I resent mornings. They interrupt my sleep. As you have probably guessed, I am NOT a morning person. However, even for us morning grumps here are
four things that may help in the quest to greet the new day with a bit of
cheer.
Don't hit Snooze: Most of us have done it at some point. The alarm goes off. You hit
"snooze". In what seems like
seconds later it goes off again. You hit
snooze again. For many of us this cycle
repeats many times every morning.
However instead of sneaking in a few extra zz's you are probably making
yourself sleepier. Our body has a series
of cycles it goes through as we sleep.
The last one occurs about an hour before you wake when your body begins
to reset for the day. It sends out
hormones that increase your body temperature and cause you to sleep lighter in
preparation for waking. When you hit the
snooze button you interrupt that cycle
by continuously waking and sleeping, preventing you from waking as refreshed as
you would have if you just set the alarm later -- or even better, if you had
gotten enough sleep to wake naturally.
Additionally, the little sleep you get during snooze time is not restful
because you don't have time to fall into deep, restorative REM sleep.
Eat Breakfast: In
an article by Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD (WebMD), she writes "studies
show that eating a healthy breakfast (as opposed to the kind containing
doughnuts) can help give you:
·
A more nutritionally complete diet, higher in
nutrients, vitamins and minerals
·
Improved concentration and performance in the
classroom or the boardroom
·
More strength and endurance to engage in
physical activity
·
Lower cholesterol levels
Studies show that people who eat a nutritional breakfast
that includes lean protein snack less before lunch and eat less during lunch
than those breakfast skippers and those that only eat carbohydrates in the
morning.
Stretch: It's
often tempting to "hit the floor running" first thing in the
morning. But a few early morning
stretches before you get out of bed will make the task easier. Ever hop out of bed to be met with a wave of
dizziness? That's because as you sleep
blood settles in your arms and legs. Imagine
drinking from a water hose (I know it's old school, but just go with it) when
all of a sudden someone turns the spigot from a steady trickle to full force,
jolting you in the face with a rush of water.
That's what you do to your brain when you jump up after a night of
sleeping. A good stretch get's blood flowing to all parts of your body and can
help you get out of bed more alert.
Take some
"me" time. Mornings can be hectic, but, if you take a few minutes
to do something that makes you happy and relaxed, you start your day on a
positive note. It lightens the rest of
the day in the same way early morning negative events can hang a dark cloud
over your day. It doesn't have to take a
long time. It can be a few minutes of
whatever puts you in a positive state of mind -- prayer, meditation, exercise
or simply listening to a song you love on the way into work. If you make yourself a little happier in the
morning you have a better chance of ending the day on a positive note.
If you are already a morning person these tips might make
day break even cheerier than it already is (if that’s possible). If not, you won’t wake up singing, but a
least you won’t greet your co-workers with the disposition of a hibernating
bear.
Happy Waking!
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