A Morning Routine To Set Your Day Up For Success
Some thoughts on the winter chills & a morning routine to get you through:
In a world of excess information, it’s easy to get bogged down and suffer from paralysis by analysis. Business and health both draw similar parallels when it comes to successful outcomes. A concept which seems simple, but too often overlooked – the process of taking action and speed of implementation.
A mentor of mine once said the difference between a practice that has a big impact on the community and one that doesn’t is taking rapid action and implementing ideas immediately.
How true is that for our health too?
We can listen to all the podcasts, read all the books, take all the courses, but if there isn’t any implementation and action then what’s the point? We might as well spend that time scrolling social media or watching something mindless on Netflix.
For years I’ve struggled with this myself. Looking for the perfect time to implement something. ‘I’ll start on Monday’ or getting lower priority tasks ticked off before starting the hard stuff.
Unfortunately, some of the best things in life require a tonne of effort. Health isn’t easy. People don’t get healthy without some sacrifice and effort.
With all of this in mind, I’m going to share the morning routine and tools I have found work best for me in providing ample energy, mindset, and focus for a day which is typically full of stress,
But please remember – this information is only as good as it’s implementation.
A good morning routine always starts the night before.
8pm – Dim lights and reduce blue light exposure / screen time (I’ll also make sure my clothes, gym bag and lunch is packed for tomorrow as I manage to misplace all marbles when I wake up first thing in the morning)
8.30pm – Hot shower forcing your body to cool itself quickly when you get out. This helps it know it’s time to move into a deeply relaxed state.
9pm – Wind down routine consisting of either reading for 30 min or a guided meditation.
9.30-10pm – Bedtime.
5.30-6am – This changes based on my bed time, however I’ll always aim for 7.5-8 hours sleep. Wake with <5min snooze time. Reach out if you want to receive my sleep protocol.
5.45am – Hot shower ending with 2min of full cold. This helps improve your vagus nerve tone, initiating the powerful parasympathetic nervous system vital in controlling our immune & digestive responses.
5.55am – Kettle is boiled and I’m into a green tea or something hydrating to start the day.
6am – Wim Hof breathing for 4 rounds (takes about 15min). Click here for the guided breathing routine I use. This has been widely studied and has an immensely positive influence on the nervous system and immune system.
6.15am – 10 minutes of mobility work. Gentle stretching just to get the body moving. Nothing fancy, just movements that feel good in the moment. I finish the mobility work with 10 squats, 10 press ups and 10 sit ups to get the heart rate up.
6.30am – 3 boiled eggs with kimchi OR protein yoghurt with berries and almonds depending on how I’m feeling. Protein first thing in the morning is a must if you’re not fasting.
6.40am – make a coffee. This is just as therapeutic for me as the meditation portion of the morning! In an ideal world, you should delay caffeine consumption for 90-120 minutes after waking up to avoid afternoon crashes. However, for me, I can delay my coffee for 60 minutes after waking and still avoid the afternoon energy slump, so for now this works (plus I can’t guarantee my best clinical work without my coffee 😉
Then I’m out the door to the practice.
On my mornings off, the only extra thing I bring into the mix is no news, social media or emails before 8.30am. I allow this time to ease myself into the day. And if I have the time, a walk outdoors in the sunlight for 15 minutes is a powerful way to get grounded into the day.
I’m lucky enough to have great chiropractors around me, so the last but definitely not least important part of my morning routine once per week is getting adjusted. I personally find that when my spine and central nervous system are functioning at their best, I can be sharper with my thinking, I recover better & have more energy and obviously I feel great. I’m slightly biased, but I can’t stress enough how effective chiropractic can be in helping you be the best version of yourself you can be.
I hope you get some ideas from my day to day routine. I truly believe the first hour of your day can make or break the rest of it.
Let me know how you get on.
Dr Hayes
