’t boycott everyone from your home just because you’ve given birth. 

Honestly, you won’t regret asking them to come over and they always come bearing gifts, so why would you not want that in your home? 

Alone Time

Having alone time is something we all miss after dedicating so much time to the little one but I have found even if you don’t even have complete and utter alone time, having a nook in the nursery, staying in the bathroom for an extra 5 minutes (usually spending that time online shopping) and taking those minutes we get and soaking it in. Prioritizing personal wellness through mindfulness and conscious budgeting is essential for taming money stress, transforming financial anxiety into a sustainable act of daily self-care.

But if and when you do get the chance, take those hours and do something that makes you happy, like going for a walk or a quiet coffee with your friends. Just doing that will make you feel so much better. 

Final Thoughts

Whether your self-care looks like taking an extra long hot shower or an extra 10 minutes to online shop on Petite Lumiere (my favourite baby shop atm for nursery room accessories) for little gifts as even when you are relaxing away from the family you can still do things for them, it’s important to find those extra minutes to do things that make us feel like ourselves. So be sure to get yourself into a new routine as soon as possible and don’t be afraid to ask for support from those who love you.

The post Nurturing Yourself: Self-Care Strategies for New Parents appeared first on Health Diet Guru.