5 morning rituals that can change your life

What you do after you wake up in the morning really matters. Every single action has a deep impact on your day ahead. While the right ones can make your day, the wrong ones can break it. How you spend your early hours can dictate the mood for the entire day. Here are five rituals that are worth following.

Most people wake up and reach for their morning joe. But here’s the thing. You have to hydrate yourself before having anything else. As soon as you wake up, and brush your teeth, have some water. After seven or eight hours of sleep, your body is mildly dehydrated. So you have to drink water. Bottoms up. You can either drink room-temperature water or some warm water, which will also kickstart your metabolism.

Before the personal and work chores and chaos hit you, spend some time on yourself. Take 5 or 10 minutes for mindfulness practices. Meditation can help. This will help you to gather your thoughts, reduce stress, and calm your mind. You can either meditate in your room or on the balcony, depending on what you prefer. Breathe in and out. Let the worries vanish, and a sense of calm settle in.

Nowadays, most of us wake up to our phones. We reach for the phone, even before coffee. You will see your friend vacationing in Thailand, or your neighbour having a great day at work, or perhaps a DIY that is absolutely not your thing. Some of this will give you a quick dopamine hit, or perhaps stress you. So, it is important not to engage on your phone right after you wake up. Delay the screen exposure for at least 30 minutes. Your mind will thank you.

Before you reach for your phone, sit down and journal. If you are not really a fan of journaling, try this. Write three things: One could be what you are grateful for, the next could be something that would make you feel happy today, and the third could be about how you intend to show up today. This will hardly take five minutes but will have a huge impact on your day.

Your body needs movement after eight hours of sleep. The movement doesn’t necessarily have to be intense workouts. The idea is to move. Set aside 10-15 minutes after waking up. Take a stroll around the block. Or stretch on your balcony. Do some flexibility exercises. This physical movement will release happy hormones and set a positive mood for the day. Here, the goal is not fitness, but kickstarting your system.