It’s normal to wake up on the wrong side of the bed some days, but if you find it happening more often than not… something’s up with that. Here are some reasons you might feel more anxious in the morning, and how to deal:
- Watch your cortisol spikes. Sure, morning presentations and job interviews might be valid reasons to stress out in the morning, but there’s also a scientific side to things. Cortisol levels are typically higher when you first wake up, when your brain is still “booting up” after a night’s rest. It’s the thing that jolts you awake from sleep, but sometimes it’s laid on a little too thick if you’re already stressed out.
- Check your sleep habits. Your sleep schedule is super important, especially when it comes to managing anxiety and stress. Your body’s “fight or flight” response gets a break at night when you sleep, but it can be thrown off when you’re not as rested. A consistent sleep schedule, and having a fixed morning and nightly routine, is a good foundation to keeping your mental health in check.
- Keep a journal. If you have a bunch of stressful thoughts keeping you up, writing them down in a journal is a way to keep them out of your mind. Set a time to brain dump into a journal, either first thing in the morning or before bed, so you can start your day at ease.
- Breathe and exercise. Your physical and mental health are more linked than you think. Make sure you’re keeping your body as calm as you want your mind to be by exercising and breathing. It might sound obvious to remind yourself to breathe, but you’d be surprise how much you’re holding it in when you’re stressed!
Check out more anxiety tips HERE.
Source: Huffpost