How we begin our day often sets the tone for how the rest of the day will go.
But most of us really really don’t want to get out of our warm cozy beds, do we? 
Stepping out of our beds leaves us grumpy.
Here are 8 ways you can be more cheerful when you wake up, and it does not involve caffeine either. 
1. Do not hit the snooze button: I know, I know, that’s the first thing you want to do. But what happens when you snooze for just another 5 minutes? 10 minutes? We sleep in cycles. Each cycle is made up of 4 stages. Each cycle takes 90 minutes to complete. If you wake up before a cycle is complete, you will be groggy and unhappy. When you snooze you cannot complete the cycle in 5-10 minutes. So when it is time to wake up, be strong and wake up.
2. Alarm setting & Sleep Cycles: In the point above, we talked of sleep cycles. Each cycle is made up of 4 stages: 3 Non-REM stages, and 1 REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage. If you know around what time you fall asleep, set your alarm to a time which is a multiple of 90 minutes from your sleep time. So if you fall asleep at 9:00 pm, set the alarm for 5:00 am. And then, do not hit the snooze!
3. Keep the curtains open: Sunlight helps us wake up naturally and more comfortably.
4. Stretch & take really deep breaths: As soon as you wake up, stretch in bed. Before you even get out of bed, stretch. Then when you get out of bed, stretch more. Take very deep breaths for a minute or two. This will help you feel more awake. I actually do the yogic breathing – Pranayam in the morning. Makes my mind feel clear.
5. Decor & Colors of the room you will go into: I go to my family room for meditation, so this is the room I go to when I wake up. Make sure that there are bright colors in that room – the curtains, furniture, painting. A beautiful painting of the sun or Sunflowers are amazing too.
6. Aromatherapy: The smell of fresh Citrus fruits is beautiful to wake you up. The smell of citrus is used in Aromatherapy to help us feel happier. In fact Bergamot essential oil is used for help with depression. You can either use Citrus sprays, or you can drink a warm glass of water with freshly squeezed lemon juice added to it, and that will help. To make your own Citrus Spray, you can follow the instructions here: https://thepurpleflower.com/make-your-own-lavender-essential-oil-aromatherapy-spray/ Just replace Lavender with Bergamot or Lemon or some other Citrus essential oil. Or you can start a room diffuser with Citrus essential oils.
7. Exercise: Yep! Go for a walk, or if you have a treadmill, use that. Or do any other kind of exercise that is aerobic in nature. This is sure to wake you up, up the happy feeling hormones, and help you have a cheerful start of the day.
8. Music: Play some uplifting, energizing music that you really like, something that makes you happy. You could combine this with your exercise routine. Music affects us powerfully. A high energy music that makes you want to move, makes you want to smile, and makes you think happy thoughts sets the tone of your mood, and the rest of the day.
I hope you will try these out and wake up happier more often.
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The post TUESDAY Happiness Tips: 8 Ways to Wake up Happier in the Morning appeared first on The Purple Flower | Love Your Life.
