{"id":1394,"date":"2018-02-24T00:33:13","date_gmt":"2018-02-24T08:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/?p=1394"},"modified":"2020-03-04T11:45:41","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T19:45:41","slug":"dos-and-donts-this-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/dos-and-donts-this-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"Rise and Shine with Ease This Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_599\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-599\" style=\"width: 100px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-599\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dr-natasha-asselstine-thumb.jpg\" alt=\"Natasha Asselstine, R.H.N.\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-599\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Natasha Asselstine, R.H.N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Now that Spring is approaching and the sun is rising earlier in the morning again, it is a great time to practice getting up early.<!--more--><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/morning-girl-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"266\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1397\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/morning-girl-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/morning-girl-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/morning-girl-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/morning-girl-624x416.jpg 624w, https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/morning-girl.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/> Getting up early (and having an hour or two of personal care time before getting dressed and out the door) is my favorite wellness practice. There are many reasons why it\u2019s great for our health.<\/p>\n<p>Rising early gives you time to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>mentally prepare for the day<\/li>\n<li>get ready in a relaxed manner and spare your adrenals unnecessary stress<\/li>\n<li>enjoy a balanced breakfast<br \/>\n(instead of grabbing a coffee shop item while on the run)<\/li>\n<li>have a bowel movement (a hard thing to achieve when rushing!)<\/li>\n<li>do something for yourself (before the demands and to-do lists of daily life take over)<\/li>\n<li>exercise<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><p>Rising early also means going to bed earlier, another great practice for overall health because sleeping earlier is better for our Circadian rhythms. We\u2019ll feel more awake and energetic and less likely to grab for caffeine and sugary items. A well-rested brain doesn\u2019t crave sugar or stimulants as much as a tired one.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some ways to get into the habit of getting up early:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><u><strong>Go to bed early:<\/strong><\/u> this may go without saying, but if you\u2019d like to get up with ease, you\u2019ll need the proper amount of sleep to do so! Aim to be in bed every night by 9:30 or 10:00 pm depending on what time you\u2019d like to get up in the morning. This includes going to bed early on weekends, too. The routine has to be consistent in order to be successful.<\/li>\n<li><u><strong>Eat an early dinner and drink enough water:<\/strong><\/u> It\u2019s harder to open our eyes when our bodies are extra fatigued from a heavy meal the night before. Try eating dinner before 7 pm and having a light bedtime snack if need be. Great options are:\n<ul>\n<li>yoghurt<\/li>\n<li>raw nuts and berries<\/li>\n<li>a small piece of toast and nut butter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Also, drink plenty of water but not around bedtime to avoid disrupting your sleep with a visit to the bathroom!<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><u><strong>Write down your next day\u2019s to-do list before going to bed:<\/strong><\/u> This can help to reduce brain activity at night. When your thoughts are written down, the brain doesn\u2019t have to worry about losing this information and memorizing some sort of plan. It\u2019s easier to go to bed earlier if there\u2019s nothing keeping you awake.<\/li>\n<li><u><strong>Plan a morning ritual that you\u2019ll look forward to:<\/strong><\/u> If you have something you\u2019re excited about doing in the morning, it is easier to spring out of bed. Meditate over it before closing your eyes as it may be just the thing you remember first thing in the morning! Some ritual ideas are:\n<ul>\n<li>enjoying a cup of tea<\/li>\n<li>practicing a yoga routine or meditation<\/li>\n<li>reading a chapter of a book or magazine<\/li>\n<li>exercising<\/li>\n<li>enjoying breakfast<\/li>\n<li>going on an early morning walk<\/li>\n<li>practicing a hobby or journaling<\/li>\n<li>watching a documentary or tv show<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>One final note<\/strong>: When you rise in the morning, remember to hydrate yourself with a glass of water (and a squeeze of lemon with a straw if you\u2019re working on improving your digestion). This may be all you need to give yourself a boost of energy rather than springing for a cup of coffee, or two.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bn-bottom clearfix\">\n<a href=\"\/contact.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/images\/bn-contact.jpg\" alt=\"contact us\" width=\"330\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.janeapp.com\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/images\/bn-appointment-bottom.jpg\" alt=\"schedule an appointment\" width=\"330\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now that Spring is approaching and the sun is rising earlier in the morning again, it is a great time to practice getting up early.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,21,9,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brain","category-energy","category-food","category-sleep"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1394"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2204,"href":"https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1394\/revisions\/2204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitaliahealthcare.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}