Stop This One Morning Habit That Is Ruining Your Health
Everyone has their morning routine. If you are an early riser or a night owl eager to make the most out of your time, these first few hours after waking up determine much of your day. While most of us just reach for our phones, grab a sip of coffee or dash out the door, without thinking much about how it's affecting our health; one unconscious habit could be harming more than helping- checking the phone right upon waking.
Time to reevaluate this habit and why it is such a serious health risk. Let's dive deeper into why waking up to get your phone may be doing you more harm than good, as well as what you could be doing instead.
1. It's Stressing You Out Before You Even Get Out of Bed
The moment you open your eyes, your phone is probably right there in arm's reach and your reflex is to grab it: check your email, scroll through the social media sites, catch up on whatever latest news is being carried. All this instantaneous information floods your brain with much of it's overwhelmingly stressful.
"Achieve Your Weight Loss Goals with This 10-Day Diet Plan"
Starting with digital exposure to the outside world is one way that starts your day on a path of activation of the stress response in your body, before your feet even hit the floor. This might be by way of email, social media, or news headlines that overwhelm and stress you. This becomes a day characterized by heightened levels of stress.
It will not calm your mind, but your phone will stimulate it. Your stress hormones, like cortisol, may go high during the early part of the day when you are a little alert in case you need to reply to some messages and even send a few, affecting your mood, energy levels, and general well-being.
2. It Probably Upsets Your Mindful Morning Routine
It's an excellent time of the day to practice mindfulness, gratitude, and intention setting for the day. By diving right into your phone, however, you miss out on having a peaceful, centered start to your day.
There are countless benefits of a mindful morning routine. A few deep breaths, stretching, drinking some water, or even just writing in a gratitude journal is going to improve focus and emotional resilience, reducing the overall level of stress that you might have throughout your day. On the other hand, starting with your phone does none of this but instantly distracts you and fills your mind with all of that stuff outside, which might make you anxious and unfocused.
3. It's Hurting Your Sleep Cycle
It is not just the content on your phone that is the problem, but the blue light coming from your screen. Blue light exposure in the morning (or right after you wake up) can disrupt your natural circadian rhythm and thus affects your sleep-wake cycle negatively. Your body needs sunlight to regulate melatonin, the hormone that controls your sleep cycle. Checking your phone too early in the morning might set off the internal clock, where the body finds it tough to sleep later at night or get complete rest in the mornings.
Melatonin secretion will be inhibited by blue light; in addition, since this means that it confuses your body and is telling you that the daytime still hasn't left you, getting a good restful and sound sleep afterward gets a lot tougher. Through these interruptions in the system for such extended periods, people would get prone to all those disorders regarding sleep and a dull and weak mind.
4. It Neglects Your Physical Health
How many of us get caught up in the cycle of checking the phone right after waking up, then realizing we were hunched over, staring at a screen for too long? That posture, especially first thing in the morning, contributes to back pain, neck strain, and poor posture.
Constantly looking down at one's device triggers what is commonly referred to as "text neck," that situation in which muscles in the neck and upper back are tense and strained. It can eventually develop into chronic pain and discomfort.
Furthermore, most people quickly rush to check on their phone from bed, which, more often than not, means that you're not giving your body the time it needs for stretching or hydration before jumping into your daily routine. This may lead to long-term discomfort in physical health if care isn't taken during the morning.
5. It Reduces Productivity and Focus
Checking in with your phone for maybe a minute may seem harmless, but it can be the end of productivity. Other studies indicate that early morning multi-tasking on digital devices reduces ability to concentrate.
"Say Goodbye to Belly Fat with This Powerful Detox Drink"
Checking your phone as soon as you wake up makes your brain jump from one thing to another, from checking your emails to social media, and catching up on the news before you can even think about waking up and concentrating on the day. It is really difficult to concentrate on things that are important when your attention is divided in such a way.
Better to use mental energy and focus on setting up a morning routine where you can actually be there and be conscious of what is happening, thus setting the right tone for the rest of the day.
So, What Can You Do Instead?
This is the hardest habit to break, but all in all, possible with a little intention and planning. Some alternatives that have helped me improve my physical and mental health include the following:
Hydrate: Avoid turning on your phone instead, grab a glass of water first. Drinking water in the morning boosts your metabolism, and rehydrates your body after hours of sleep.
Develop a Mindful Morning Ritual. Some examples of mindful morning routines might include stretching, meditation, journaling, or even taking a few moments to breathe deeply and set positive intentions for the day.
Get Moving. Try incorporating some light exercise into your morning: stretching, yoga, or a short walk gets the circulation going, aids flexibility, and wakes up your body in general.
Avoid Screen Time: Remove your phone from the bedroom. Designate a screen-free area when you wake up to allow yourself to focus and be present. Alternatively, turn your phone to "Do Not Disturb" for the time that you are in the morning routine.
Let Natural Light Touch You: Let natural light touch you immediately after waking up. This will make the internal clock reset and elevate the mood and energy.
Final Words
It may seem like the most innocent habit to check your phone upon waking up, but it can really do some fatal damage to your mental and physical health. Increased stress, disrupted sleep, poor posture, and whatnot, all from one habit, which can promptly lead to a domino effect in the rest of your day
One can replace phone time with a health-and-mind-conscious habit that will influence better productivity, more mental clarity, and a better overall well-being in such conditions. The next time you wake up, forget about reaching for your phone and try one of the healthy habits listed above. Your body and mind will thank you!
Post a Comment
0Comments