Good Morning!

4 tips for a better start to the day

After a relaxing break at a yoga retreat or health resort, the resolutions are usually still fresh. They often even last until you land back home or even a few days after that. But by the time you have arranged a meeting or a get-together in a restaurant after a demanding day, they are history. The smell of homemade pasta or the sight of a glass of red wine is too tempting. It's often not that difficult to integrate small changes into your everyday life in order to keep your inner bastard on a leash in the long term and start the day fit and energized in the morning:


1. search for causes


Many things in our lives follow a pattern. This is not a bad thing per se, as it saves us having to think about things for a long time and therefore saves energy. Reaching for the alarm clock and pressing the snooze button are movements that most people literally master in their sleep. But why is it so tempting to stay in bed for a few more minutes when we know it's basically useless? Dr. Jason Culp from the International Health Resort Chiva-Som (www.chiva-som.com) advises us to look for the causes. If you are still tired in the morning, you are probably sleeping badly. Dietary habits, an unhealthy lifestyle and a general lack of sleep can be responsible for this.


2. Eliminate the causes


It can be useful to get used to a certain sleep rhythm. The need for sleep varies from person to person, but once missed sleep cannot be made up for, for example on vacation or at the weekend. Stockpiling sleep doesn't work either. Getting enough sleep every day is important - not only for your well-being, but also for your performance and health. In addition, everything that makes it difficult to fall asleep should be banned from the bedroom. This includes your smartphone, for example. It should be dark and neither too warm nor too cold in the bedroom.


3. break through routines


Old, unhelpful routines are best replaced by beneficial, healthy habits. If you manage to get up as soon as the alarm clock rings for a few days, you will soon get used to it. It can also be helpful to place the alarm clock somewhere in the room and not within direct reach on the bedside table. According to the Chiva-Som expert, after about three weeks, new behaviors should become a simple routine.


4. start slowly


The first thing you do when you get up should not be your cell phone. Messages, emails and the like can wait until after breakfast. A little yoga, a balanced meal and a few minutes of mindfulness, for example during yoga, can make a big difference to the rest of the day.


#4best


Text: Claudia Hilmbauer