Imparted Wisdom Blog

Wondering about how to calm down your anxiety at the start of the day?

January 27, 2022 /By: Jassica Mendez

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If you often wake up feeling anxious in the morning, you need to know how to calm down your anxiety first thing in the morning.  Don’t worry – you are not alone. Not managing these feelings in the morning may lead to a gradual building up of anxiety throughout the day. Stress can be so overwhelming it can easily set your day up for disaster. Luckily, there are many effective ways to reduce morning anxiety. You can integrate and create a healthy daily routine.  

When trying to cope with stress in your life, the important thing is to persevere. Dealing with stress is very much like trying to quit smoking. You cannot get discouraged no matter how many times it takes you to start over. Every failure is a lesson learned – you might have lost the battle, but not the war. And after a fall, there is no other thing but to rise up and face your fears and doubts once more. You need to be patient with yourself and proud of yourself for trying to introduce positive change in your life. 

Here is how to get started:

Keep a Journal

Keeping a diary can help as it allows you to put to letter everything that is bothering you before you fall asleep. Facing your problems and verbalizing them in this way can help you minimize the dread you might be construing inside your head. In addition, it could help you pinpoint what might be triggering your morning anxiety. It could be your dreams, the morning news, the medication you are taking, an obsession of some sort, the food you eat, the time when you eat it, etc.

Note down what goes on in the morning.

However, if you see that this practice makes you even more nervous, do not torture yourself. Leave the strife alone and discuss your issues with your therapist or friends.

You May Need to Change Your Sleeping Habits

It is entirely normal to feel stressed out, and part of dealing with it is learning how to control it. And controlling it involves analyzing your lifestyle habits objectively and changing them accordingly. It has almost become a platitude to remind people that their sleeping habits greatly influence their quality of life. However, the fact of the matter is that modern humans are seriously deprived of good quality sleep. As a result, you may experience a lack of energy, poor concentration, memory problems, headaches, and of course, the morning demon itself – anxiety. 

Our species’ circadian rhythm is naturally designed to prosper only when you sleep at night. Experts disagree on the ideal number of hours you ought to sleep at night – anywhere from 7 to 9 is usually recommended. However, many people experiencing anxiety cannot fall asleep or have a disrupted pattern of sleeping where they wake up during the night. So, what can you do to make your sleep ‘firmer’?

For starters, avoid using electronic devices at least two hours before you go to sleep. Most people are so accustomed to swiping their smartphones or watching TV shows that they can no longer fall asleep without this. However, try to eliminate this from your day. The light and sound stimulation activate your brain, resulting in delayed sleep or compromising its quality. Instead of using your electronic devices, try to relax before bedtime by reading an enjoyable book or committing to an offline hobby such as writing, knitting, or gardening. 

How to calm down your anxiety in the morning and improve your sleep:

Be Gentle to Your Body 

Of course, you should also avoid drinking coffee, green or black tea, and liquor. The same goes for overeating or eating just before bedtime. Your bowel movements make it difficult for your body to relax. Also, it helps to keep your room relatively dark and cool – no more than 65 Fahrenheit will do. Another thing that might be disrupting your body’s balance is vigorous exercise late in the evening. And considering you also have to eat after exercising, you are activating your body instead of helping it calm down. Speaking of exercise…

Integrate Exercise Into Your Morning Routine to Calm Down Your Anxiety

It might be that you do get a good night’s sleep but still feel nervous in the morning. Relaxation exercise in the morning can help ease the tension of your thoughts. It does not have to be too demanding if you do not have enough time before work. Yet, physical activity reduces anxiety, stress, and compulsive thoughts, so it is definitely something you should try out. An efficient, 10-minute stretch or yoga session can help you reduce morning anxiety by activating your body and, in turn, calming your mind by way of releasing endorphins during exercise.

Examine Your Morning Closely

It could be something related to your morning routine that might be triggering anxiety. Some people get aggravated by the intrusive sound of their morning alarm. Sharp or sudden sounds might be instigating the excretion of cortisol or adrenaline. Eliminate things that might be provoking a stress response. However, having a too gentle or quiet morning alarm is not a solution either.

For one thing, hitting the snooze button disrupts your sleeping cycle. Also, sleeping in can be problematic – you could be late to work if you hit the cancel button instead of the snooze button. Make sure you find what works for you. 

You might also have a stressful start to the day simply because you do not give yourself enough time to prepare for your day. Rushing to the shower, skipping breakfast, or taking forever to decide what to wear could be inducing anxiety. So, make sure you either prepare these things before you go to sleep or wake up early enough to reduce morning anxiety related to preparations for the given day.

Comment down below with your best tips on how to calm down your anxiety at the start of your day.

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