Please note this post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to purchase through these links, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. By using these links you are directly supporting Two Wander to continue providing content to stoke your curiosity for conscious wandering + holistic well-being. Thank you!

How I Perfected My Morning Routine

I’ve been perfecting my morning routine for a couple of years now, and it’s something that I’ve slowly been adding to to find out what works best for me. After doing loads of research on how to wake up with a lot of energy because I was NOT a morning person before, that has all drastically changed my friend!

Now I jump out of bed and it’s honestly one of my favourite parts of the day. I know you may be thinking “yeah yeah how good can this really be? You must not have hated mornings as much as I do” but I’m here to tell you that it’s truly something I struggled with for most of my life and used to think the same when I read other posts on how to become a morning person. I genuinely thought some people were just morning people and others were not. That has all changed. I experimented with different variations on my morning routines and have perfected the way to let me wake up naturally at around 6am! It’s still crazy to me that I am one of those people haha.

For a morning routine to be the most effective possible, it also needs to be complemented with an excellent nighttime routine to help set you up for success in the best way possible too. Read more about my Ultimate Nighttime Routine here.

For now, read on to find out how I created the perfect morning routine for me and why it works:

First things first, break your “fast” with a nice big glass of water. I keep mine on my bedside table overnight so I can drink it straight away and it’s also room temperature. I add a dash of apple cider vinegar to kick-start my digestion, I love the taste now but of course this is not for everyone! You get used to over time, if you want to use ACV for its benefits you can also take a shot of it straight away followed by a glass of water, like Sam does.

Next, I JUMP out of bed, no hitting that snooze button! I’m sure you’ve read all about why that’s bad for you. The first thing I do when I’m up is open the curtains and let some natural light into my eyes and open the window for some fresh air (even in winter). If you get up when it’s dark, simply get lots of artificial light or consider investing in a SAD lamp. This is crucial to signal to your body to stop producing melatonin (aka the sleep hormone) and also setting you up for a good night’s sleep the following night by resetting your circadian rhythm.

The BIGGEST key here is to get up and go to sleep at roughly the same time every day. Honestly I cannot. stress. this. enough. Changing this in my routine was hands down the biggest contributing factor in my turnaround to not hating mornings. It’s so simple and effective you’ll wonder why the hell you never tried this before.

Yes, it’s difficult and takes a lot of self discipline at first, but when you wake up every single day full of energy without an alarm it’s so so worth it. I started off using both bedtime and wake up alarms until I got used to it. Of course life gets in the way sometimes but try to stick to it as much as possible and bounce back as soon as you can and you’ll still reap the benefits. After all, who wants to constantly be in a mini state of jet lag all the time?

Then, I make the bed so our room is nice and tidy and ready for when we go to sleep. After all, a clean house is calming for the mind!

close up of my hand holding a graphic mug wit shell rings and soft lighting

2. Movement + Essential Oils

After going to the bathroom, I diffuse my energizing morning blend of essential oils (which I’m absolutely obsessed with). I use another blend for lunchtime and one for the evening too. Apart from the essential oils themselves having calming/energizing properties, the scent association also helps me wake up/wind down accordingly.

I go for minty smells in the morning, citrus scents at lunch, and floral lavendery blends at night. This is one of my favourite habits and I also use them if I need a quick burst of energy (for example by sniffing my menthol Olbas oil stick). Click to read my comprehensive guide on The Everyday Uses For Essential Oils here.

Next, I do 30 minutes of yoga. This can be whatever movement/activity you like best, even walking your dog, doing some simple stretches or just jumping up and down! The goal here is to think about getting your blood pumping a bit and your lymph drainage system moving. This is something that I’ve been doing for years religiously, if I ever have to skip a day because of super early flights it really throws me off the whole day. If I’m pressed for time, I try to wake up earlier and just do 15 minutes because I know it makes such a difference to me. Or if I really can’t fit it in my morning routine then I’ll try and do it in the evening.

two-wander-mystical-guidebook-bundle-save-now

doing king pigeon yoga asana pose on a rug in front of a mirror in my flat

3. Meditation + Affirmations

Straight after my yoga, I stay in shavasana pose and do 30 minutes of meditation and affirmations, visualizations and energy cleansing. This practice in and of itself is so revolutionarily life changing, I would highly recommend even 5 minutes to centre yourself and set your mindset up for a happy day! You can read more about my meditation routine here. I couple this with a few breathing practices throughout the day to have continuous little moments of presence and awareness. If I don’t have time in the morning, I try and do it at some other point in the day- I’ve done loads of meditations on early morning flights!

I do all of this whilst lying on an acupressure mat and it is seriously SO GOOD! Honestly, I thought this was just gonna be one of those gimmick things haha but it relaxes me like I’ve just had a massage. And if you know me, you know how much I love a massage. Feeling like this, it’s impossible not to have a good day! To finish off, I ring a pair of Tibetan bells I was gifted, again I think through association, this helps reinforce my brain to know that it’s time to start the day with a positive mindset.

long hair meditating from behind sitting on rug with salt lamp and bright flat

close up shot from above of holding brass tibetan bells

4. Nutritious Breakfast + Teas

Finally, I fuel myself up with a DELICIOUS breakfast that I look forward to so much! I aim to “fast” for at least 12-14 hours every night while I sleep. Our breakfast consists of: homemade kefir with oats, banana, raisins, cacao, collagen (which has also made my nails grow like crazy), seeds, and peanut butter. Sometimes we’ll add other fruits and a bit of dark chocolate as well.

Then, we drink three cups throughout the morning of our “elixir of life tonic” as I like to call it haha which is: green tea, pu-erh tea, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and lemon. We love this drink so much, we highly recommend it! If we ever need a bit of an extra pick-me-up we’ll add in a bit of honey as well. I have my first and only coffee of the day after breakfast to allow my body to keep producing its own cortisol in the morning and not interfere with nutrient absorption [note: I’ve switched to decaf now].

I have tried a variety of other supplements for energy in the morning as well from Tulsi (holy basil) tea to Eleuthero (Siberian ginseng) but hands down my absolute favourite because of the most notable difference is cordyceps! This little fungi gave us both so much vitality we look forward to integrating it back into our daily lives [always check with your doctor first]. Check out our post on the best adaptogens if you’re interested in more.

Only after all of this do I look at my phone and then get ready for the day. This is important to keep myself grounded and not be pulled in all directions whilst I’m still waking up (and in the impressionable alpha brainwave state). Especially in this day and age, social media can cause wildly fluctuating emotions and I want to make sure I’ve given myself a bit of me-time and am full awake, present and ready to start the day before being subjected to excitable news etc. If you work from home, you may want to create a list of your daily goals first before you begin so that your mind is cleared and your priorities are in order.

All in all my morning routine now takes me about an hour and a half but I wake up (naturally, thanks to my nighttime routine) between 6-7AM to make sure it can happen! If you don’t have the time, chop and change with what works best for you. Of course this is all very personal, but the things I would recommend the most universally are keeping a consistent sleep/wake schedule, getting some light into your eyes straight away (and not snoozing) and drinking some water first thing!

close up shot of marble teapot and lemon for my morning tea

So there’s my perfect morning routine created to optimize my happiness and energy levels all day! Like I said, I was NOT a morning person before but all of this (it still surprises me to say it haha) gets me excited for the start of every fresh day now. I hope you enjoyed reading my little summary and that it inspires you to make some changes in your routine as well!

Do you already have a morning routine? If so, I’d LOVE to hear about what you do differently in the comments section below, I’m always looking to expand on mine :)

If you enjoyed reading this then don’t forget to check out How I Created The Ultimate Nighttime Routine For My Most Restful Sleep Ever to really give your day the best chance!