These 3 minutes in the morning let you say goodbye to anxiety

I don't know how many mornings I used to wake up to an alarm clock, reluctantly open my blurry eyes, reach out and grab my phone, and then go into my day passively and hurriedly. It wasn't until I learned about mental health, positive thinking, etc. that I realized that mornings are so important and largely determine the state of one's entire day.

Waking up in the morning and taking 3 minutes to let your body and brain slowly adjust to the new day can help you get into the day's activities more easily and happily.

Wake up to a great day: 3-minute morning exercise

Waking up gently allows you to take full advantage of important brainwave states and better prepare for a brand new day. Pilar Gerasimo shares a 3-minute exercise designed specifically for mornings. The main points are as follows.

• When you wake up in the morning, before you do anything else, choose an activity that makes you feel good and enjoy it for at least 3 minutes, or whatever feels meaningful and doable to you.
• Avoid electronics, social media, and other things that interfere with your senses before and during your morning practice. Create opportunities for your mind and body to gradually and calmly move into a relaxed and awake state.
• A morning practice can be meditation, yoga, stretching, reading poetry, journalism, walking outside to watch the sunrise, opening the window to listen to the birds, singing, dancing, playing an instrument, etc.
• Consider using the last moments of your practice to set goals for the day, envision how you want to spend the day, or think about the things that make you most grateful.
• End your practice with three deep breaths. Become aware of the physical and mental changes you have made in the 3 minutes you just spent.

Benefits of this morning's practice

• Allows you to preserve and utilize the valuable "between wakefulness and sleep" brainwave state - a highly receptive state associated with insight, creativity, healing, wakefulness, and deep awareness.
• Reduces the sympathetic nervous system's alarm response and associated inflammatory cortisol spikes, thus allowing for a more relaxed mind and body.
• It allows you to avoid exposure to stressful, distracting messages and avoid distractions when you are vulnerable.
• Enhances your self-regulation and self-efficacy (a feeling of believing you can do it).
• Allows you to start the day in a way that is actively chosen and appropriate for you, rather than reacting passively to external stressors.
• Helps you develop the neural pathways that allow you to experience and record positive and pleasurable experiences and harvest dopamine (dopamine has the effect of sending messages of excitement and happiness)
• Help you gain a state of positive thinking and calmness early in the day, making it easier for you to maintain and regain that state for the rest of the day
• Being able to stay better aware of habits, behaviors, and attitudes that can be harmful to your health.

Advice on waking up

• If you need an alarm clock to wake you up, choose a pleasant, non-harsh sound, preferably not from your phone. You can choose a dedicated electronic alarm clock and set your favorite, soft music. It is best not to have light effects (e.g. glowing to show the time). It is best if it can be easily turned off.
• Just keep the initial light in the room without pulling back the curtains. It's best to get right into the practice. If you are a person who likes to drink water, coffee, or hot tea first, then you can take a drink at the beginning of the exercise.
• Take deep breaths to calm yourself.
• Choose any activity that makes you feel good (see the list of suggestions below) and enjoy it for the time you choose.
• At the end, take three deep breaths.
• Notice how you performed the exercise.
• Record how your body feels and the changes you feel.

Possible morning exercise activities

What you do in the morning hours is entirely up to you. The important thing is that you have at least three minutes to enjoy the event. The following are some suggestions for activities to choose from.

• Meditate, pray, or do breathing exercises.
• Do yoga, stretch, or massage your body (hands, feet, head, etc. are fine)
• Go outside, look at the sky, and listen to the birds and the wind.
• If you have a pet at home, have fun jerking it around.
• Play a musical instrument.
• Doodle as you wish.
• Write a little poem or a love note to yourself or someone else.
• Imagine one thing you wish would happen today.
• Think of three things that make you grateful, and take a deep breath for each one you think of.
• Just sit there, do nothing, and enjoy the feeling of being in silence.

Remember, the minimum time for this exercise is three minutes. You can extend it if you want, as long as you have time, it doesn't matter how long it is. But make sure it's at least three minutes. Even if it's only three minutes, some people want to skip the process; after all, many people are used to being rushed into busy outside commitments.

But remember, this is a very important moment that belongs to you alone. A saner, stronger you can bring a lot to your world. It's a way to regain your ability to make choices, a way to train you to do something beyond your old habits.

The 3-minute morning exercise is a seemingly unrelated, but revolutionary move. It's your moment all to yourself, so make the most of it.

If you want to build a healthy pattern that you can enjoy for a lifetime, then this simple, quiet three-minute space is where your new pattern will take root.