Have you been feeling stressed and anxious in the mornings lately? Does your anxiety start the moment you open your eyes and doing small daily tasks scare you? If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. Many people go through this situation at some point in their life. Although stress has become an integral part of our lives, but if you are experiencing irritability, excess worry and nervousness in the morning, there are high chances you have morning anxiety. There are many ways to reduce the symptoms of morning anxiety and one of the ways which helped me soothe my anxiety, was by having a calming morning routine.
Productive morning routines are great, but they don’t help you when you are feeling anxious already. So, here are 7 ideas to include in your calming morning routine.
How to have a calming morning routine – 7 things to do every morning
1.Watch Sunrise
Start your day by watching the sunrise. It is beautiful and tranquil.
Dawns are serene and calm, therefore the perfect time for you to start your morning.
When you wake up late, you don’t have time to do a lot of things, which adds to the stress.
Wake up a little earlier than the rest of the people in your house and have some quiet time to yourself.
It is important to be in your company and understand your feelings. Comprehend your emotions and enjoy the beauty nature brings to you every morning.
By starting your day early, you won’t have to rush through your morning routine.
Also, you will have ample time to do calming things to soothe your morning anxiety.
2. Use affirmations
Affirmations are powerful!
Words hold power. All the negative thoughts running in your mind are nothing but negative words.
Replace these negative words with positive affirmations.
Consciously repeat the affirmations and soon it will become your reality. Affirmations work only when you believe in what you are saying.
When your thinking doesn’t match your words, the mind gets confused. So, think positive and say positive.
Make sure to use the present tense in your affirmations. For instance, instead of saying “I will be happy”, say “I am happy”.
When you are new to affirmations, say what you believe is possible. Don’t lie to yourself.
I believe, with affirmations you have to walk your way through.
Don’t start by saying “I have everything under control”.
No matter how many times you say this, it won’t work, because deep down you know it is not true.
Start with something small like “I am calm” or “My thoughts don’t control me” and slowly go for stronger affirmations.
Some of the affirmations to reduce your morning anxiety are:
- I trust the process of life
- I am protected
- Things are falling in place.
- I am at peace.
- I feel calm
3. Take a shower
There is something so relaxing about hot showers.
It not only relaxes my muscles, but the sound of the water drops calm my mind.
A good hot shower is my number one way to relax when I feel anxious.
Many people argue that hot water strips the skin of its natural moisture and hence it is a bad idea to have a hot shower. But, for me giving up a hot shower is not an option.
Sure, my skin gets dry, but that problem gets easily solved with a good moisturizer.
My mental health is more important than any other thing.
I also use essential oils in my shower whenever I can. When I don’t have essential oils handy, I prefer using a fragrant shower gel.
I never knew fragrances could soothe your anxiety until I bought a shower gel with lemongrass scent, which brought back some good memories. It actually made me smile and forget about all the stress for some time.
I highly recommend using an essential oil or a nice fragrant shower gel. This has helped me a lot.
4. Do breathing exercises
Breathing is a natural and a continuous process we do every minute without notice.
But you may have realized that your breathing pattern and breathing rate changes, with a change in emotions. For example, you breathe faster when you are angry and slower when you are calm.
Deep breathes gives your brain the signal to calm down, and hence, deep breathing exercises are a must to include in your calming morning routine.
There are many breathing exercises that you can do to reduce your morning anxiety. Try different exercises and see how each makes you feel.
Stick to those, which helps you the most.
For me, alternate nostril breathing works the best. It calms my mind and I feel lighter instantly.
5. Drink water and eat a healthy breakfast
Drink a glass of water after you wake up.
Your body is dehydrated in the morning. It needs water and not a cup of coffee.
Avoid eating your breakfast in a hurry. Set aside at least 20 to 30 minutes for having breakfast.
Chew your food properly and eat mindfully.
Digestion has a direct connection to how you feel emotionally. If you eat hard to digest and processed foods in the morning, you feel uneasy and lethargic which increases your level of anxiety.
Skipping breakfast altogether adds to morning anxiety. No breakfast means, low blood sugar, which indeed makes you anxious.
6. Do nothing
Yes, you read it right. Do nothing!
For a few minutes in the morning, just sit still and do nothing.
Find yourself a comfortable place and become aware of your surroundings.
Give your mind some rest and put a break on your thoughts by focusing more on your senses.
If it helps, close your eyes and perceive the smell in the room or try to identify the sounds you are able to hear because it is so silent.
If a thought occurs to you, push it away and focus on your five senses.
7. Visualize your day
Do not let a long to-do list scare you.
Prioritize your tasks for the day and focus only on a couple of things. Not everything on that list is important.
Now visualize your day.
Imagine yourself doing all the work and having an ideal daily routine without being anxious or stressed.
Even if you think you won’t be so calm throughout the day, still imagine yourself as calm and composed as you can.
It is your imagination, your thoughts and your mind. You can control it.
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