Blog Seven: Establishing a Morning and Night Routine
I used to wake up in a rush to get out of the door, grabbing a granola bar and coffee before heading into a full day. I used to go to bed while looking at my phone or a television screen. I would wake up early on the week days and sleep in until 2pm on the weekends. I felt overwhelmed and tired constantly. I felt I never had enough time, I was so productive but wasn’t getting anything done, and I always had more to do.
I listened to different podcasts, read different books, and watched different videos on how to establish a morning and a night routine. I played around with what worked best for me. It took many trials and errors to understand my body and how I function best.
In the mornings, I’ve found if I spend time with myself, doing something I enjoy, and setting intentions for the day, it helps me have successful and positive day. For me, I like to have a biblical verse or a affirmation in my head throughout the day. Any time I feel stressed, incompetent, overwhelmed, etc, I can come back to the verse.
Throughout the day, our sympathetic nervous system is on, it protects us, keeps up alive, produces adrenaline, increases our heart rates, etc. A lot of individuals cannot sleep because their body doesn’t “turn off,” in other words, our sympathetic nervous system stays on. To turn this system off, we have to wind down, relax, and turn our parasympathetic system on. Our parasympathetic system slows our heart rate, decreases our blood pressure, and allows us to digest. My favorite way to do this is to dim my lights, stretch, drink tea, read a book, do breathing exercises, or do a meditation. It’s important to turn off bluelight (i.e our phones and televisions) at least 30 minutes - an hour before bed. I also try not to have any food at least 2-3 hours before bed. All of these activities stimulate my parasympathetic system to kick in and my sympathetic system to turn off, allowing me to have a deep and restful sleep.
Other things like decreasing coffee/caffeine intake, taking regular long breaths throughout the day, spending lunch outside/going on walks throughout the work day, spending quality time with family and friends, drinking water, decreasing alcohol consumption, eating nutritious/whole foods, and exercising, can all make an impact on quality of sleep as well. I try to do all of these things as often as I can.
For me, I wake up at 5:30am every morning before work. I read the bible or a devotional and journal before I do anything. I make my greens and breakfast and drink my coffee. I then do my hair, brush my teeth, and get ready for the day. I automatically set 30-45 minutes of ME time for the morning. For bed, I typically go to bed around 8:30pm, I stretch and roll out, make a tea, and get ready for bed. I pray and read my book for 30ish minutes. This all works for me, I genuinely look forward to waking up and going to bed everyday. I find these activities set me up for success for the day.
I’ve tried different routines and every season is different. Try your best, establish a routine that functions for you.
Xoxo, Hads
Dr. Mark Hyman talks a ton about this on multiple different podcasts.
Transform podcast also talks about this
Sad to Savage podcast also talks about this
