Wake up… hit the snooze button several times…
My morning routine isn’t exactly what I dream of it to be. But this would be my ideal one, hoping that because I’m writing it down, it’ll keep me accountable:
- Wake up at 5 AM on the first ring
- Sun salutations + meditate
- Morning pages
- Shower
- Cook breakfast, make tea
- Get dressed
- Drive down Pacific Coast Highway to the office
Lately my mornings have been looking less like the above and more snoozing, followed by driving frantically to the office on the 405. It’s stressful and I feel like I can’t just chill, be grateful to wake up and smell the fresh air. This is the third week of Bikini Series and I am striving to improve my sleep schedule so that I can wake up well rested at 5 AM. Here are a few things that have been helping me so far:
Use Bedtime on the iPhone
This setting can be found under the Clock app and has been a great help for me to schedule my sleep in. It sends a notification of my bedtime, where I begin to wind down and get ready for bed. In the morning, it serves as an alarm. For the alarm, I’ve been using Birdsong to slowly wake up instead of an annoying alarm that scares the sh*t out of me. With the app, I can see trends in hours of sleep, times I go to sleep and wake up or times I wake up in the middle of the night. Below is a screenshot for this week’s sleep and I’m glad to see I’m finally at 7.5 hours instead of 5.5 the other week!
Turmeric Golden Milk before and after bed
The other day I was listening to a podcast on Ayurveda and thought of my Yoga Teacher Training classmates, Dayna, who made golden milk for us during a presentation. The golden milk she made with ghee was probably one of the best drinks I’ve ever had! And lately, I’ve been experimenting with vegan golden milk and add a dropper full of CBD oil to help relieve stress and anxiety. It’s honestly so yummy and I’ve been drinking it while I read before bed. Turmeric reduces inflammation, lowers your blood sugar levels, aids the liver to detoxify, boosts the immune system and eases the digestive system – all of which help you to sleep faster and wake up feeling refreshed.
Image from minimalist baker
Schedule something exciting in the morning
For me, that something would be a TIU meetup on the pier, your favorite 6 AM barre class, personal training session, coffee date with a loved one… whatever it is, schedule it! I find that looking forward to something in the morning before bed helps me get excited and motivated to wake up early.
I remember as a child, my parents took us to Vietnamese class every Sunday morning. We were ALWAYS LATE. One Sunday we skipped class and went to Disneyland instead and you bet we were on that same road, just earlier because who wouldn’t get excited about Disneyland?
So with that, a good night’s rest allows me to wake up feeling refreshed and begin my morning routine. What’s your morning routine? And what are some things that help you get to sleep?
