As the year winds down and the holiday fatigue starts to set in, the temptation to just barrel through and reach the other side leaves days feeling fragmented and out of our control. Instead of trying to push through, adding morning and evening rituals might give you the rest and refresh you need to make the day work with you instead of against you. Taking the time to create a separate morning ritual and evening ritual can reduce stress and improve sleep, mood, and daily focus. Learn more below.
Morning: Set the Tone
Most of us already follow a morning ritual and don’t even realize it. But does the ritual positively serve us? By figuring out how you wake up each day and tackle your morning routine, it can reveal how much that ritual positively or negatively impacts your levels of success for that day. By changing the way you wake up in the morning, you can transform multiple areas of your life faster than you would think.
Research and expert accounts have found that morning exercise increases circulation and endorphins, resulting in a quicker mood improvement and cognitive readiness. Other great ways to lower stress and regulate emotions during the day include mindfulness practices, gratitude journaling, meditation, and breathwork. Going outside or exposing yourself to natural sunlight is another way to improve alertness and support your circadian rhythm. Adding these morning rituals together, you can create a proactive start that increases willpower for later choices.
The best options when it comes to morning rituals are ones that are practical and flexible. This allows you to complete them at your own pace and customize them to your day. For instance, you may need a shorter ritual on busier mornings, while slower days can call for longer morning rituals. Other additions to your morning can include stretching, hydration, reading, or spending some time in nature. The most important thing to remember is staying away from newsfeeds and social media first thing in the morning.
Evening: Protect the Finish
While a morning ritual kickstarts your day, an evening ritual wraps up the day and feeds into how the next one begins. It’s harmful to collapse into exhaustion with unhealthy habits the night before, as it often produces a repeat of the same pattern the next morning. Ideally, you’ll want to fill your evening ritual with processing, connection, and calm.
According to wellness experts, you should try to follow these guidelines: avoid heavy meals, alcohol, and vigorous exercise too close to bedtime; limit work and problem-solving a few hours before sleep; remove bright screens that suppress melatonin production. Instead, foster your evening with relaxing activities, such as reading, gentle stretching, yoga, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, or low-stimulation hobbies. It’s important to remember that simplicity matters when creating an effective, long-lasting routine.
When thinking about an evening routine, you want to choose what you focus on and what to ignore carefully. This means the evening is about intentionally choosing activities that influence restoring your body and mind, relationship-building, or mundane activities over autopilot consumption that fragments your attention and calm.
Combining Both Rituals
The best way to get the most out of your day in a positive light is through aligned morning and evening rituals. Prioritizing a regular sleep schedule, limiting late-night screen time, and avoiding stimulants or heavy food are great ways to restore your body for the next day. Plus, it makes morning mindfulness and movement easier to accomplish. Adding in natural light exposure during the day and dim, calming environments at night reinforces your circadian rhythm that directly connects to energy and mood.
For families and busy households, it might be worth trying shared evening activities. This can look like a shared meal, a low-key game, music, or an engaging documentary. All work to lessen stress while still strengthening your relationships. For caregivers and parents, modeling these positive routines can influence the rest of the household’s rhythm into something great.
Start Small and Adapt
The key to building a sustainable morning and evening ritual is to start small with low-pressure adjustments. These few practices can be tweaked as needed, using them as experiments that can influence later changes in your daily rituals. Evidence has found that even brief exposure to nature or morning movement can meaningfully impact your well-being. Similarly, modest evening practices like herbal tea, journalism, or guided relaxation can improve sleep and emotional recovery.
The benefit of adding these routines to your life is practical and immediate. Improving your morning and evening can lead to more thoughtful choices during the middle of the day, and leave you less overwhelmed with the world. If you start now, those positive changes can follow you into the new year and through the holiday season. So, what are you waiting for? Add some of these restorative practices to your day and watch your wellbeing improve for yourself and your family.