Hello!

Welcome to Monday.

This week we are talking about the importance of getting our bodies moving in the morning. This simple habit has massive benefits for your sleep quality, productivity, energy, and overall health.

Importance

“A disrupted clock is the mother of all maladies, and, conversely, in most chronic diseases, clock function is compromised.” — Dr. Satchin Panda,The Circadian Code

To optimize our sleep, energy, and general health, we need to support our circadian rhythms.

The circadian rhythm is your internal clock which regulates the timing of every single function in your body. Not only does it improve sleep quality, but it also supports metabolism, hormone regulation, gene expression, and brain function.

If our circadian rhythms are unaligned, our health starts to suffer.

In fact, some experts argue that the circadian rhythm has more of an impact on our health than any other factor.

“We are living out of alignment with our natural rhythms, and this is causing us to be sick. Therefore, the first step in improving our health is to realign our schedule with our natural rhythms.” - Dr. Satchin Panda, The Circadian Code

When we wake up and get our heart rate up within the first 20 minutes of the day, it’s a huge signal to our bodies and minds that it’s daytime and it’s time to be awake and alert.

This will increase our energy levels, boost our productivity, and will make our sleep the next night much better.

If you wake up and stay in bed, or sit for a few hours, your body doesn’t get the signal that it’s daytime. This means that the daytime functions of the circadian rhythm are not switched on. This can lead to you feeling sluggish and fatigued, and will negatively impact your sleep the following night. This also impacts the functioning of the circadian rhythm for the rest of the day, which is how it can start really hurting our health.

“By moving your body in the first half of the day, you reinforce the body’s internal cues that it’s daytime.” - Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar

Morning movement also:

Starting your day with a gentle movement session is also a great way to have a slow, purposeful, and grounded morning. You’re away from your phone, the news, and the chaos of the day.

Implementation

1) Plan everything - what you are going to do, where you are going to do it, what time you are going to do it, how long your session is going to be.

  • Without adequate planning, it’s going to be harder to be successful.
  • You don’t have to do the same thing day in and day out, but make sure you know what you’re doing at least by the night before.


Here is a free link to a 5 minute routine I created specifically for the morning:


Here is a quick and easy yoga flow that is great for the morning:


2) You may need to wake up 5-10 minutes earlier to fit your movement session in, but the positive effects on your sleep will be well worth it.

3) Remember that this doesn’t need to be a workout - that can come later in the day. This is simply about getting your heart rate up a bit and your blood flowing.

“The key to overcoming that resistance is understanding that what we're talking about here is not a morning workout. This is morning movement.” - Aubrey Marcus, Own the Day, Own Your Life

Before You Go

Here are some free articles for you to read this week:

How to Build Muscle and Lose Fat When Working a 40+ Hour Week

10 Easy Morning Habits That Will Boost Your Energy Levels

Accelerate Your Fat Loss With This Simple Daily Habit

5 Simple Habits That Will Help You Get Lean Before the End of 2022

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