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The Power of a Positive Morning Routine

Discover the benefits of a positive morning routine with tips, tricks and advice from Integrative Nutrition Health Coach & Corporate Mental Health Facilitator Margareta Serfozo as part of Magic Members' Week!

3 minute read

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any conditions. If you are seeking medical advice, please consult your GP or licensed healthcare practitioner. Any decision to use supplements to support your specific needs should be considered in partnership with your licensed healthcare practitioner.

Establishing routines in our lives can help us ground ourselves, boost our productivity, self-esteem and have a positive impact on our mental health and wellbeing. Research shows that routines can enhance the efficiency of our daily activities, by reducing our efforts and mental load(1). We are creatures of habit.

Start building new habits around your already existing routines to make them stick. Also, you have a much better chance of succeeding if you aim for smaller changes over time, rather than unrealistic quick fixes(2).

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A good way to start creating a morning routine that suits you is to promise yourself to focus on the following three areas at least for five minutes each morning:

  1. Strengthening your mental health
  2. Boosting your physical health
  3. Investing in your emotional health

As James Clear, the famous author of Atomic Habits says: “Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become”. In this case, you might only be fifteen minutes a day away from that person.

1. Mental Health

Especially during stressful times, but also as an integral part of your morning routine, you should implement activities that support your mental health. Make sure you create a safe, calm, quiet space where you can journal, meditate(3), practice mindful breathing or repeat affirmations every morning. These are all examples of activities that will stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system and naturally reduce your stress levels(4), putting your body in a more relaxed state.

2. Physical Health

Start your morning with physical stimulation. If you have time for a full workout great, but even just 5-10 minutes of yoga, HIIT, jumping jacks whilst you put a kettle on, or a fast-paced walk on your school run or dog walk will have a great impact on your overall health. Science proves that having strongly formed exercise habits makes it much less likely that you will be tempted by unhealthy behavioural options(5).

3. Emotional Health

First thing in the morning make sure you fill up your emotional cup. Hug your loved ones, have a meaningful conversation instead of reaching for your phone, read your favourite book, call a friend, sing your favourite song, dance with your children around your breakfast table. If you feel like it, why not putting your favourite make up on? It can give you that extra special confidence boost to conquer your day. Gratitude(6) and joy are incredibly nurturing and with just five minutes of conscious focus, you can greatly influence your overall wellbeing.

Margareta Img

BY MARGARETA SERFOZO

Integrative Nutrition Health Coach & Corporate Mental Health Facilitator @ The Endearing Project

(1) Karen D. Ersche, Tsen-Vei Lim, Laetitia H.E. Ward, Trevor W. Robbins, Jan Stochl, Creature of Habit: A self-report measure of habitual routines and automatic tendencies in everyday life, Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 116, 2017, Pages 73-85, ISSN 0191-8869, available from : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019188691730274X (2) Arlinghaus, Katherine R, and Craig A Johnston. “The Importance of Creating Habits and Routine.” American journal of lifestyle medicine vol. 13,2 142-144. 29 Dec. 2018, doi:10.1177/1559827618818044, available from : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6378489/ (3) Davidson RJ, Kabat-Zinn J, Schumacher J, Rosenkranz M, Muller D, Santorelli SF, Urbanowski F, Harrington A, Bonus K, Sheridan JF. Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation. Psychosom Med. 2003 Jul-Aug;65(4):564-70. doi: 10.1097/01.psy.0000077505.67574.e3. PMID: 12883106., available from : https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12883106/ (4) Berad A, Lakshmi A, Sneha P, Effect of OM meditation on autonomic functions in healthy young individuals. Indian J Clin Anat Physiol 2017;4(2):263-265, available from https://www.ijcap.org/article-details/4159 (5) Rebar, A.L., Gardner, B. and Verplanken, B. (2020). Habit in Exercise Behavior. In Handbook of Sport Psychology (eds G. Tenenbaum and R.C. Eklund). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119568124.ch48

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Author Details

Margareta Serfozo

Integrative Nutrition Health Coach & Corporate Mental Health Facilitator

Specialising in women's health and fertility, Margareta created The Endearing Project to support, guide and enable her clients to follow their own path to wellbeing through lifestyle and behavioural guidance, and wellness, health and fertility coaching.