Do your mornings start with hitting the snooze button, trying to drag yourself out of bed, rushing to get ready, and then racing out the door with no breakfast or consuming unhealthy foods?  Or, do you start your morning with a regular routine that allows you to feel calm and relaxed?

I’ve learned from experience that beginning my day focused on a few key habits sets up my day for success. I stay positive throughout the day, and I get lots accomplished. When you  start your morning with positive steps, it sets the tone for the rest of the day.  Here are five simple habits you can start your day off with to reach your highest potential and feel great.

Staying Unplugged

Let’s get the hardest one out of the way.  The start of your day should be about you.  If you are reaching to grab your smartphone to check your texts, emails, and social media posts, you are doing yourself a disservice.  Instead of creating a mindset that is proactive, you are doing completely the opposite.  When we check our smartphones right away, we are not being mindful and living in the present and instead worrying about the outcome of our day.

Try to get into a routine of remaining detached from your device for a set amount of time determined by you.  Sit down, enjoy your breakfast, write in your journal, meditate, go for a mindful walk, or workout. Do something for YOU!  Once you read those emails, texts, and social media posts, your focus and concentration stays with this news. Begin your day with a positive focus, and be present in the moment.

Practice Mindfulness

A good way to start the day is simply be aware of where you are starting your day from.  How is your body feeling, what emotions are you feeling, is it calm or stressed?  If you’re lying down get a sense if your body is tense or relaxed.   What is on your mind and how is your energy level.  This is mindfulness. 

Mindfulness can also be a form of meditation that helps you recognize your emotions and connect with your physical self.  One way of becoming more mindful in the morning is to engage in a mindful connection with your food.  Eating mindfully doesn’t happen overnight. Allow the changes to come slowly. Pay attention to the colours of food, the tastes, your feelings, and your emotions. Attention becomes the key habit and then it triggers more positive changes.

Another way to practice mindfulness is if you’re in the shower, focus on being in the shower and not problem solving for the day.  When you’re making breakfast for you or your family or even yourself, consider the intention of what food you’re putting into your body and how it’s going to affect your day and energy level.  When you say goodbye before you depart for work, look into your children’s, spouse, or pet’s eyes and connect with them and have an intentional goodbye. 

Hydrate

Waste removal from our body primarily happens through our sweat, urine, and feces.  Water is an excellent detoxifier as it flushes out toxins in our bodies and transports nutrients to where they are needed.  Without water the content of your colon can dry out and eventually cause constipation. Our kidneys rely on water for filtering capabilities to remove waste products from our blood and eliminate toxins in our urine. 

Generally, when we wake up in the morning our bodies are dehydrated Try starting your day with a glass of water or even two.  This will help you rehydrate your body and keep your digestive track healthy.  Drink adequate amounts of water throughout the day or as your body requires.

Nourish Your Body

We have heard it time and time again that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and it is for a reason. By skipping breakfast, you are depriving yourself of calories that can set you up for failure for the rest of the day. A lack of calories means decreased energy, a lack of focus, cravings for refined sugar and fatty foods, which can lead to sugar rushes and sugar crashes.

A combination of complex carbs with some protein will give your body all the energy it needs. When we eat foods like white toast, muffins, or pastries (examples of simple carbs), these foods digest so quickly that you get an instant high but crash very quickly and in turn you eat more of them sending you on this viscous cycle of consuming foods that give you highs and lows all day long. Eat a breakfast like whole oats with some nuts or seeds topped with fruit, or whole-wheat pancakes topped with your favourite fruit, or a whole grain bagel topped with nut butter, or fresh fruit. These are energy foods that will provide your body with sustainable energy.