Ana’s Sunday Roaster- 16th June 2024
I am honestly sharing this because I came to know people love to hear about this so much. It is baffling to see the amount of eyes the morning routine posts get. Why do people love to read such posts so much? probably because they are unable to build a healthy routine for themselves. So, in this post I will describe my own routine and hopefully it will give you an idea about how you can design your routine according to your preferences.
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My simple routine
I start prepping for bed roughly half an hour before I have to sleep, turn on the dim lights, clear out any stuffs lying around in bed, make the bed.
Most days I have sore muscles because of my fitness routine, so I apply oil in my whole body to relax them. It helps with any inflammation, soreness, or minor injuries if any incurred during the day. Adjust temperature according to the weather, mostly I keep it slightly on the lower end.
Turn off the light completely, sleep in as dark as it is possible in my bedroom(no dim/sleeping light).
I wake up in the morning without any alarm now because I have developed the habit with time. I keep one of the drapes open so the morning light shines directly in my face as the dawn approaches.
I wake up and begin the routine with oil pulling and making the bed at the same time. Immediately after, I move bowels. Next, I splash lot of cold water in my face and eyes which takes care of any dullness I may be feeling. Following this, I brush my teeth and heat up some water.
I spend 10–15 minutes sitting out in the open, preferably under sun and drink hot water.
Next I take cold bucket bath and cleanse out any oil, dirt present in the body. It naturally makes muscles ready for movement/exercise.
Depending on the schedule of the day, I perform either yoga asana, strength training or go for a run.
I move from gross to subtle practice of pranayama or meditation.
And there! this is my simple routine which makes leaves me feeling ready for the day.
This may seem all perfect and fairy tale like to many and I understand that. I was not always in this routine, it took me deliberate practice and making small mindful changes to get here. So, here are some things which you can consider doing to get your routine sorted.
#1 Bed time
Any morning routine starts with night before. We can imply all the motivation to wake up but in the end it all depends on the quality of our sleep night before. I try to follow the 3- 2–1 principle, that is stop eating 3 hours before bed, stop work 2 hours before bed and stop screen time 1 hour before bed.
I know this must seem very difficult to follow, but hear me out. As humans we need time to adapt to change, so start small. Shift your dinner time by half an hour earlier than your current time. This shift will have a ripple effect on your breakfast time next morning and the rest of the day.
Nothing really gets done after 9pm honestly. Try to stop work at a reasonable time and instead prepare for bed; you might get an extra productive hour in the morning instead of slithering through that half an hour at night.
Only if we could control screen time, right! The solution is in the problem. If screen is so interesting, make it boring by choosing to do an activity which will help you keep away from screen, play a game with family, have a meaningful conversation, take a walk with loved one, cuddle in the sofa with a book or anything you would like to do. No one has ever achieved anything scrolling through instagram.
#2 Caffeine
I have gone from being this person who can sleep right after strong coffee at night to being extremely sensitive to it to the extent that I can get severe jitters immediately after consumption. So I understand both spectrum of people equally. Where ever you may lie in the spectrum, you need to understand that caffeine does have an effect on your sleep like it or not! What has helped me immensely is the practice to avoid caffeine after 4pm and little to no fluids after 7pm. The key is to stay hydrated enough throughout the day and complete your caffeine needs before its evening.
#3 Beat procrastination in bed
Lets say you took my advise and you managed to sleep on time. You set up an alarm and you actually woke up at the said time, but your body refuses to move its ass from bed! I have been there, i get it. Think about how you can make this waking time interesting and fun. For me it is the thought of going for a run or getting to practice asanas. For you it could be journaling, taking a walk, listening to music, anything that strikes your interest, it should just not be anything in which you will need to use screen or make any decision. Keep this option ready before hand. For example if you wish to run, keep the running shoes just outside your room. Remember, “wands at the ready Harry”!
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#4 Watching sun
Do I need to impress upon this point? It is crucial to watch the sun or at least step out every morning. It sets up our biological clock and makes us ready for sleep after roughly 16 hours. Click here for more biology on this!
Sleep is the most important factor for your mental and physical health and is the basis of all activity. The quality/quantity of what you can do or achieve in a day depends on how well rested your mind and body feels. So it is in every way worth to take the painstaking effort to get good quality sleep most days.
It has taken me years to get to this point where I can get up without an alarm, so don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get it right today. Sure, we all can’t get all the things right every single day. It is helpful however to get some things done on most days. One analogy helps me not get down with this feeling, that is to consider yourself as a system, and systems fail, we just need to identify the reasons and make little tweaks and adjust here and there every day.
I hope this helps. I would love to hear if this has made an impact on your routine. Dm me on insta or shoot an email — ana15academic@gmail.com.