For many of us, waking up early in the morning is a must. But if you’re not an early bird (as myself), waking up early can truly seem torturous. How can you alleviate this problem or at least make those early morning wake-up calls seem less dreadful? Here are a few of my morning rituals that help me jump-start my morning and be ready for the day.

Choose a Pleasant Alarm to Wake-Up To

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always found that being utterly startled out of sleep already puts me in a foul mood before I even set foot out of bed. Throughout the years I’ve found that being slowly awakened to a pleasant sound that gently lulls me out of sleep works wonders. I’ve been waking up to The Cure’s Just Like Heaven for years now. There’s something about Robert Smith’s dreamy voice and the uplifting spirit of this song that somehow makes me feel like my day is going to be awesome. Choose a song that makes you feel good or even a relaxing instrumental and start your day with some positive vibes!

Cup of Tea

I’m a tea lover, and if there’s one thing that will put me in a bad mood first thing in the morning is if I have awful tea (which also makes me a tea snob). I usually favour English Breakfast or Darjeeling Tea for the mornings. There’s something about the aroma and the comforting warmness of it that makes me feel like I’m being cuddled up in a snuggly blanket. Some of my favourite tea brands are: Twinings, Ashby, Mighty Leaf Tea, and . If you’re more of a coffee person, then go ahead and have that. But something about drinking a hot drink will soothe any morning jitters and get you prepared for the long day ahead.

7-Minute Reading

I know some people love to read the morning news, and that’s good if that’s what you like to do. I usually try to avoid being bombarded by the news first thing in the morning, mostly because a good portion of the news if always somewhat depressing. Instead, I try to wake up my brain with some leisure reading. Usually it may be a magazine article or simply reading a few pages of whatever book I’m currently reading. Whatever you choose doesn’t matter as long as it helps you motivate yourself to wake up.

7-Minute Workout

I’m not the best person when it comes to exercise (at least in the formal going to the gym-sort), but I’ve found that doing this simple exercise routine 7-Minute Morning Workout In Pyjamas by Joanna Soh is the best way to get your blood flowing and shake off the morning blues. This exercise is simple and doesn’t take too much time out of your morning routine. If anything, it helps you work off that extra glass wine or scoop of ice cream you had before going to sleep the night before. It’s also fool-proof enough that even hungover or sleep deprived you can manage to do these easy steps. In just seven minutes you’re able to loosen your muscles and get your heart rate going. And don’t worry if you work up a bit of a sweat, just jump into the shower afterwards!

Lemon Water

This is simple! Just take a glass of hot water and spritz some lemon juice (or add a slice of lemon) to the water and drink this either before your morning coffee or tea, or even after. This Lemon Water is an excellent source of Vitamin C (much needed during flu-season!) and an amazing way to rid your body of unwanted toxins. Not only that, lemon aids in reducing pain in the body and any inflammation in joints. Not to mention that it tastes delicious!

These are just some of my morning rituals. Leave some of yours in the comments below!

Lemon Water image taken from eblogfa.com

By: Azzurra Nox