For an early morning wake-up call, how many alarms do you set? One? Two? Three? Maybe you’re part of the 4.46 per cent of people who claim they do not need an alarm at all. Or maybe you’re a chronic snoozer who requires more than three to finally annoy you to the point of getting out of bed.
Personally, if I’m waking up at 8 a.m., I’m setting alarms every five minutes starting at 7:45 a.m. and one at 8:01 a.m., just for good measure (I’ve dubbed this one the “heart attack alarm” for obvious reasons).
The internet is full of advice about how to become a morning person: get a good night’s sleep, resist the morning scroll, start your day with an intention. It all sounds great in theory, but if it was that easy, we’d all be dancing around our bedrooms feeling like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Instead, more than half of the respondents in a Sleep Junkie survey claimed they feel “dreadful” when their alarm goes off in the morning.
“Becoming a morning person is a tricky thing if you’re not,” says Naturopathic Doctor and Founder of Well BYND, Erica Arcuri. “But one thing I’ll tell people is to try to work with their circadian rhythm.”
For all the non-science people reading this, rest assured – I had to google search that, too. Our circadian rhythm is our body’s 24-hour internal clock. In plain English, it controls our body’s sleep-wake cycle.
As Dr. Arcuri mentions that it’s not easy to become a morning person. So, why do it? Well, when it comes to school, work and other commitments, sometimes we have no choice. But, there are advantages to getting up with the chirping birds. After all, the early bird catches the worm, right?
An obvious benefit of waking up earlier is the additional time. Trust me, I love sleep as much as the next person, but I will admit that my mornings become a lot less stressful when I don’t feel rushed. These extra minutes or hours could mean time for a healthy breakfast, time to go through a proper skincare routine or time to exercise and release positive endorphins that will leave me energized for the rest of the day. It could also mean improved cognitive function and concentration.
Scientific research suggests that going to bed an hour earlier and waking up an hour earlier could correspond to improved mental health. A study published in JAMA Psychiatry found that shifting our sleep schedules in this manner is associated with a 23 per cent lower risk of depression. Other research suggests that early rising and success might be linked. Ostensibly, people who wake up early are more in sync with the traditional corporate schedule and tend to have more proactive personalities; this could lead to better grades in school or higher wages on the job.
All of this is not to say that you will not have healthy skin or be successful if mornings aren’t your thing, but the added time and health benefits associated with early mornings may be something you want to consider.
For those interested in taking those steps to become a morning person, Dr. Arcuri has a few natural tips and tricks to transform people’s morning routine into a healthier and happier experience. Introducing a naturopath’s cure to dreadful mornings:
- Get up with the sun
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Dr. Arcuri’s first piece of advice to make waking up earlier easier is to keep your blinds halfway open. As the sun comes up, we are more likely to get up naturally with the light.
“When it’s dark, we create more melatonin. When it’s light, we create less so our body can wake up,” she says.
- snooze no more
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For all you chronic snoozers, this is your sign to stop hitting snooze on your alarm and instead, set a realistic wake-up time and get up to that first alarm. We’re all guilty of it, but “when you go back to bed [after your alarm goes off], it tends to throw things off with your circadian rhythm and ultimately makes you feel more groggy,” says Dr. Arcuri.
- hands off your devices
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Rather than reaching for your electronics first thing in the morning, take some time––even if it’s five minutes–– to wake up. Whether it’s laying in bed, stretching, meditating or writing in a five-minute journal to start the day with gratitude and affirmation, these are benefits to easing into your day.
“Instead of going straight to those emails and getting those cortisol stress levels pumping first thing in the morning, you’re gradually waking up by taking those five, 10, 15 minutes for yourself.”
- Water first
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Now, let’s talk about my favourite time of day: breakfast. This advice does not have to do with becoming a morning person per se, but is advice Dr. Arcuri deems important to start the day.
“I know a lot of people are heavy coffee drinkers first thing in the morning to ‘wake themselves up,’” she says. “But I always say, first things first; have a glass of water before your coffee and have one right after, just so that you’re keeping yourself hydrated. You also prevent yourself from eventually feeling more tired later.”
In terms of breakfast, she recommends avoiding straight carbohydrates first thing in the morning, ”like a bagel with butter or a muffin. When you’re having something that is carb-heavy, essentially your glucose levels are going to spike and you’ll feel energetic, but then they’re going to drop really quickly. That’s when people tend to feel ‘hangry’, tired, and develop cravings.” She recommends including protein and healthy fats into your breakfast to help hold you over.
- bedtime rituals
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“Your nighttime routine will also help with how you wake up in the morning,” she adds. Beyond getting your recommended seven to eight hours of restful sleep in complete darkness, Dr. Arcuri suggests lowering the temperature in your bedroom so it’s cooler and easier to fall asleep. Many researchers identify an optimal room temperature as falling between approximately 19 degrees Celsius and 21 degrees Celsius.
In addition to making changes to your environment, there are simple ways to calm our bodies down before bed. “I often recommend Sleepytime Tea, which is made of herbs and acts like a very gentle sedative to help people wind down at night and fall asleep faster.”
- Go back to the basics
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When her patients are feeling extremely exhausted throughout the day, Dr. Arcuri recommends getting blood work first. “You get basic blood markers like Iron, B12, Vitamin D, just to ensure there aren’t any nutritional deficiencies.” She explains that, just by increasing those levels, people’s energy can change completely.
- Managing stress
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Last but not least, Dr. Arcuri talks about cortisol (A.K.A our stress hormone). She explains that the pattern they like to see throughout the day would be for stress to peak an hour after waking, and that it is at its lowest at night. Ideally, these would align with our energy levels throughout the day. Unfortunately, external and internal factors causing us stress can mess with the pattern of cortisol. Anything that makes us feel anxious, like work or school, or skipping meals, which causes our blood sugar to fluctuate, all affects our energy levels. It is never a bad idea to speak to your doctor or a naturopath to discuss the ways in which you can best manage those stresses.
While all of these recommendations may not directly address your ability to jump out of bed first thing in the morning, they will assist you in building a better routine that will allow you to feel increased levels of energy throughout your day.
So, the next time your alarm goes off, consider fighting the snooze; you may just be a morning person after all.