What is wellness? ideamix coach Ali explained that “Wellness is holistic” and balances on four main pillars: mind, body, soul, and setting. If you’re lacking in one of these categories, you will feel off balance. Improved wellness helps people be the best version of themselves and helps them better serve their purpose, said Coach Ali.
Coach Ali explained the mind / body connection: “if you have a gut imbalance, it affects your mood, and vice versa,” she said. “Mindset is everything” – if you’re not taking care of your mental wellbeing, you will not feel well physically, said ideamix coach Ali, citing the gut-brain connection for this phenomenon.
In order to improve her own wellness, Coach Ali focuses on ritual and routines, such as starting her day off right. Here are some of her suggestions for how you can enhance your morning routine.
1) Stay off your phone for 30-60 minutes after waking up
ideamix coach Ali does not take client calls before 10am. She explained that she designed her life to be that way in order to begin her day filling up her own cup first before serving others. . This restriction in her daily routine allows her to better serve others, as she cannot serve from an empty cup, Ali explains.
Coach Ali says she understands that staying off one’s phone in the morning can be a challenge depending on the kind of work they do and if they use their phone as an alarm clock. However, when we reach for our phones early in the morning and begin scrolling and consuming information, we “start giving our attention to other people, and whatever content you consume consciously or subconsciously impacts your mood,” she says.
The negative news you listen to, or the imposter syndrome that engulfs your brain while viewing social media, create negative sentiments that you carry throughout the day. By taking time for yourself first thing in the morning, you can set your intention for the day without the influence of others, ideamix coach Ali says.
2) Drink water first thing in the morning
This is an age-old recommendation, and yet it’s amazing how few people actually do this, Coach Ali says, “water should be the first thing that enters your body before any caffeine. You dehydrate yourself in your sleep, and coffee [further] dehydrates you.” Besides helping eliminate waste from your body, water helps the body regulate temperature, protect joints and tissues, absorb nutrients, and improve circulation. Water also kickstarts your own body’s detoxifying system first thing in the morning, which in turn helps stave off digestive or metabolic issues related to constipation. All these benefits contribute to your physical wellbeing, which in turn impacts your mental wellbeing.
3) Hold off on coffee for 60 – 90 minutes after waking up
In line with your sleep cycle and circadian rhythm, deferring the caffeine intake by just 60 minutes “gives the body time to produce dopamine and energy naturally before giving it a supplement (i.e. coffee) to do it for the body instead,” says ideamix coach Ali. Prolonging coffee consumption also helps minimize the caffeine crash, she adds.
Define your own morning wellness routine
Wellness looks different for everyone, but these three changes to your morning routine are what coach Ali suggests. Staying off your phone for a bit right after waking up eases the mind and indirectly the body, while drinking water first thing in the morning and prolonging caffeine intake benefit the body and indirectly the mind.
