Hello everyone!
I would love to wake up early in the morning to practice yoga. It would provide less distractions and since it is moving into summer here (NZ), I would love to see the sunrise.
The problem is that I just can’t seem to wake up early! Does anyone have any suggestions on tips to waking up early? I’m going just for 6 a.m. at first maybe earlier if I can…
Thank you,
Lakshmi
I have the same problem. Love to sleep in:)
The one cure for that - go to sleep at 9pm…for about a month, or you may adjust faster…take cool shower and enjoy sun-salutation on the sun rise!
It may not work if you look at only the waking up. It is more an effect than a cause. Going to sleep on time, getting the instant deep sleep and getting enough sleep to rest your body-and-brain will result in early waking up.
Among other things, think of this:
The best lifestyle change I ever made was to get up early. I get up at 5 for an hour’s meditation. There is so much energy around that time of the morning. As soon as your alarm goes off, just get up without thinking about it. After a couple of day it will become a new habit.
It helps to get all your stuff ready the night before, clothes, yoga mat, yoga or meditation area etc.
I do sleep in maybe once every two weeks for coffee in bed - then it is a real treat.
Getting up early also means you have to go to bed early.
Hi,
I knew that this forum would have some great tips! My husband likes to read in bed so sometimes it’s pretty hard to get to sleep with the light on and my alarm is set but I “snooze” and then I get up an hour later 
I will definitely try some of these. I like getting things ready and maybe even a quick shower might help. Of course there is going to bed early, but most nights won’t be a problem.
I just have to get my body out of the nice warm bed away from snuggly hubby Must remember how awesome the yoga will be…
Go to bed earlier so you will get enough sleep.
Suhas Tambe gave good advice. In addition to it I’d say get a noisy alarm and put it on the other side of the room so that you absolutely must get out of bed to turn it off. Also, set the same alarm to go off two minutes after the first one so that you can’t turn it off and go back to sleep, it also helps shake off the morning groggyness and helf-asleep state that you get right out of bed. Then do some walking, walk around your house, quietly if others are still sleeping, and move into more energetic exercise like jumping or lunging, just for a minute or two to get the blood flowing and your body warmed and woken up. Then shower with water that is not as hot as you’d like it, just sort of warm, not cold, but not hot. Then start your Yoga. I do this every morning and it hasn’t let me down yet
Best tip ever:
If you want to get up early, then set your alarm and get up early. Like seriously - get out of bed and do something.
The next day, do it again.
Courtesty of: this random article.
I tried it, it really worked… [I]but I still had no reason to be up at 5am, so I quit.[/I]
I would suggest buying your husband a nice book light. And maybe a comfy sleeping mask for yourself if the light still bothers. Couple that with all the above wonderful advice, and I think you’ll have it licked!
Again thank you for all of the suggestions. I really do think I should look into that sleep mask Joanna63, I think that would eliminate a lot of the problems. I am doing things slowly, I’ve set my alarm half an hour earlier and so far that seems to be working so this week I’ll set it an hour earlier. Moving the alarm away from the bed is another excellent tip. Once I’m up it’s hard to get comfortably back into bed.
It seems that motivation is the key. I need a reason to get out of bed, and yoga is a great motivator!
What do you guys think of sunrise alarm clocks? Have any of you tried it? These are the clocks that have a light that mimics the sunrise. Some of them even have nature sounds for the alarm…
I have a [B]huge[/B] problem with waking up early (and I rarely do), so rather than being a bloody hypocrite and telling you what I do, I will tell you what I [B]should[/B] be doing and don’t. lol
My circadian rhythms are like [I]totally[/I] out of whack, but my doctor has told me that a waking/sleep routine is just that…a [I]routine[/I]…
It’s a habit of mine to go to bed at like 12am - 1am and not to surface until about 8 or 9am…it took years for me to get that way and will take a while for me to fix it.
The very first thing I must do, is to decrease this by about 15 minutes a day for about a week, then go to 30 minutes for the next week, 45 minutes the next…an hour the next…
That’s like 1 hour per month so, after 3 months, I should be going to bed at 9-10pm and waking up at 5-6am.
The next thing that was suggested to me, is that I consume my last meal of the day no later than 6pm and drink my last caffeinated beverage no later than 4pm and limit my caffeine intake to no more than 2-3 cups daily (I currently drink 6-8 cups of coffee per day).
Then, my doctor told me to take everything out of my bedroom that is not a bed, wardrobe or dresser…that means, no TV, no books, no laptop etc…associate the bedroom and bed with sleeping only.
After that, comes the importance of sunlight. We should expose ourselves to the sun for 30-60 minutes daily to get our intake of vitamin D and to create Melatonin in our systems. I have tried taking a Melatonin supplement, but it did not work.
In the end, both you and I know that it’s only a bad habit. Habits are what keeps the mind in a comfortable state. Sure, there’s going to be a bit of resentment from the mind and body at first as it struggles to adapt, but once that happens, you won’t be able to go back to old habits without experiencing a degree of similar discomfort.
I realise I am going to have to get ‘motivated’ as well, but we need to set goals for ourselves and try not to let our ‘comfy minds’ talk us out of it.
Pretty soon, it will all become ‘second nature’ anyhow.
Let’s do this together.
Do you have an iPhone or that other type of smart phone whose name I done remember?
There’s a great app called sleep cycle. You place your phone on your bed, and it uses the sensors in the phone to monitor your movements. As we move in and out of deeper sleep cycles, we move about less or more. You set an absolute latest time for the alarm, but it will actually go off up to 30 mins earlier if it detects you moving about (I.e in a light sleep cycle).
This means that you wake up feeling more refreshed and alert, because you are not being suddenly woken from a deep sleep state. I have mine set for 5:15, and it usually goes off around 4:50 - 5:00. I’ve been using it for almost a year, and it’s made a huge difference to my day. I used to get up at 5:30 on the dot every day, and most days struggled to wake properly, and let tired throughout the day. Now I’m getting up earlier, and feeling better for it!
At the moment I get up at this time just to get to work, but I’m considering rising 4am to get some practice in…
If you have difficultiees falling asleep, read Immanuel Kant’s philosophy book: Ctitics of the pure reason." It is like chewing gravel. You can hardly stand more than 10 minutes before falling asleep.
:)[QUOTE=oak333;44575]If you have difficultiees falling asleep, read Immanuel Kant’s philosophy book: Ctitics of the pure reason." It is like chewing gravel. You can hardly stand more than 10 minutes before falling asleep.[/QUOTE]
Funny. I remember reading it 30 years ago and feeling proud getting through it. Bragging rights, and good snoozes.