Win the morning, win the day! Mornings are great to incorporate a range of good-for-you habits that benefit both your mind and body. What defines a ‘healthy’ morning routine may vary for everyone, and it’s really a game of trial and error to see what works best for your personal health and lifestyle choices. Below, we’ve rounded up our favourite tips and tricks to help you add a new lease of life into your morning routine.
1. A Moment For Meditation
Similar to moving your body, working out your mind with some meditation is a powerful way to start the day. Try waking up 5 or 10 minutes early with some meditation, which may be linked with a range of health benefits, including reducing stress levels, promoting a stable mood and improving cognitive abilities such as attention and memory. Various meditation techniques are available, from guided meditation to transcendental meditation. Take time to experiment with the different styles and practitioners to see what resonates most with you.
2. Positive Affirmations
Positive mind, positive life! It may sound a little cheesy, but thinking positively can really be a game-changer in your daily routine. Affirmations may be the gateway into thinking and feeling more positively about yourself, and include repeating uplifting phrases to yourself such as “I am strong” or “I believe in myself”. There is a growing body of research to suggest a positive correlation between the use of positive affirmations and reduced levels of stress and increased overall sense of wellbeing. So, let’s get started! Try saying or writing down a few positive affirmations each morning, and see what works best for you. Make it one of your non-negotiable morning habits and overtime, you’ll reap the rewards.
3. Balanced Nutrition
Good nutrition is always ‘in’, and three key nutrients to include in your 2024 breakfast are protein, fibre and healthy fats. At Plenish, we love a nutrient-dense, plant-based breakfast option and some of are favourites include Protein Pancakes, Chickpea Pancakes, Almond M*lk Granola, Chocolate Baked Oats, or Mango and Coconut Overnight Oats. Aim for colour and variety when it comes to adding fruits and vegetables into your breakfast as this will nourish your body with essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Focusing on fibre (think fruits and vegetables, chia seeds, nuts, oats, whole-grains and avocados) is important as this will help stabilise your blood sugar and provide a long-lasting energy source of energy to keep you feeling fuller for longer.
4. Smart Supplementation
Dietary supplements are an easy way to ensure you are getting a variety of nutrients each day, on top of a healthy, balanced diet. Taking a high-quality multivitamin is a good start to plug any nutrient gaps, in addition to a varied, whole-foods diet rich in fruits and vegetables. For an extra boost of vitality, try starting your day with the popular superfood herb, ginger. It’s naturally rich in vitamin C, magnesium and potassium, as well as an active component called gingerol. It’s believed that this nutrient composition may elicit powerful health benefits such as relieving nausea and digestive discomfort. For an easy way to up your ginger intake, try our Ginger Immunity Shot. Bonus point – it also contains 100% of your daily vitamin C!
5. Increased Hydration
Since our bodies are 60% water, staying hydrated is key for supporting health and wellbeing. Being well-hydrated serves the vital function of delivering nutrients to our cells to keep our bodies functioning in the right way, and as a result, optimal hydration may be associated with an improved mood, better cognitive performance and enhanced sleep quality. If you don’t find plain water particularly inspiring, you can get your daily water intake in other ways via juices, juice shots, m*lks, smoothies, soups and herbal teas. Top tip: avoid relying on coffee as your main source of hydration as large amounts (5 cups or more at once) may have the opposite effect. Coffee contains a compound called caffeine, known as a diuretic, which increases the frequency of urination. So, in a nutshell, your best bet for increasing hydration is to stick with caffeine-free alternatives.
6. Visualisation Techniques
Visualisation is a trendy mindfulness technique that may be linked with an array of potential health benefits such as reducing anxiety and depression, promoting a sense of calm, and improving self-confidence and general wellbeing. After all, you’ve got to see it to believe it! Visualisation doesn’t have to be mundane and there are a variety of ways to include it into your routine such as creating your own vision board with specific, actionable goals (for example, health, career, business or lifestyle-related goals) or following a guided meditation.
7. Morning Movement
Movement is medicine. Whether it’s a light walk, pilates, jogging, running or yoga, getting your body up and moving is hugely important for longevity and may be linked with improving mood, boosting immunity and reducing inflammation and levels of stress. Exercise has been found to trigger the release of “feel good” chemicals known as endorphins and serotonin, which explains the “runner’s high” people often talk about. The most important point here is to try and reduce the amount of time you spend sitting down, particularly first thing in the morning. Your mind and body will thank you for it.
Author: Plenish Nutritionist, Katie Morley
DipNT, mBANT, mANP, CNHC
Email: katiemorley@holsome.uk
Website: www.holsome.uk