There are these times when getting up and being excited about the day seems particularly difficult. I had that more often recently, as the pandemic continues, the vaccination process in Germany is sloooow, and our little one cannot go to daycare since mid December. It just feels that it all blocks my progress which dampens my enthusiasm.
Whatever your reason is for dreading to get up, you have a chance to adapt your mood if you want to. I try and take this decision every morning: Let’s start the day on the right foot – and even more, let’s start it with positive energy!
Adapting your mood helps to get excited for the day and makes you happier and more productive.
For me, the simplest yet powerful ways to get into an energetic state combine sound, movement and humour:
Music
Music and sounds are incredibly strong at creating emotions. The art of making sounds, singing and telling stories through music is one of the oldest ways of communication, even before spoken words were existent. The right music or a powerful song can set your emotional state to excitement or activation, it can make you feel calm and focussed – or just light and in flow.
You can easily test which music or song makes you feel which way. Just make sure you turn your full attention to the music. Simply try it out for a week. If you want to fully understand what it does for you, write down how you felt before listening to the music/singing a song and how you feel afterwards. You might be surprised by the positive effects.
Dance
Movement is another big part of feeling good and ready to start the day. In general, a lot of problems we have today come from sitting too much in hunched positions instead of stretching out, walking and spending time outside.
An easy way – particularly if you cannot spend much time in the morning to do a work-out – is a morning dance. I know, this might sound funny at first… However, dance is emotion in motion. And when you turn it around, the motion of dancing creates emotions.
Don’t worry, your morning dance doesn’t have to be choreographed, pretty or even on a beat. It should be fun and combine some movements you like. The more expressive and sillier you can get, the better. This will help you to get energised by raising your oxygen intake, heart rate and very likely make you smile… which brings us to the last point:
Laughter
Now, while you’re singing and/or dancing in the morning, it’s actually also a good point in time to laugh about it. If you’re living with someone include them in your little routine and make both of you laugh. If you are by yourself, dance and look at yourself in the mirror – or record a small video of it and watch it afterwards. A good laugh in the morning raises your endorphine levels and will set you up for whatever may come!
All of the above combined in a 5mins morning routine is what I try to do every morning. It’s 5mins very well spent because the effect on my energy each day lasts much longer. Try it out and let us know how it boosts energy for you. Get in touch at hello @ freedomxx.com