Drink a glass of water, take a few deep breaths, stretch your muscles, and make your bed. You’ll be amazed at how four small healthy habits can improve your whole day!
If you are like most people, your day starts like this:
You yawn.
Drag yourself out of bed.
Slurp down a cup of coffee in hopes it will wake you up.
Sit down at the computer to check your email.
…and suddenly two hours have gone by, you are still in your pajamas, the dog needs to be walked, and you are way behind schedule on everything!
The rest of the day flies by and at the end of it, you are still mildly anxious and you’ve crossed nothing off your to-do list!
If this sounds familiar, let me tell you that I feel ya! Especially being more or less home-bound these days, I have fallen into some bad morning habits of late.
But it stops now!
In an effort to get on a more productive path, I have identified 4 tiny morning habits that I will focus on that are guaranteed to make me feel better all day, every day.
Good morning habits lead to greater productivity, which leads to greater life satisfaction, and boosts self-confidence.
It’s a winning experience all around.
What are these good morning habits that will improve life so dramatically?
Believe it or not, they are really nothing fancy at all.
- I will hydrate my body,
- breathe air into my lungs,
- stretch my muscles, and
- complete my first achievement of the day.
That’s it! Such a big return for such tiny new habits!
These four habits can all be accomplished in less than 5 minutes a day!
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4 Healthy Morning Habits That Will Make Your Whole Day Better
Morning Habit #1: Hydrate Your Body Right Away
We all know how important it is to drink plenty of water throughout the day.
It’s especially important to drink water right when you first wake up, to replenish the two pints you lost during sleep.
So, the very first habit we will work on is to drink a big glass of water as soon as we get out of bed. (Ok, if you are like me, you will have to make a pitstop first…but then, drink up!)
Everyone is a little different in the morning, but the ideal would be to drink 16 ounces right after waking.
Drink the water even before your first cup of coffee. Coffee does not count because it is dehydrating.
If 16 ounces sounds like way too much, start with 8 or even just 4 ounces, and work your way into a consistent 16 ounces.
Drinking water first thing in the morning:
- increases your level of alertness,
- jump-starts your metabolism, and
- fuels your brain.
Because it helps flush out toxins that build up during the night, it can even help stave off illness.
That’s a lot of benefits from a glass of water!
Morning Habit #2: Take a few deep breaths
Now that you’ve had your water, take just a moment to do some deep breathing.
Take time to breathe in for a slow count of eight, hold, and expel for a slow count of eight. Repeat.
Why is this so important?
Deep breathing:
- allows high levels of oxygen to enter our systems,
- makes us more alert and energetic,
- decreases stress through the release of hormones,
- improves digestion, and
- releases endorphins which help reduce pain and illness.
It also stimulates the lymphatic system which helps to detoxify the body and encourages better use of core muscles for posture.
Ideally, we should give a good five minutes to slow, deep breathing every morning when we wake up.
As we are just trying to create some good habits right now, I encourage you to take at least one deep breath, and ideally 3-5.
This takes no time at all, and as deep breathing becomes a morning habit, you will find you naturally add more breathing time in.
Try this 5-minute deep breathing exercise.
Breathe in deeply to bring your mind home to your body.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Morning Habit #3: Stretch Those Muscles
We must be gentle here! After all, our bodies are still in the process of waking up!
Do not force yourself to stretch farther than you are comfortable, but know that more repetitions will naturally help you go deeper into your stretches.
Our goal here is 1-5 forward folds (standing forward bend).
If you are unfamiliar with the term, this is how you do a forward fold:
- Stand upright, feet about hip-width apart.
- Gently sweep your arms out to the side and up – reach for the ceiling.
- Feel a gentle stretch in your arms and back.
- Then, lower your arms to the side and stop at shoulder height.
- As you do this, bend forward from your hip joints (NOT your waist) until your back is at “table-top”, at a right angle to your legs.
- From there, smoothly bring your arms and upper body down toward the floor until you are hanging like a rag doll.
- Relax and breathe, feeling the pull of gravity gently on your body.
- To stand up, bend your knees slightly for support (this is important!), and roll your body back up one vertebra at a time.
- Return to an upright position.
For a more detailed explanation of a forward fold, including modifications, check out this detailed explanation from Yoga Journal.
Or watch this 1-minute video:
Repeat the forward fold as many times as you like.
I’m always pleased to discover that, although I might only reach my hands to my knees on the first fold, by the third or fourth I can place them flat on the floor.
That’s a sign my body is opening up and stretching out.
Forward folds help keep your spine strong and flexible, activate the abdominal muscles, increase blood circulation, stimulate the internal organs, and soothe the nervous system. They calm the mind and reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and fatigue.
Forward folds are therapeutic for:
- asthma,
- high blood pressure,
- infertility,
- osteoporosis, and
- sinusitis
Morning Habit #4: Make Your Bed
Ha! You probably were expecting another body-focused action, weren’t you?
This one is for your healthy mind.
Take two minutes to make your bed properly, actually tucking and smoothing and fluffing everything into its proper place. Pick those decorative pillows off of the floor, and put them where they belong.
It doesn’t have to be hospital-precise but do more than just pulling the coverlet up and calling it good.
Making your bed:
- decreases your levels of stress
- makes your room look neater, and
- gives you a sense of accomplishment at the very beginning of the day.
That small victory in turn increases your productivity for the day and encourages the development and maintenance of other good habits.
A poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation found that people who make their bed in the morning are 19 percent more likely to have a good night’s sleep, every night.
Read the Book: Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed… If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day.
Admiral William H. McRaven, U.S. Navy Retired
Read More About Productivity:
- How (and Why) Your Daily Routines Determine Your Future
- 10 Journal Prompts For Setting – and Achieving – Your Goals
- 4 Signs its Time to Change Your Daily Routine
Final Thoughts on 4 Healthy Morning Habits That Will Improve Your Whole Day
Four simple, tiny habits. And so many significant reasons to do them! Let’s review:
- Hydrate – aim for 16 ounces of water right when you wake up
- Breathe – take 1-5 deep, slow, conscious breaths
- Stretch – forward fold to wake up your muscles, 1-5 times
- Make Your Bed – there’s nothing like a quick win to motivate you for the rest of the day
Lori, These are amazing tips which really helps everyone. In general we all know that these simple wonderful tips will help us to keep activate whole day but we ignore.
I do ignore couple of your tips an eye opening article and I will follow all the four amazing ideas thanks for sharing awesome article🙂🙂
Thank you so much for reading and commenting, Suresh! Yes, I agree it’s easy to ignore these because they seem so simple. I’m glad you are going to follow them, because they make a big impact!
Great suggestions! I’m working on my water intake especially! I’m going to remember to stretch and do deep breathing also. I do take a long walk every morning though.
Thanks, Michele! I also walk in the mornings, and I think it’s super helpful to do. I was trying to keep this list short and speedy, but as I dig more into morning routines, daily walks are vital!
Great tips and I totally agree! I started stretching every morning and I can’t believe the difference it makes! Totally wakes me up, and I feel way less ridgid.
Anika | chaptersofmay.com
Stretching felt so gooooooood this morning – I am following my own challenge, and today was my day #1. Love a good stretch, and you are right, it helps in several ways. Thanks for reading and commenting!
I’m with you on the water and the breathing and the stretching. With making the bed, I fall down on the “properly”. But I know, a job half done is a job not done. So will try harder. Thanks for the prompt.
So now you have a goal to aim for! You will really be impacted by the extra minute you’ll spend properly making the bed – it sets the tone for the day ahead. Good luck to you, and thanks for reading!
Great tips! I must aim for that 16 oz before coffee! Thanks for sharing.
I’ll be honest, it was a little tough getting 16 oz of water down this morning first thing – I am following my own challenge, and today was my day #1. I hope you’ll give the challenge a try!
Okay. So, for one, I 100% agree with the water first thing in the morning.
(For those of you who carry stress in your bladder, struggle with infections, etc., this is crucial! 3 glasses of water upon waking is a miracle worker!)
For two, I just started making my bed every morning about a month ago, and I LOVE it! When my room looks tidy, my life feels doable. 👍
Good point about those who struggle with bladder issues, thank you for that! And is it not so amazing how just making the bed changes everything in both tidiness and productivity? Thanks for the comments!
Helpful tips. We need to drink more and should stretch after we wake up to improve the upcoming day
Yes, we lose so much hydration during the night that our bodies really benefit from drinking water first thing in the morning. Thanks for reading!
Lovely tips, a deep breath can always re-energise.
Thank you, and thanks for reading!
Great suggestions! I’m a big proponent of the make your bed argument. I could definitely use the benefit of a bit of morning stretching though 🙂 I think I’ll give those forward folds a shot, sounds wonderful.
Let me know how the forward folds go! I find them to be a wonderful way to start the day (when I do them). Thanks for reading!