{"id":956,"date":"2024-01-01T11:16:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-01T11:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/?p=956"},"modified":"2024-01-04T23:19:53","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T23:19:53","slug":"morning-routine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning Routine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I (Dr. Dave) have not always been a morning person.  In fact, while in University and sharing a home with a bunch of guys, I was known for keeping my alarm clock on the other side of the room (so I couldn’t shut it off in my sleep) but then still hitting the snooze button several<\/em> times to get that precious added morning sleep.  I knew exactly how many steps it took to leap back to my bed without fully opening my eyes.  My former room mates still talk about this when we get together.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Francis Chan, an author I enjoy, remarked how his morning time is the only part of his schedule that he can really control.  I get that.  Once my day is going and I have started work, I am juggling my schedule with  that of family, office demands, etc.  The part of my day that is completely within my power to manage is first thing in the morning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how did I go from chronic snooze button pusher to waking without an alarm clock and actually enjoying my mornings?   It didn’t happen overnight, but by gradually developing a morning routine I was able to make sure I had time for the things that were a priority for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of us have some kind of morning routine, whether it is a first cup of coffee or the brushing of our teeth to ward off morning breath. The secret is to add to our routine, little by little, until things you\\ve had on your “new year’s resolutions list” for years become habits you don’t think about.  Here are some examples of what you might add:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exercise.<\/strong>  This is one of the first things I added to my routine, because I found if it didn’t happen in the morning, it didn’t happen.  Some people find it hard to exercise in the morning, but if you make yourself do it, it does get the blood flowing and make you more alert and ready to take on other tasks.  Exercise for you may mean some cardio, or weights, or a few simple stretching exercises that your friendly chiropractor has been bugging you to do \ud83d\ude09   Note:  I don’t recommend stretching the first thing when you get up (or while you are still in bed).  When your muscles haven’t moved all night, they can be “cold” and it is easy to injure yourself.  Make sure you move around and get the muscles warmed up before you try and perform any serious stretching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hydrate and Nourish<\/strong>.  There are different schools of thought about breakfast.  Some experts tout intermittent fasting and suggest avoiding food til later in the day, others recommend a hearty breakfast.  Either way, hydrating first thing in the morning is very important, and not just with coffee!  If you are a breakfast eater, plan for it so that you are consuming protein and not just carbohydrates.  In my morning routine, I start by drinking 750 ml of water while I’m filling the kettle to make a pot of tea and bowl of oatmeal.  I make Kefir that provides protein and probiotics.  This may sound like a lot of work, but it has become a routine that I can accomplish in a few minutes (while drinking my water) before I work out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make your bed.<\/strong>  There is a famous quote from 2014 commencement address by US Navy Admiral William McRaven \u201cIf you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.

By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter.

If you can\u2019t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made\u2014that you made\u2014and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better. If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d
I couldn’t say it any better.  And there are other “little tasks” that can make your day go more smoothly which just apply to you.   Perhaps it’s making your lunch to bring with you, or hanging up you clothes, or taking something out of the freezer to thaw so it will be easier to cook dinner.  Think about what little tasks would make your day flow, and see how you can add them to your routine.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time of focus and reflection<\/strong>.  Prayer, meditation, reading spiritual or motivational books.  These can be difficult to incorporate into your day, particularly when you feel like you have to get your day going.  Yet when you make time, you feel the benefit!  Something I have found that helps is to set a timer for 10 minutes (even 5 minutes).  This feels like a manageable time that I can spare.  This summer\/fall I set a timer for 10 minutes to do grounding\/earthing (see our article June 2021) while I prayed each morning.  This winter I’ve been doing a 10 minute “ice plunge” after exercising.  I do backwards walking on the treadmill for 10 minutes a few times a week.  10 minutes seems like it allows a habit to form and you can spare 10 minutes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you start your new year, instead of thinking of a New Year, New You <\/em>with resolutions that you will forget by February, think about your morning routine and the time that you can<\/em><\/strong> control.  Perhaps you have small children that get you up at unexpected times and even the morning can’t have a routine, that’s okay- do what you can.  For most of us, we can control when we get to bed (though that can seem very elusive) and when we get up.  It may require shutting down earlier and setting an alarm until a habit is formed.  You may not create a perfect morning routine to start, but think about something you can add to your existing routine and do that consistently.  Once that becomes a habit, add something else.  How you start your day can set a tone for how your day goes.  As we start 2024, let’s start our days setting a great tone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I (Dr. Dave) have not always been a morning person.  In fact, while in University and sharing a home with a bunch of guys, I was known for keeping my alarm clock on the other side of the room (so I couldn’t shut it off in my sleep) but then still hitting the snooze button several times to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":957,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nMorning Routine - Wellness Family Care<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Morning Routine - Wellness Family Care\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I (Dr. Dave) have not always been a morning person.  In fact, while in University and sharing a home with a bunch of guys, I was known for keeping my alarm clock on the other side of the room (so I couldn’t shut it off in my sleep) but then still hitting the snooze button several times to […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wellness Family Care\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-01T11:16:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-04T23:19:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pexels-aphiwat-chuangchoem-359991-scaled-e1704410365350.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr. Dave Ivey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dr. Dave Ivey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dr. Dave Ivey\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/#\/schema\/person\/df1c0b360d4b0d55e253030ee4cbbef8\"},\"headline\":\"Morning Routine\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-01T11:16:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-04T23:19:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/\"},\"wordCount\":1139,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pexels-aphiwat-chuangchoem-359991-scaled-e1704410365350.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Our Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/\",\"name\":\"Morning Routine - Wellness Family Care\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pexels-aphiwat-chuangchoem-359991-scaled-e1704410365350.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-01T11:16:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-04T23:19:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/#\/schema\/person\/df1c0b360d4b0d55e253030ee4cbbef8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pexels-aphiwat-chuangchoem-359991-scaled-e1704410365350.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pexels-aphiwat-chuangchoem-359991-scaled-e1704410365350.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Morning Routine\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/\",\"name\":\"Wellness Family Care\",\"description\":\"Chiropractic\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/#\/schema\/person\/df1c0b360d4b0d55e253030ee4cbbef8\",\"name\":\"Dr. Dave Ivey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/696af3460e155a4ad395d46e51e956afb0c3a8c8623fa045b7139c18257befbc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/696af3460e155a4ad395d46e51e956afb0c3a8c8623fa045b7139c18257befbc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dr. Dave Ivey\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/author\/dr-dave-ivey\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Morning Routine - Wellness Family Care","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Morning Routine - Wellness Family Care","og_description":"I (Dr. Dave) have not always been a morning person.  In fact, while in University and sharing a home with a bunch of guys, I was known for keeping my alarm clock on the other side of the room (so I couldn’t shut it off in my sleep) but then still hitting the snooze button several times to […]","og_url":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/","og_site_name":"Wellness Family Care","article_published_time":"2024-01-01T11:16:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-04T23:19:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pexels-aphiwat-chuangchoem-359991-scaled-e1704410365350.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dr. Dave Ivey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dr. Dave Ivey","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/"},"author":{"name":"Dr. Dave Ivey","@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/#\/schema\/person\/df1c0b360d4b0d55e253030ee4cbbef8"},"headline":"Morning Routine","datePublished":"2024-01-01T11:16:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-04T23:19:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/"},"wordCount":1139,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pexels-aphiwat-chuangchoem-359991-scaled-e1704410365350.jpg","articleSection":["Our Blog"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/","url":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/","name":"Morning Routine - Wellness Family Care","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pexels-aphiwat-chuangchoem-359991-scaled-e1704410365350.jpg","datePublished":"2024-01-01T11:16:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-04T23:19:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/#\/schema\/person\/df1c0b360d4b0d55e253030ee4cbbef8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pexels-aphiwat-chuangchoem-359991-scaled-e1704410365350.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pexels-aphiwat-chuangchoem-359991-scaled-e1704410365350.jpg","width":1200,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/morning-routine\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Morning Routine"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/","name":"Wellness Family Care","description":"Chiropractic","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/#\/schema\/person\/df1c0b360d4b0d55e253030ee4cbbef8","name":"Dr. Dave Ivey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/696af3460e155a4ad395d46e51e956afb0c3a8c8623fa045b7139c18257befbc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/696af3460e155a4ad395d46e51e956afb0c3a8c8623fa045b7139c18257befbc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dr. Dave Ivey"},"url":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/author\/dr-dave-ivey\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=956"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":958,"href":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956\/revisions\/958"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellnessfamilycare.com\/wellnessdev2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}