Motivational Mondays

I don't know about you, but all of this cold weather and snow has left me feeling chilled to the bone and lazy!  Every morning, I go through the same process with myself to get out of bed and get my day going.  It is a very hard thing to do when it is still dark outside and your bed is so cozy and warm...

Which brings me to the reason of writing this post.  We all need some inspiration to get up and go sometimes.  Here are some of the things I like to do plus a few extra ideas:

1.  Do a little stretching before you get out of bed.  This will increase blood flow and circulation, making you feel more awake.

2. Get moving, slowly.  Your body has been doing more than you know while you were sleeping.  It was repairing tissues, and healing itself all night!  If you ask me, I'd say that's a lot of work so put that work into motion by doing some light exercising.  If you like to do hard exercise in the morning, make sure you take a good warm up so that your body is properly prepared for the exercise and day ahead.

3.  If you are not a morning person, get up when your body wakes you up, and then relax.  Grab a cup of hot tea or lemon water to sip while you plan out your day's events.

4.  Try not to drink coffee right after you get up.  Many people, including myself on occasion, like to drink the coffee right away to wake them up for the day.  As strange as this sounds, that procedure is actually counter-productive for what you want it for.  Caffeine has been shown to spike energy levels and then send them crashing down a few hours later (much like sugar, which is another stimulant)

5.  Finally, my favorite, eat plenty of whole grains.  Carbohydrates (especially those from whole grains) produce feel-good hormones like serotonin, endorphines, dopamine, and ghrelin.  So, eat up those feel-good grains to help keep you feeling satisfied and happy.

I will be posting via Essencia Yoga for awhile, but they will be coming onto Luana Ola as well!  Let me know what you think!

Luana Ola!