4 Evening Rituals to Have the Best Morning

Do these four things every night to make you happier at work and in life.

As a fitness and wellness enthusiast, you've most likely locked your morning routine by now. We know that the way we start our mornings sets the mood and tone for the rests of the day.

Lifestyle gurus, influencers and world leaders all prescribe an early morning wake up time (6am, 5am, or 4am?!). It's quite aspirational. But an early morning rise would not be healthy without a fully rested sleep. What we do in the evening and how we prepare for the next day plays a huge role in our morning performance.

After a long exhausting day, some of us might just want to open a bottle of wine and turn the telly on until we doze off. While there's nothing wrong with happy hour, if we want to improve our overall performance, we must be intentional with our evening routine.

Today we're sharing rituals that will hopefully help you get better sleep, de-stress, and refocus your priorities. If you're especially in a high-pressure situation, or just want to wake up with an extra glow, incorporate one or all of these rituals to your evening routine.

1.    Create an "Anchor" activity. Send your brain and body a signal that it's time to unwind. This transition activity helps you truly disconnect with work or outside stress. This is especially important now that many work from home. If you're up for physical movement, try working out, cooking dinner or gardening. It can be any activity that would create a wedge between work and bedtime. It should be something you do for you!

2.    Decompress with Yoga and Meditation. Since our goal is to lower stress levels, we need to ease in the evening to a slower pace. There's countless research into the benefits of mindfulness practices such as meditation and yoga. They are proven to reduce anxiety levels and calm the practitioner. Youtube has many free guided meditation or yoga videos that can help you start this practice. Do you practice mindfulness already? Should one do it with sound or without?

3.    Have a notebook and pen by your bedside. Sometimes our brain can mess with us and give creative ideas while we're trying to sleep. Keep a journal by your bed to write down those bursts of inspirations so you won't forget them the next day. Journaling is also a great practice. Process your day and clear your mind by expressing them all on the blank page.

4.    Spend quality time with loved ones. At the end of the day, we should always keep things in perspective. Our bodies are not the only things we should keep healthy. Our relationships need tending too!

Try one or do all of these rituals and experience a better morning. Happy sleeping!