Do you get up early? I mean, really early?
I do, but at times I lose the habit. Right now I’m back to getting up at five – and I’m loving it.
Here’s why I think getting up early is great:
- It’s a list-free time.
Maybe you’re not a list person. I am. I’m always making task lists. But in the early mornings my lists are still asleep. They don’t kick in until later. - There are no external demands.
Family, friends and colleagues are mostly still asleep and don’t ring, or text, or ask us to do anything.
- The mind is fresh
I love doing zazen (zen meditation) in the early morning. My mind is much more settled in the mornings than in the evenings after an exciting day. - The body feels rested
I go to a 6am yoga class once a week. My body tends to be much more responsive in the early morning. - Creativity is high
The early morning can be a great time for creative work. It’s my best writing time and I make sure I use it. - It’s quiet
Traffic is still resaonably quiet early on (if you don’t live somewhere like New York…) The mind is also naturally silent after waking up. Silence allows us to stretch our wings and reconnect with the core of our being. - You can realize your dreams
Do you have dreams and goals tucked away in the cupboard? The kind that start with: “If I had time, I would love to…” Brings them out, because here is that time, friends! Time to meditate, to do yoga, to run, to write, to study, to start a scrapbook – whatever wags your tail. - You experience the sunrise.
“People who wake late miss one of the greatest feats of nature, repeated in full stereovision each and every day—the rise of the sun.” - Leo Babauta
By now, those of you who are night birds may feel a bit gloomy. Because it seems too hard. Here are some suggestions on how to make getting up early easier.
- Create a habit of waking early.
Try waking 15 minutes earlier each week. Read my article How to Establish New Habits the No-Sweat Way in order to find out how to use the Japanese Kaizen method for easy incremental change. - Dress comfortably.
In summer wear light close, and dress warmly in winter. - Drink a cup of tea.
After waking your taste buds are fresh. It’s better not to assault them or your system with coffee or black tea. Drink green or herbal tea instead. But if you need it, let a cup of coffee kick you into high gear. - Start with a stretch.
When you get out of bed start off with a few stretches to wake up your body and mind. (This is something cats can teach us!). - Focus on the gift of a new day
When you get up early, you get to experience that each day is a unique gift. Let go of thoughts of tiredness and enjoy your time of freedom.
Maybe you are not a morning person and really struggle with getting up earlier. In that case, take a close look at your life. How are you spending the last two hours of the day? Is it productive time? Or passive time? If it’s passive time, it’s worth the effort to turn your life around and regain these hours as productive time.
The most important gift of the early morning is that we make time and space to live consciously. How are you going to live the new day? What kind of experience are you going to create?
Maybe you want to say to me, “Yes, but…” In that case, let me know in the comments. Maybe you love the early mornings too, in that case please write a comment too.
Thank you for being my readers! I really appreciate that you take time to read my posts. And I love your wonderful comments!
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I love the early morning for most of the reasons you identified. Every now and then I fall off the wagon but the consequential weariness and feelings of being lost and unproductive soon send me running back to the practice.
Great post on one thing that I don’t do nearly enough — get up early! I actually did today because I had to be at work earlier than usual and it felt great. I didn’t feel rushed and I had more time to enjoy the day before everyone got into work. After this morning, I realized that I might want to start getting up earlier and this post just confirms that I should do it!
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Great post Mary.
I love waking up early – although I don’t get up as early as you!
For me, waking up early, means that you wake up earlier than I have to. It means that I don’t get up and have to straight away get ready for work or for a meeting.
One difference between us is that I wake up and try to get started on working through my to-do list pretty quickly – so kind of the opposite of point #1 that you make.
I wake up, take 10 minutes to listen to something positive and motivational, and then start working through my list. I agree that it is a great time to be creative, and so I’m often working on creative tasks such as writing new blog posts etc. I’m going to have to add stretching as you suggest!
Success Professor – Danny Gamache´s last blog ..Connect With Your Teenage-self
Ah, Mary…I wish I wasn’t the first to reply with a Yes, but…
We live in a creaky bungalow with squeaky wooden floors and great accoustics. If I can tiptoe to the dining room to read or write, I’m fine, but if I have a shower, put the kettle on or do anything loud, I wake up my husband too early and my t(w)eenage kids. Not to be recommended – I pay for that one all day!
I did have a very early radio guest spot a few Sundays ago and it was great to have the extra hours, as you say, but my poor husband had to wake up with me to make sure I didn’t miss it.
I love the sunrise, but as I’m up very late if I’m working with folk in different time zones, I often see – and hear -the dawn because I’ve been up all night! Dewy grass on bare feet – nothing like it!
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I love waking early, too. It is so quiet and calm. With two teenage girls running around the house, it can typically be very hectic, so I appreciate my mornings every chance I get.
Thanks for all of the great posts on goodlifezen.com. It is one of my “check every day” sites
I wake early for work because I have to and I hate it. I am a night owl and I find very few good reasons — aside from the sunrise — to wake any earlier than I feel is natural for my body.
Most of those things in this list apply to late night hours too. I am definitely more creative at night. I am absolutely brain-dead at 5am. Zazen is just as great before bed as it is upon waking. In fact, I think meditation after an exciting day is a great way to ground oneself.
Ultimately, I just wish people would stop trying to convince me that I should be getting up as early as they are. We all have different body clocks, but I see no reason to make nearly 50% of us feel bad for being night owls. It may be partially behavioral, but it’s also partially biological, and study after study has shown this to be true.
For more on how being a night owl can be a good thing, look here:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/07/09/night.owl.morning/
and here
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/04/24/night-owls-have-more-staying-power-than-early-birds-brain-study-shows/
Excellent post Mary…. I am also getting up early for quite some time now and I can see the spurt in my productivity…. great and simple way to get a lot of done .
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Early rising is great, at this time of day the world seems to be in peace with itself. It’s so quiet no other people are around, only you, the nature and maybe some animals. Also the time between 5 and 6 seems to be the best time for watching deer. But most of the time I don’t have the discipline to get out of the bed in the first place.
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Yes, but…
For me, taking that time is far better in the evening. I completely agree with your question “how do you spend your late evenings” and it is actually doing a lot of the things you use the morning for. The kids are in bed, everything is quiet at night, like the early morning, and I can relax, play guitar, do yoga or zazen or just read…. or dive into my latest project.
In the morning I am already mentally planning everything that needs to be done in the coming day. Those time i can relax in the morning typically puts me back to sleep. I enjoy exercise more in the evening as well, as I am fully awake and can push myself more, and also use it to burn away any stresses from the day. (Though I have friends who can’t get to sleep if they exercise in the evening, it hasn’t really been a problem for me.) My 6:30 yoga class is pm, not am.
I keep getting told that when I get older I will wake up earlier, but I’m in my 30’s now, and still am most productive and happiest between 10 pm and midnight.
The important thing is taking the time.
It seems I missed out on the “sleep in” gene. I get up at 5am every morning too and a sleep in for me is 7am. Even if I wanted to, my body doesn’t seem to let me sleep in later than that.
Whilst it means I’m about as useful as a sack of potatoes come 8pm, I’m not complaining. I love the quiet time, the sunrise and the free afternoons when I’m done working. Not to mention, I’ve achieved more in those first couple of hours than most have by midday.
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I depend on early morning for zazen, journalling and a bit of yoga, and I wake at 5 even on weekends. I feel great in the early mornings, but I slept in today. That feels great, too, being well rested.
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I must say I agree with the night-owls here Mary – I find all the points you list are relevant to me at night-time, after midnight! No traffic, no “normal people” up and about making noise, silence and a peaceful vibe to the air. Great time for playing music or sitting zazen, reading, thinking.
I have to get up early for work – that is, 8am – and I hate it! And it means I miss out on my nice post-midnight time, I’m simply too tired by 11 to stay up. In the morning I’m a sleepy-eyed grizzly bear.. The earlier, the grizzlier!
All of which, to be honest, runs in my family; I really think it’s a matter of genetics, not choice.
The sunrise is for watching before you go to bed, not after it!
yes i can appreciate everything you have said because ,
1) i get up at 3-3.30 am everyday
2)take big mugfull of tea/coffee(dif.types)with one sweet bun with a big dollop of cream.
3)then for the next three hours i am busy in meditation/exercise/reading(spiritual)/journal writing/at times indulging in poetry.
4)then go for swimming/morning walky.
dilip
ps:Incedently nowadays i am busy reading zen lit.
in general this is how i start my day,which keeps me happy all the time
I really enjoyed this blog post. I have been wanting to start getting into the habit of waking earlier and doing things such as meditation and journaling, but have simply put it off. Reading your post just gave me the subtle push I need to do this, as I know it can only enrich my life on multiple levels. Thanks for the great info!
Dayne | TheHappySelf.com´s last blog ..10 Ways to Dig Yourself Out of a Rut
Hi everyone!
I see you’re all at loggerheads
It’s larks against owls, folks.
I know all about night owls. I remember dandling my son Sebastian when he was little. It was late at night and I would walk around the room with him in my arms, feeling desperately tired. I’d recite a long list in a sing-song voice:
“All the sheep are asleep. And all the birds are asleep. All the people in town are aslee…” He would close his eyes for a moment. Then they would snap open: “But Basti wake!!”
Well, Mete – you know Sebastian. He’s still a night owl.
My partner David is also a night owl. My experience with night owls is that they get grumpy if woken too early.
Is that right, Josh, Tito, and Mete?
Most definitely Mary, grumpy is the word! And like I said – the earlier, the grizzlier
I don’t get grumpy as much anymore, but I don’t think anyone would characterize me as a “morning person.”