Establish a Morning Routine
Article by Stefan Burns - Updated November 2021. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!
Establishing a consistent routine is one of the cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle. Usually everyday routines are guided through meal timings (breakfast, lunch, dinner) or a work schedule. Often the activities people schedule their days around are stressful in nature. You don’t want to schedule a stress-first, relaxation-second schedule!
How you start the day determines in large part your physical, mental, and emotional status throughout the rest of the day. For this reason, morning routines are very important. Having a consistent morning routine provides a sense of normalcy, even during times of change such as travel, undue stress, and unique life situations. Consider a morning routine a wellness gyroscope that brings balance to your day to day life.
Establish the Circadian Rhythm
The circadian rhythm is the 24-hour biological clock we all posses, and this rhythm controls your daily schedule for sleep and wakefulness.
One of the main reasons a consistent morning routine is recommended is it helps to establish a consistent circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is intimately tied to the various systems of the body, such as the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, and a wandering circadian rhythm is easily disrupted further by stress and other variables. It’s been shown that the success of major surgeries is greatly influenced by the circadian rhythm. Those operated on during the day fair poorly compared to those operated on at night, during the bodies natural healing state.
The steps below help to establish a anti-fragile circadian rhythm, but there are a few steps that can be taken even before then:
Have a Consistent Bed Time
When you go to sleep, and for how long you sleep, has a huge impact on the quality of your life the following day. To help facilitate the process of establishing a rock-solid circadian rhythm, and therefore an awesome morning routine, go to bed at the same time every night. This bedtime should be respectful of the powerful influence the sun has on your circadian rhythm, and I wouldn’t recommend a bedtime any later than 10 pm. Unless you have a late-shift or night-shift job, there is really no excuse for going to sleep at a reasonable hour and treating yourself with self-love. If you stay up occasionally past 10 pm, that’s OKAY, but don’t make a habit of it.
Don’t Set an Alarm
If you have the luxury, don’t set an alarm to wake you up each morning. Face your bed East and open your blinds so when the sun rises in the morning you catch as much light as you can. The circadian rhythm is tied to the sun/moon cycle, and rising with the light is the most natural and peaceful way to wake-up.
Forget the Phone
The light we expose ourselves to each day is incredibly important. After sunset, naturally there is meant to be very little light, and the best thing you can do for your morning is to dim or turn off the artificial lights with the movements of the sun. Electronics give off primarily blue light, and blue light is particularly energizing. During the day blue light is expected and healthy, but in the morning and night, blue light can have a strong impact on the circadian rhythm, even shifting it by several hours. Blue light impacts melatonin (a hormone important in sleep) production, and the downstream effects of shifted melatonin or delayed production can completely upset the hormonal system as a whole. If you’ve ever had racing thoughts at night that prevented you from falling asleep, or made you sleep poorly, you should deeply examine your light exposure, both from electronics and the environment.
Picking up a phone first thing in the morning might help the brain to click on in that moment, but the overall effect of that habit can be devastating to normal sleep and wakefulness patterns. The solution is simple, keep the phone charging at night in a different room.
Build your Fire
After a long nights rest, coaxing the metabolic engine to create energy is priority number 1. Movement and breath work are the prescription.
Upon waking, drink 16 - 32 oz of filtered water and prepare for some light exercise.
Stomach Vacuums (Uddiyana Bandha) are easiest to perform in the morning
This exercise could be a simple 15 minute flow routine, 30 minutes of yoga, or a full weight-training workout. Maybe you prefer to go for a walk, that’s fine too!
I prefer starting with a short flow routine followed by calisthenics and core exercises because the movements can adapt to how I feel. Whether you want to do more calisthenics, yoga, or stretching, flow training can incorporate all of those fitness modalities and are easy to modify instinctively.
Movements and exercise that establish deep consistent breathing are best, as oxygen is the fuel your body requires for all energy processes.
Breath work and movement finished, solidify your new baseline of energy with 5 - 10 minutes of meditation. Sit cross legged, breath in and out slowly, and clear your mind. To help clear your mind, you can think the words “In” and “Out” for when breathing in or out. You can also hum “aum” or focus your senses outwards. Can you feel the wind, the sun, the Earth? Listen to the sounds around you. Smell the air? Raise your level of awareness by practicing mindfulness and let any thoughts that start to materialize bounce off of your inner mental calm.
Avoid Stimulants
The first mistake many make here is to turn to a stimulant like caffeine first thing upon waking. Would you rather your energy for the day depend on an external stimulant, or your own movement and breath work for the day? Remember the goal of the morning routine is to create a calm mental and emotional state for each day, and it’s known that stimulants disturb this aspect of health and the natural circadian rhythm.
Coffee and green tea taste great, so savor them as a treat occasionally, not as a crutch.
Feed Your Body
Whether you decide to fuel up or fast after the movement and breath work, it’s important that this decision of how to feed your body is done with your best interests in mind. Be conscious and make your own decisions.
For Fasting:
If you prefer 16:8 intermittent fasting, or you’re performing a longer duration fast for your digestive system, it is important to drink plenty of water. Since you are not consuming any food, which contains water, you’ll need to drink more water. And this means only water!
Stimulants like green tea and coffee as described are best avoided, and zero-calorie beverages wreck havoc on the digestive system, particularly the gut lining. Starting your day with a zero-calorie beverage will cause inflammation in the gut and eventually systemically.
For Fueling:
Find a nutritious breakfast that you can eat consistently everyday. I recommend eating the same breakfast everyday for the following reasons:
Everyday your body will receive the same supply of fats, carbs, fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals.
It will add consistency to your digestion, and establish a rhythm that your microbiome can come to expect
Post-breakfast, your energy levels will be consistent and known. This stability allows you to start your day right.
No more guesswork in the kitchen.
Preparing the same breakfast everyday becomes a science, letting your mind focus on other ambitions of the day.
Find a meal that works for your dietary preferences, is easy to prepare, delicious, and well rounded nutritionally. This means developing a breakfast that includes fat, protein, starch, and fiber.
My Daily Breakfast
I look forward to my breakfast everyday even though it never changes! There is enough diversity in flavors and textures that I don’t tire of it. My breakfast is as follows:
1. Organic hashbrowns with ketchup
2. Three eggs scrambled with EVOO & sprig parsley
3. Organic strawberry, banana, lemon, and fresh squeezed OJ smoothie
4. Gluten-free everything bagel with organic cream-cheese and everything seasoning.
Set your Intentions, Repeat your Affirmations
After a bout of movement, breath work, and a meal (or not), take 5-10 minutes to set your goals for the day and establish your affirmations. This can be done in so many ways, find what resonates with you!
You can set your goals and establish your affirmations through journaling. Keeping a log of your affirmations and aspirations is a fantastic way to develop a record of your daily goals, and looking back through past journal entries can help pierce the veil of what it is you truly desire.
Listening to your horoscope is another way to set affirmations for the day, or at least a way to bring consciousness to various topics that you might not have considered otherwise. For this I recommend Horoscope Today from Parcast. Each horoscope is only 2-3 minutes in length, but during this time my attention is drawn to my relationships with others, my career ambitions, and the larger worldly energy patterns to be mindful of.
Pitfalls to Avoid - Reminder
When establishing a productive morning routine, there are a variety of old habits which might need to be cast aside as you undergo your evolution. Remember to avoid:
Stimulants such as coffee
Electronics 2 hours before bed, after waking up
Morning junk food disguised as breakfast
Inadequate water consumption
Anything that disturbs your peace
Reclaim the morning as your time to clear your mind, stabilize your emotions, and set your focus. Remember it’s your life, not someone elses, be it your boss, friends, or the news. Before the world wakes up, the morning hours are yours and yours alone!
Putting it into Practice
Now that everything has been discussed, here is an action plan you can start with and then adapt to fit your unique needs.
Daily Morning Wellness Routine
Wake up naturally, and limit your exposure to blue light.
Drink 16 - 32 oz filtered water.
Begin your breath-focused movement, yoga, workout routine (15-90 minutes), or walk. See below for two movement routines you can use to get started.
Cool down with 5-15 minutes meditation, stabilize your energy levels, and calm your mind.
Fuel or fast, be conscious of what you put into your body. If choosing to eat, consume a well-rounded breakfast with a focus on organic foods, protein, healthy fats, and fiber.
Set your intentions for the day and repeat your affirmations. For outside input to consider, listen or read your horoscope.
Morning Movement Routine
Strength Focused
Complete this circuit three times
Push-ups - 25 reps
Form an arrow position with your arms, keep your core stable, and chest to floor.
RKC Plank - 30 secs
Squeeze your glutes, contract your core, and brace inwards.
Body-weight Squats - 25 reps
Open your hips and go deep with a stable back.
Glute Bridge - 25 reps
Squeeze the glutes at the top of the rep.
Mountain Climbers - 25 reps
Stay tight and stabilize against rotation.
Mobility Focused
Focus on the quality of the movement
Sun Salutation Warm-up - 5 rounds
Thoracic Rotation Stretch - 5 reps each side
90/90 Hip Stretch - Hold 20-30 seconds
Hamstring Stretch - Hold for 20-30 seconds
Ankle Plantar Flexion Stretch - 30 seconds
Lizard with Rotation - 5 reps each side
Punter Kicks - 8 reps each side
Chest Stretch - Hold 20-30 seconds
Lat Stretch - Hold 20-30 seconds
Shoulder CARS - 5 reps each side
Windmills - 10 reps each side
Note - The beauty of a morning exercise routine is it helps maintain the physical status of the body. If you exercise exclusively during the afternoon or evenings, your fitness progress is dependent solely on those workouts. Miss a few workouts or more and progress will slip away. A morning exercise prescription, while not necessarily super intense, provides enough stimulus to maintain progress you’ve made during your more intense training sessions.
If you don’t occasionally skip your normal exercise routine, then you’ll make progress faster with the addition of the morning routine and have diversified your fitness skill set.