"Rise and shine."

I know it may be hard to imagine, but what if when your alarm went off in the morning you got right up, fully energized and ready to take on the day? There’s a popular expression that goes “Rise and shine” to suggest this very feeling, and I want to break it down a bit because its advice is actually very helpful, especially if you struggle to get up in the mornings.

First, rise. It implies getting moving right away. The best way to do that is to keep your alarm out of arms reach so that you physically need to get out of bed to turn it off. Once you’re moving, it’s a little bit easier to do the next thing, and the next thing, to support you in have a strong start to the morning. 

Beyond that, the more quality movement you get in earlier, the better. This helps to wake up your body and mind to kickstart your engagement with the day. Whether it be a morning walk with a coffee, some stretching, or a full workout, the movement accelerates you transition from asleep to alert.

Then the second part of the quote - Shine. There are a few different things to consider. The first is getting sunshine. Our Circadian Rhythm, the body system that regulates our sleep cycle, uses external stimuli to facilitate its process. The primary trigger it uses is sunshine. So getting outside and hit with some sun rays literally helps your body wake up on a chemical, physiological level.

Another part of shine, which ties more into Thursday positivity, is mood priming. When you’re intentional about the first things you do in the morning, to make your internal energy pure and radiant, you set the tone for the rest of the day. Doing things like a mindfulness practice, gratitude reflections, or Mel Robbins “High 5 Habit” helps you to turn on your shine so that you can spend the day in its warmth.

And the final extension of that last thought - This energy is then felt by others. They will take it in, it will make them feel better and your shine will be reflected back to you. We can all think of that one person whose positivity and enthusiasm is contagious, who we want to be more like in that regard. You can cultivate more of that for yourself by following the simple advice “Rise and shine.”