8 ways to wake up with more energy

Some people are just morning people. They bound out of bed and attack their day. Others aren’t morning people. They lumber out of bed and sluggishly begin their day. These people (and there are millions if not billions) could use an “adrenal” shot in the arm of energy. Here are 8 ways to wake up with more energy.

• Contemplate: Centering your mind first thing in the morning activates neural pathways in the brain and energizes your thoughts
• Light it up: Light plays an important part of regulating our circadian rhythms. Open the shades first thing in the morning. During the darker days of late fall and winter you can use a sunlamp. I use mine when I’m reading my paper and drinking my coffee. It makes me feel like I’m at the beach even if it’s snowing outside.
• Exercise: This gets rid of the “cobwebs” in our muscles and stimulates the feel good hormones that stay with you the rest of the day. This is a challenge for most people who physically feel lethargic in the morning. It takes commitment and a a regular entry in your calendar as a must do activity
• Pee Pale: This comes from my sister who states that when your pee is pale, you’re hydrated. Believe it or not we can become dehydrated when we steep. We expend energy when we enter dream land. It needs to be replenished by drinking lots of water first thing in the morning
• Avoid the snooze button: This invention has caused fragmented sleep and waking up procrastinators. Develop the discipline to get up right when the alarm goes off. This is helped by setting your time to get up as definitive. That is, don’t give yourself a time buffer in the morning. Set your clock with the time that demands you have to get up.
• Arise and Shine at the same time: The body likes rhythms. It likes to know what it has to do day by day. Getting up at the same time each day, even on the weekends, conditions your body to go to sleep and wake up at regular intervals.
• Go to bed well: Some of us have horrible habits that keep us awake. Drinking coffee after lunch can keep you awake. Watching a screen, whether its the television or something else, can agitate and keep you from a restful night. Also try to solve any pressing problems that face you. In marriage it means not going to bed angry.

Life is short. We spend a third of our lives sleeping it away. Might as well make the most of it so you can live the rest of your days with zest, vigor, and meaning.