Creating a Morning Routine for Healthy Hormones
With these colder, darker mornings it’s very tempting to hit the snooze button and enjoy the warmth of bed a little longer. But what if I told you that what you do in the first 1-2hours after waking influences your hormone health and sets the tone for your whole day.
It’s no coincidence that the most successful people in the world start their mornings with an intentional routine to increase happiness, boost confidence and improve overall performance.
Hal Elrod author of the book “The Miracle Morning” states that “How you wake up each day and your morning routine (or lack thereof) dramatically affects your levels of success in every single area of your life. Focused, productive successful mornings generate focused, productive successful days.”
Creating a morning routine that not only nourishes your body and mind but that also supports hormone balance, is the key for many women. A routine incorporating the essential elements of exercise, meditation, gratitude and a nourishing breakfast is your secret weapon to success and healthy hormones.
Wake up
Waking up at the same time everyday is a healthy habit to get into and essential for setting up your morning routine. For women you may find you have two different wake up times depending on where you’re at in your menstrual cycle. Harness the high energy, drive and motivation of the follicular phase and wake up early. During the luteal phase when energy drops, motivation wanes and you need more sleep set your alarm to 30-60 min later and start your morning routine after
that extra restorative sleep.
Exercise
Exercising in the morning is a powerful way to connect with your physical body, wake the brain and get those mood boosting hormones pumping. Before you grab your water bottle and keys and head to the gym, I encourage you to allocate this block of exercise to home based exercise.
Aim for 15-20 minutes as soon as you wake to workout. Rather than doing the same exercise every morning sync it with your menstrual cycle. During the follicular phase opt for HIIT or weight bearing exercises, during the luteal phase you may prefer Pilates or yoga and when you’re on your period opt for something gentler like a simple stretch routine. Listen to your body and move
in a way that lights you up.
Meditate
Meditation is the antidote to the busyness and stress of modern life. A recent study looked at the benefits of meditation on the stress hormone cortisol, in medical students. After just 4 days of meditation cortisol levels had dropped significantly in the students (1). Whether it’s a 15min guided meditation or a breath work session incorporating meditation into your daily routine is essential for reducing stress hormones and allows you to start the day with a clearer and peaceful state of mind.
Gratitude/Journaling
Meditation clears the mind while gratitude and journaling allow for reflection, perspective and gaining clarity. If you find that during the meditation process thoughts or feelings came to light than spend this time journaling those thoughts. Working through the emotions, feelings or behaviours that are bubbling inside allows to acknowledge them, explore them and work through them. The other option here is to practice gratitude. Journal 3 things that you are grateful for
each day. The more you pay attention to this the more you’ll notice moments throughout the day that reinforce love and gratitude in your life.
Breakfast
Nourish your body with a healthy, nutritious breakfast. Making breakfast part of your morning routine means, no more skipping breakfast our eating on the run. You’ll find after exercising, meditating and journaling you will crave a wholesome breakfast. Include 15-20g of protein at breakfast to balance your hormones, stabilise your blood sugar levels and energise you for the day ahead. That could be 2 poached eggs on wholegrain toast with avocado or a breakfast smoothie with a scoop of protein powder. ( check out the smoothie recipes under RECIPES on this Fressko website )
This morning routine takes just over an hour but create your morning routine based on the time available to you. The benefits of an intentional morning routine encompass not just increase performance and confidence but a greater sense of happiness, wellbeing and importantly, hormone balance.
Guest Post written by Jacqui Lamplugh for made by Fressko.
Jacqui Lamplugh is a women’s health and fertility naturopath, mother to two boys, author of The(Honest) Hormone Handbook eBook and passionate about educating and empowering women about their hormones.
www.jacquilamplugh.com
@jacquilamplugh
References: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23724462/