Light morning exercise
I’ve heard that 5-10 minutes of movement – like stretching, squats, push-ups, or yoga – can boost your blood flow and energy levels. Since I’m no good at push-ups even when I’m at my peak, I chose yoga. Luckily, you don’t need to invent your own routine; there’s a bunch of morning yoga sequences on YouTube you can do without even leaving your bed. I tried several different tutorials for 10, 7, and 5 minutes (depending on how late I was running), and even the shortest one worked like magic! A couple of simple twists, cat poses, and head rolls had me awake, and getting out of bed felt more bearable.
Exposing yourself to natural sunlight
Sunlight suppresses melatonin production, so the usual recommendation is to open the curtains and let the light in. This sounds like a joke, keeping in mind that we live in St. Petersburg, and in November windows will let in only darkness. Still, turning on bright lights right away turned out to be surprisingly effective. It might not feel cozy, but it really does work.
Taking a contrast shower
Alternating warm and cool water should help wake you up due to cortisol spikes. Sounds like a solid plan – until you actually try it. Call me a softie, but cold water just made me hate the world even more (which I already do most mornings). It might work for some, but I couldn’t last a minute. Instead, I’d stick to a simple warm shower. Even without the shock, warm water washes away my drowsiness and gives me a fresh start to the day.
Drinking coffee
“Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee” might be a meme, but it’s also true. This drink helps a lot of people face reality in the morning, myself included. I don’t know if it’s the caffeine or the ritual of brewing coffee I enjoy the most: the smell, the moka pot, the sweet treat I can have with it. I also drink a glass of water afterward to avoid dehydration.
Listening to music or dancing
Play an upbeat song you love and move a little to it – it’ll have you energized, they say. Not for me! I prefer complete silence in the morning; my closest ones know the best they can do is not talk to me for the first 30 minutes after I get up (and I thank them for their patience!). With tips like this, I think it’s important to follow your own pace. For some people, it’s a great idea, for others, it’s the worst one. To not dismiss it entirely, I tried playing some morning jazz while making breakfast – it did set a nice vibe!
Journaling
Another cool tip I found online is to replace morning scrolling with journaling. All you need to do is set a timer for three minutes and write down on a sheet of paper all the thoughts you have – wishes and worries for your day, or a crazy dream you had. After several days, I adopted this into my daily routine. For me, this little boost clears out the mental clutter surprisingly well.
A good night’s sleep
Sorry to say it, but it’s true. No matter how many morning rituals you try, nothing beats a good night’s sleep. If you only get four hours, no amount of coffee will make you feel truly awake. Experts say 7-8 hours is ideal, and my own internal clock agrees. The real secret is sticking to a consistent schedule: going to bed and waking up at about the same time every day, even on weekends, can be a whole other challenge.
