Believe it or not, there’s a strategy to good mood mornings.
If you normally wake up on the wrong side of the bed, don’t believe that you’re not a morning person. It may be time to adjust your morning routine with a little bit of ayurveda.
I recently taught a workshop called The Happy Mind: How to Wake Up in a Good Mood Every Morning. Unsure if it would be a hit or a dud, I braced myself for an empty room. Maybe no one cared as much as I did about waking up chipper.
Lo and behold, the workshop sold out. 55 students sat in, 54 of whom professed to wake up in a bad mood each morning (the only other good-mooder was a fellow ayurvedic practitioner!).
It seems that all too many people are beginning their days with negativity. They wake up feeling groggy, sad, stressed, or sluggish. Their partners and coworkers know to steer clear before 10am, afraid of undue wrath or contagious bad moods. These grumps usually believe that they are not morning people.
But I beg to differ. We each have a daily choice to be a morning person. It requires mindfulness, a bit of self-discipline (as this wellness stuff usually requires), and a good night’s sleep.
Here’s what I taught my workshop students:
1. Get a good night’s sleep
This is something you already know: in order to wake up feeling refreshed and energetic, you need to have had a good night’s sleep. But do you know how to get a good night’s sleep?
Ayurveda teaches that due to nature’s cyclical energy, it’s easiest to fall asleep by 10pm. You may have noticed that sleepiness naturally kicks in around 8pm or so. This is the peak of kapha time: the energy which makes you feel slow and sluggish.
You can use kapha time to your advantage by getting into bed before 10pm. After 10, a lighter energy called pitta takes over and gives you a second wind.
While this may sound a little esoteric, simply think back to a time when you felt sleepy in the evening but pushed on until midnight. How did you feel? Did you experience a second burst of energy?
That second wind is what makes some people believe they’re night owls. While they may be creative and productive in the middle of the night, they miss out on the deep and restful sleep that only comes from aligning oneself with the rhythms of nature: in bed by 10pm (11pm at the latest).
2. Be an early bird
Of all the tips given, the real secret to waking up in a good mood is to wake up early. It again has to do with the energies of nature. While kapha is in full effect from around 6pm to 10pm, it’s also nature’s dominant energy from 6am to 10am.
How do you feel when you wake up at 8 or 9? I personally feel like an elephant is sitting on me. It’s like I’m glued to the bed. Once I finally drag myself upright, I’m groggy, sluggish, and have a negative outlook on the upcoming day.
On the other hand, if I wake up at 5:30 or 6, it’s easy to get vertical. I feel light, chipper, and if I’ve gone to bed early enough, refreshed.
Ayurveda explains that this is not a random phenomenon. Those mid-morning hours from around 6am to 10am exert that sluggish, slow energy on nature and the body. That’s why it’s harder to get out of bed during this window.
Before 6am, the light and mobile energy called vata is in full effect. Vata exerts its these same qualities on nature and the body, making it easy to wake up, get moving, and energetically start the day.
As a teacher of ayurvedic lifestyle, I’ve asked many of my clients and students to give waking up early a shot. While they initially resent me, after about a week their body adjusts. They find that in fact they are a morning person, and feel light, refreshed, and ready to embrace the day.
3. Make mindful choices when you first wake up
How you wake up has a lot to do with how you feel the rest of the day. Here’s where mindfulness comes in: making morning choices that support a good mood.
If you absolutely must wake up to an alarm, choose a peaceful and non-aggressive sound. Set it on the lowest possible volume that will still wake you up.
Let your first thought set the tone for the day that follows. Imagine what kind of day you’ll have if your first thought is about your to-do list, your dreaded boss, or self-criticism! Instead, mindfully think something positive: like today is a beautiful day, thank you, or I am growing.
4. Open your eyes to something beautiful
Your bedroom should be a sanctuary: a peaceful space that oozes positivity. A cluttered bedroom will only make the mind feel frazzled, so minimize things and piles and collections as much as possible. Keep your bedroom tidy.
Place fresh flowers beside your bed so that the first thing you see upon waking is beauty. Or if you sleep with a partner, open your eyes and smile at them. They will smile back, and you’ll start your day with love.
So there you have it: the secrets to being a morning person.
Make your bedroom a peaceful space, do your best to go to bed by 10, wake up by 6, use a peaceful alarm if necessary, think something positive, and open your eyes to something beautiful. If this all sounds like too much, simply start with a positive thought upon waking. See how it changes your daily mood, then add on a new practice. With time, you’ll have created a good mood morning routine that sticks.
If you’d like to discover more useful tips to improve your physical and mental health, then check out Zenward.
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