Meditate-In-Park
January 8, 2014 | by Masumi Goldman
Train Yourself to be an Early Riser

You can train yourself to be an early riser! Will you love the process? Probably not. Do I love it? Not really. Dragging my sleepy body out of bed is not my idea of a good time…but what I DO love is putting my best foot forward from the moment that I step out of bed. By waking up early, I control the direction and tone for my entire day. Waking early removes the rush and chaos of the morning, and it makes me feel centered and disciplined. I love knowing that I can use the extra time without guilt because there just isn’t anywhere else I need to be at the crack of dawn. I may not put myself first at any other time during the day, but my early mornings are for me. I want you to experience that same feeling—the feeling of doing something healthy, just for you.

So, how do you become an early riser without it being a painful experience? Training. You need to train your body to wake up early. It’s a process. Discipline must be cultivated. I do NOT suggest that you start out by shifting your wake-up time from 7 am to 5 am. That is beyond painful. Just as you wouldn’t train for a marathon by stepping outside and running 26 miles on your first day of exercise, you also shouldn’t expect yourself to wake up two hours earlier than usual on day 1.

Baby steps. That’s the answer to almost any new endeavor—and this is an endeavor that you definitely want to undertake. According to recent studies, early risers are more productive, optimistic, and they even experience better quality restorative sleep. You know you want a piece of that.

Take a baby step by waking up just 15 minutes earlier than usual. Taking this small step will not overwhelm you, and you will establish a new healthy habit. Nobody ever said that waking up early to improve your health must include an hour-long cardio session followed by weight training and a homemade breakfast.

Start off slow. If you have an extra 15-minutes in the morning, use this time to do something to improve your health—something that you normally could not fit into your morning routine. Once you feel comfortable waking up 15 minutes earlier, move on to the next baby step by adding another 15 minutes. If you feel like crap, don’t move on just yet. Fifteen minutes is still a positive change, and you should be proud of yourself for doing it daily.

Wake Up 15 Minutes Earlier

Obviously, you can do whatever you want with your extra 15 minutes in the morning, but here are a few options that I like:

-Prep for dinner.

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If the thought of cooking at the end of a long day is exhausting, give yourself a head start in the morning. Wash and chop raw vegetables so you can quickly steam, oven-roast or stir fry after work. Store your vegetables in a bowl in the fridge so they are readily accessible later in the day.

 

-Steam your greens.

You know you should eat your greens, but who the heck can manage to get them in at every meal? YOU can. The easiest way is to wash, chop and Dark_Green-Vegetablessteam your greens in the morning, and to cook enough for the entire day. It’s such a quick and easy way to improve the quality of every meal you eat. Have a side of steamed kale, collards, bok choy, cabbage, mustard greens or broccoli. I always have a serving with my breakfast, and I prepare enough for lunch and dinner, too. Even if you buy your lunch at work, you can always carry a little container from home. Throw your steamed greens into a cup of lentil soup if you like your vegetables warm. This is such an easy, quick solution to improve your eating habits at every meal…and it only requires 15 minutes.

-Prepare your own healthy beverages for the day.

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Instead of buying a cup of coffee on the way to the office, a bottle of sweet tea to drink with lunch, and a post-workout sports drink later in the day, brew a quart of your own herbal tea in the morning and take it to work with you. If you don’t drink tea, make a quart of flavored water instead. Add slices of cucumbers and mint to your water or add slices of lemon and lime. The possibilities are endless. Treat yourself to a nice new thermos or jug to carry your drink, or just buy a large bottle of water from the supermarket and re-use that bottle daily.

-Do some stretching, and bang out a few sets of push-ups and crunches.

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Even 10 or 15 minutes of movement makes a difference. You will build some heat in your body and feel great.

-Create a schedule.

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Time management is your friend. Get the most out of your day by making to-do lists and filling out your daily calendar. Schedule your errands and appointments, make a grocery list, and create a meal plan for the day. Determine when you plan on exercising, and make sure that you actually schedule it. If you fail to schedule your exercise into your day, it can easily get pushed onto the back burner in favor of an interesting television show or an extra half hour of surfing the web. Use the extra 15 minutes in the morning to organize your day and to de-clutter your mind. Just a few minutes of planning can set you on the right path for success.

-Pray, meditate, give thanks.

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This is such an obvious suggestion, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it. Sometimes, all we need is a little gratitude, silence and perspective to change the course of our days. There is no better time than the early morning hours to find stillness and peace. Use this time to pray, meditate or write in a gratitude journal. Taking stock of your blessings is transformative and will naturally lead towards greater joy and contentment. Giving thanks brings awareness to your current state of being. I know that my own gratitude practice compels me to take even better care of my body, as I have become more grateful for the miraculous life that I am living. Over the years, I’ve come to really understand that good health is not guaranteed. You can take as many vitamins as you want, eat as healthy as humanly possible, get lots of sleep, maintain low stress levels, breathe unpolluted air, drink the cleanest water in the world, and you can still get sick. Some of this is just luck of the draw. Do the best you can, give thanks for all you have, and fiercely protect whatever good health you DO have.

Wake Up 30 Minutes Earlier

So you’re ready to move on? Go ahead and re-set your alarm clock to wake you a full half hour earlier than usual. Here are a few meaningful changes that you can make in your life with just an extra thirty minutes in the morning.

-Make breakfast.
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I’m not talking about pouring yourself a bowl of cereal. I’m talking about a real, nutritious meal. Personally, I like to chop and steam a bunch of vegetables, heat up some miso soup that I cooked the day before, and cook some grains (like oats or brown rice). I know it’s unconventional, but it is healing food, and leaves me feeling nourished and healthy. You can make vegetable-filled omelettes instead, or blend a good smoothie—and if you’re already chopping up fruit for the smoothie, chop a little extra to take to work.

-Yoga.

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Take a 20-minute yoga class online. I love the 20-minute yoga classes that I’ve taken. They are surprisingly effective at waking the body up and relieving morning stiffness. Yes, there are 30-minute classes available too, but if you’re waking up 30 minutes earlier than normal, you might want a 20-minute class so that you can have 10 minutes to freshen up afterward. If you don’t want to pay for online classes, do 15-minutes of sun salutations and spend another 10 or 15 minutes working on challenging poses. Take a photo or two of yourself to track progress, and post your photos to Instagram!

-Clean Your House, Pay Your Bills, Sort Your Mail. Basically, go ahead and get some of your chores out of the way. If you have no desire to exercise in the morning, use your extra thirty minutes in the morning to pave the way for a healthy evening.
One evening about a month ago, I found myself addressing 75 holiday cards instead of exercising. In hindsight, I see that this makes no sense. I could have addressed the holiday cards early in the morning, leaving me with no excuse to skip the gym at night. Today, try to think of every excuse that you’ve ever used to avoid exercising in the evening and if possible, tackle those items early in the morning.

-Wake up even earlier

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Once you get the hang of waking up 30 minutes earlier, you can continue to add another 15 minutes to your early morning routine. The earlier you rise, the more options you have. Personally, I like having an extra 75-minutes in the morning. I know that once the clock strikes 7 am, I need to get in mom mode and start preparing lunch boxes, brushing knotty hair, cooking kids’ breakfasts, washing crusty faces, etc. If I set my alarm for 5:45 am, I have just the right amount of time to do everything that I need to do to start my day feeling healthy, happy and bright. I used to set my alarm for 5:30 am, but I came to the conclusion that I actually preferred the extra 15 minutes of sleep. I didn’t accomplish more in the morning by waking up at 5:30. Somehow, 5:45 am is just right. You might need to play around with your wake-up time a bit, too. Good luck finding that sweet spot. You won’t regret it.

22 Comments
  • I whole heartedly agree with this. As someone who used to stay up til 11 or 12 and draaaaggg out of bed at 7, my new routine (forced on me by work schedules) leaves me feeling so much better about my day. I am in bed by 9 (yes its early) and am up at 5. I feel healthier and more rested, even though I’m getting the same number of hours of sleep. And I am married and have 3 kids and we still have enough family time. Try it!

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  • Which You tube channel do you usually follow for the 20-minute yoga class?
    Thank you!!

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    • There are numerous sites where you can find online yoga classes, but the 20-minute classes that I happened to take were all on yogaglo.com

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  • I was never an early riser. As far back as I can remember, I loved to sleep in until the very last alarm sounded. I could sleep for hours, upon hours, upon hours if someone let me! Then in mid November my yoga studio offered a challenge to its students…attend 15 of the 6am classes (Mon-Fri 45 minute flow class) within a month’s time, and you’ll receive 30% off your next class pass. AND you’d also be entered into a drawing for 2 months of FREE yoga. Well for me, it was a no brainer!

    One night I just started going to bed early,around 9pm and started waking up at 5am, with the assistance of my lovely alarm! And I LOVE IT!! I now have enough time to wake up, get changed, get my things together and can get to the studio early enough to relax a bit before class. I get my “me time” at class and don’t have to worry about missing out on spending time with my son, since he’s sleeping when I’m gone.

    I have enough time when I get home to shower and get dressed for work…without rushing around (I lay my clothes out the night before). It was the perfect solution to get me motivated, up early and kick starting my day. I never feel sluggish at work and there’s a big difference in me when I skip a morning at yoga and sleep in.

    Yoga has been instrumental to me over the past year…and I’m so grateful for that! Changing my habit wasn’t easy (that first day was rough) but it was a great choice for me! I couldn’t be happier! …..and I won the 2 months of free yoga! :-)

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  • I’d be interested in reading the studies you mention about the correlation between productive, optimistic people and early rising. I wonder if the early risers are more productive because they rise early, rise early because they are more productive, or if early rising and productivity are linked through another trait.

    Do you think sleeping late on weekends is counterproductive to your thesis?

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    • For me it works to rise early to be productive. Normally I don’t do a lot of cleaning, washing etc after dinner. And after dinner I feel tired, wanting to watch tv, skype, facebook, just sit outside with wine/tee, etc. So, wasted time actually (or choir, running, but that still fits in going to bed more early). I have dinner at 18. So when I rise at 10, I have from 10-18 to be productive. Than waste my time from 18 till 00. When I wake at 6, I can spent a lot more time productive till dinner at 18.

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  • I am going to do it. Every day I go to bed at 12-2am and on school days I need to wake up at 6:30am which makes me feel awful and on the weekends I sleep till 12pm which is awful still. But every time I tell myself I’ll go to bed early I end up not doing it. So I am going to write it here, it is official: Today I am going to go to bed NO LATER than 12.

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  • I enjoyed reading this article. I have been thinking about waking up early for a long time and you provided good reasons to do so. Waking up little early, doing some yoga and treating myself with some good food sounds great! Thanks for this article =)

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  • Good idea?
    I’m gonna start my day 30 mins earlier for yoga class

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  • You can certainly see your enthusiasm within the work you write. The sector hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who are not afraid to mention how they believe. All the time go after your heart.

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  • My crazy work schedule has me busy until 10pm. I will try my hardest to wake up 15 minuest earlier to at least stretch and breath! Im the type of person that likes to sleep until the alarm sounds and then 5 more minutes! Im super down to try this way and have a more centered awakening!

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  • Hahaa, I would love to have an extra hour or so in the morning. But my alarm is already set on 05:45, just to get me to work in time. But if i find a job closer to my home, it will be really super easy for me to get that time on my own! :D

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  • I used to get up early then I found myself going to bed later and later now I have drag myself out of bed every morning .. been needing a change so I am going to start witha 10:30 bed time and a 15 minute early alarm. Baby steps

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    • Let me know how you do. I am very much of a night person, so getting up early is a serious task! We can do it!

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  • Do you know what is the best online yoga tutorials out there?

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  • And you go to bed at what time Masumi ? around 22 PM ?
    I’ve been reading a lot of articles related to the hours of sleep…. and 7 hours is the minimum (8 hours is better). I wake up at 6h20 which is very hard for me because I usually go to bed after midnigth…

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    • I am terrible—I don’t usually get to bed before midnight. It’s hard to be a night owl and an early bird at the same time. I need to work on getting more sleep. I am definitely not getting the minimum amount right now.

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  • This has been working wonders for me. I’m far less cranky with my 18 month old in the AM when I get up and do yoga before she wakes up! Life is good and you ladies are inspiring <3

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  • Wonderful suggestion especially for moms. I would love to see your recipe for miso soup. :)

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  • Boy, this is a subject that I just couldn’t resist commenting on. Changing my habits and getting up at 5am to go to the gym before work a couple of years ago literally changed my life. I have never in my life been an early riser, always struggled getting out of bed in the morning when my kids were small. But I had put on a LOT of weight in my early 50s when my hips had been deteriorating due to hip dysplasia. It got to the point where I was barely able to walk, bent over and hobbliing with a cane. I finally had my hips replaced in 2010 when I was 54, and immediately set about getting active again. But I never could find the time to go to the gym and I continued to have difficulty shedding the weight.

    Then one day I decided there was only one time of the day that I never had any conflicts–first thing in the morning. I set my alarm for 5am, packed my work clothes and my lunch the night before, got to bed around 9:3 pm, and took myself off the gym for early morning classes. I won’t lie — it was HELL. They say it takes 30 days to develop a new habit, but for me it was more like 6-8 weeks. But as I stuck with it, and changed my eating habits, the weight started coming off and I started feeling better and better.

    I’m now almost 58 (in May) and back in great shape–in fact, probably in the best cardio-vascular shape that I’ve ever been. I do interval training, spinning, and weight workouts, and a lot of really long bike rides in good weather (planning my first century this summer). I recently went back to doing yoga at a really excellent studio nearby. I’ve lost over 50 lbs and recently my husband accompanied me to a yoga class and found that he loved it, so now we go together.

    I actually continued to do some yoga poses and balances right up until I had the hip surgeries, and I credit that with the two exceedingly fast recoveries I had from both surgeries. I have also been pleasantly surprised that, with practice, there are remarkably few constraints on poses that I can do with artificial hips. I’m careful about extreme hip openers like pigeon or binds, but if you watched me do yoga you would probably never guess that I have had my hips replaced. What amazes me is that I am now able to be so active again, when just a few years ago I was barely able to get out of bed and walk down the hall of my house. Believe me, I appreciate this every day at 5am, when I hop out of bed to go work out! :-)

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    • Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Your story is extremely encouraging and inspiring!

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  • I love you guys, I love you. ♡

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