A holiday or a break from work can be the ideal time to introduce a new morning routine. — AFP
Do you have a (real) morning routine? It’s not just about getting up, downing a quick cup of coffee and putting on some makeup, but a real daily ritual designed to help get your day off to a stress-free start.
In recent months, these morning routines, which often require an earlier start to the day, have been gaining a growing following around the world. And people are extolling the virtues of these new morning habits in terms of energy, productivity and well-being.
While it’s not always easy to adopt such a routine, due to professional constraints and accumulated fatigue, a holiday can be the ideal time to introduce new habits gradually.
Here are three morning routines, recommended by social media or by scientists, which could help boost your energy levels and maintain your mental health in the long term.
Gone are the days of waking up to an aggressive alarm then rushing out of bed. It’s time to try a gentler, slower pace, just as you would on vacation. This is the aim of the “slow morning” – a morning routine that has been gaining a following on social networks since the spring.
The idea is simple: Take a moment to relax and refocus on yourself, instead of running around as soon as you get out of bed. This is a morning routine that reduces stress levels and allows you to enjoy the pleasures of daily life to the full, away from the hectic pace of the day ahead.
Conceptualised by American coach and lecturer Hal Elrod in his book Miracle Morning, this method is inspired by the “slow living” philosophy known for its mental health benefits.
Unlike other rituals of this type, there are no specific rules, apart from listening to your own needs. Morning activities could involve a meditation session, stretching, listening to relaxing music, taking a long, soothing shower, or simply switching off temporarily from social networks.
No time for breakfast? Then perhaps you need to adopt the ‘5-to-9’ routine, where you start your day really early. — Pixabay
Although totally opposed to the slow morning, the “5-to-9 morning routine” promises similar benefits in terms of well-being. Originating on social networks, this daily ritual requires strict discipline in terms of nutrition, sleep and physical activity, and is based on the idea that people are more productive in the morning.
True or false, it doesn’t really matter in the eyes of those who have adopted it and who are constantly singing its praises. And there seems to be plenty of them, since the associated hashtags have generated tens of millions of views on social media.
In concrete terms, it involves getting up at 5am to indulge in all kinds of activities – preferably those beneficial to physical and mental health – before heading off to work.
These include swapping a hurried breakfast for a healthy meal of freshly squeezed juice, smoothies, fresh fruit and other such fare, followed by a workout and/or meditation session, a morning walk, reading a book and taking the time to get ready before leaving home.
This morning routine allows for more peaceful, less stressful evenings, without compromising on a healthy lifestyle.
Contrary to popular belief, some people are naturally more active later in the day. So this morning routine may not be for everyone, especially as it’s vital to satisfy your own personal sleep needs.
Test this routine in the summer, and you’ll find out whether or not it’s really worth adopting all year round.
But maybe science should have the final word on the matter. Research funded by cereal company Kellogg’s in honour of their Special K brand and published in 2022, revealed a mathematical formula for getting out of bed on the right foot and being in a good mood all day long.
Specifically, renowned mathematician Anne-Marie Imafidon analysed responses to a survey of 2,000 people in Britain to create a complex formula for a morning routine considered ideal.
According to her research, this would involve waking up at 6.44am and getting out of bed by 7.12am at the latest, followed by 21 minutes of physical exercise, a 10-minute shower and 18 minutes having breakfast.
The beauty of this formula is that it can be used to tailor this routine to individual circumstances.
To find out whether your current routine is beneficial to your well-being, multiply the time spent eating breakfast by two, then add it to the time spent exercising and showering. Keep this first result in mind.
Next, subtract the number of hours spent sleeping from eight, then add one, and multiply this figure by the difference between the time you got up and 7.12 (to which you add another one).
Then, take the first result and divide it by the second, and – as a final step – add the number of minutes spent on another morning activity divided by two. If the number obtained is greater than 37, your routine is considered effective; if not, you’ll probably need to make some changes. – AFP Relaxnews
