Your morning routine can drastically alter the rest of your day, from your digestive health to your state of mind. Over the years, I’ve developed a number of strategies to enhance the health-promoting aspects of my morning routine while also helping to get into a proper state of mind.
Let’s get right into the 4 powerful ways to optimize your morning routine and supercharge your day:
1. ‘Make Yourself Look Crazy’ Exercise Strategy
The first and foremost strategy that you should be using right when you get out of bed is what I call the ‘make yourself look crazy’ exercise strategy. Whether it’s jumping jacks, running in place, or push-ups, you simply need to do some form of exercise for 30 seconds. It may seem like a short period of time on paper, but it only takes 30 seconds to fully help your mind escape its ‘groggy’ state that it loves so much after waking up.
Bottom line: just do some form of exercise for 30 seconds after waking up, and you’ll instantly switch mind sets into a much more alert and productive one.
2. Use a Tongue Scraper
Have you ever heard of a tongue scraper? Have you ever used one? A tongue scraper is, in all of its basic glory, a metal contraption that is used to ‘scrape’ the tongue of unwanted bacteria and buildup. When you sleep, this bacteria begins to form on the tongue, especially if you don’t target your tongue with your toothbrush. Have you ever seen people with a thick ‘white’ coating on their tongue? They could benefit from a tongue scraper.
Use the tongue scraper first thing in the morning, even before you brush your teeth or begin the next step, and you may be surprised what you would have otherwise been swallowing throughout the day.
3. Oil Pulling With Coconut Oil
The benefits behind oil pulling are many, especially when it’s done at the right time of day. The absolute best time to start oil pulling is before you brush your teeth, and especially before you eat breakfast. So right after using the tongue scraper, start oil pulling with a spoonful of coconut oil. Many avid oil pulling advocates will tell you to aim for 20 minutes, but a much more realistic goal for newcomers is around 10.
For your first time, don’t even worry about hitting those times. Just try and ‘pull’ for a few minutes and get used to the routine.
4. Warm Lemon Water
The final step for building your morning routine centers around heating up a glass of water to a lukewarm temperature and adding the squeezed juice of an entire lemon. This is a practice I’ve been a fan of for years due to its many benefits to the liver and digestive ability of the body. Warm lemon water is a great way to jump start your day with almost zero time or preparation.
Integrate these 4 steps into your morning routine and begin experiencing the difference. If you’re already using some, let us know in the comments.