Even if there is often no time on working days to celebrate a long morning routine: we can make the start of the day nicer. Now is a good time to tackle this.
How different such a morning can be: while you fall back on your pillow with coffee, a book and inner peace at the weekend, on a working day there is a lack of time and tension. But we can also get a little more rest in the morning with little time. That says Inga Heckmann, yoga teacher and author (“The Little Book of Good Morning”). Crucial here are small rituals that do us good.
Lucky coincidence: Around the time change at the end of October it’s easier to get out of bed – so a fitting moment to tweak a few screws in your morning.
Ms. Heckmann, how do we make the morning nicer – even on days with little time?
Inga Heckmann: It depends on the evening before. That’s why I recommend taking care of relaxation already there. And not by sinking in front of the TV. That’s fine in moderation. But half an hour before going to bed, one should calm down the nervous system, which is whipped up from the previous day. A relaxing yoga practice or a breathing exercise are suitable for this.
If you don’t like it, you can read a good book or poetry, listen to a podcast – in short: do anything that nourishes the soul. This ensures better sleep, which fundamentally affects the state in the morning.
If we now go from evening to morning – how does the start of the day get better?
Especially if you are not a morning person, it is all the more important to be gently woken up. You can replace your harsh cell phone alarm clock with a sunrise alarm clock that wakes you up with an imitation sunrise, birdsong or music.
The be-all and end-all are morning rituals that provide us with motivation and energy. The more consistently we cultivate them, the more connections form in the brain. The brain and body then know: “Something nice is coming and I’ll wake up.”
Do you have an example of such a morning ritual?
There are simple breathing exercises you can do in bed to wake you up. In the butterfly pose, for example, you don’t fall asleep again so quickly: you put the pillow under your head and put your feet up so that your knees are bent at right angles. Now drop both knees outwards. Then you put your right hand on your lower stomach and your left hand on your upper one – and breathe deeply and long into your stomach and then into your chest. The hands ensure that you feel the breath well. You repeat this five to ten times.
This exercise raises the pulse, increases the oxygen content in the blood and stretches the respiratory muscles in the chest, flanks and shoulder girdle – we wake up. Tip: If bent knees or thighs hurt, you can cushion them with pillows to reduce muscle tension.