8 ways to make you want to leap out of bed

Finding it hard to drag yourself out of bed in the morning? Looking for that extra boost of morning encouragement that doesn’t require chugging coffee or hitting the gym? If so, you’re in luck!

Check out these 8 great ways to find your morning motivation naturally:

Use a Sleep App

Gone are the days of slamming your hand down on your ringing alarm or hitting the snooze button ten times. The latest digital sleep applications, including Sleep Cycle, Sleepbot and Sleep Genius, can be downloaded to your smartphone or other mobile devices. These types of apps actually measure your sleep activity and circadian cycle as well as wake you gently when you are most likely to come out of sleep with ease.

Start with Yoga

Mindful meditation and gentle stretching in the morning with practices like yoga and tai chi can help wake your muscles up gradually and reinvigorate your mental clarity for the day ahead. Yoga especially has found its way into popularity more and more with adults over 50 because of its ability to help fight osteoporosis, arthritis, back pain, and cognitive decline. Combine that with a dose of positive thinking and an energetic boost of blood flow yoga provides and you have a recipe for morning success.

Get Dressed Faster

For many older adults, getting dressed in the morning can become a cumbersome task – zippers, buttons, shoes – they all become harder to finagle as joints get stiffer and bending over or squatting becomes more difficult. Ease of use tools like button hooks, shoe horns, and dressing sticks make putting on clothes, closing buttons, and slipping on shoes easier. Asking where to buy a shoe horn or other dressing aids? Look online or in your local drugstore or pharmacy.

Drink Water

Don’t head straight for the coffee machine in the morning. Wake up with one or two glasses of pure, fresh water to get your day started off right. Hydrating early and often helps stimulate your body’s metabolism, flush out toxins, promote alertness, and prevents you from overeating at breakfast. Easy ways to remember to drink water is to keep a glass by the bathroom sink so you can drink after your use the restroom and wash your hands. Or if you take medicine in the morning, make sure to drink an entire glass of water with your pills.

Avoid Blue Light at Night

Did you know it’s not just your electronic devices but LED and fluorescent light bulbs which emit blue light as well? Taking in blue waves on the light spectrum more and more in the evening and nighttime hours has been linked to disrupted sleep patterns and an array of health issues according to a Harvard Medical School study. Avoiding technological devices and other blue light sources 2 to 3 hours prior to falling asleep can make sure your body produces the melatonin and other biochemical reactions it needs to cue sleep.

Eat a Balanced Breakfast

You may have heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but how does it help really? Well after potentially 8 to 10 hours of fasting between having dinner and waking up, your body is yearning for fuel. Starting with a high dose of sugar will leave you crashing hours later and craving unhealthy snacks mid-morning. Instead, you want to incorporate a balanced meal with protein, carbs, and fiber. Oatmeal, Greek yoghurt, eggs, whole grain toast, heart-healthy nuts and berries – all these delicious choices will help you embrace a nutritious eating habit for the day.

Get Some Sun

Humans have evolved to rise and stay awake with the sun and fall asleep when nighttime arrives and the sun sets. Getting sunshine first thing in the morning can help your brain wake up, leaving you feeling more alert and also helping your intake some natural vitamin D from the sun’s UV waves. Regular sunlight exposure, as seen in this 2016 study, has also been linked to prevention of certain types of cancer as well as MS, hypertension, and diabetes. Open the curtains in your bedroom in the morning, go for an early walk, or eat breakfast outside on the porch to soak up a little morning sunshine.

Listen to Your Favourite Song

Waking up with music may seem like overkill, but research shows that music lights up unique parts of your brain and can induce feelings of positivity. A 2011 study from Nature discovered that intense pleasure derived from listening to music you enjoy actually triggered a dopamine release in the body – dopamine is the ‘feel good’ hormone that helps you feel motivated. Turn on some easy listening tunes while you get dressed or shower to kickstart your day with a dose of positivity.

Waking up bright and chipper in the morning isn’t for everyone – but waking up and feeling alert, motivated, and healthy can be. With a few simple tricks like listening to music, drinking water, and practising yoga, you’ll be rising more and more refreshed with each passing day.