I’m all about being efficient in as many areas as possible. For example, I remember as a kid thinking who are these people who eat the exact recommended portion of each food group every day? That sounds tiresome and like it consumes too much time. It’s too rigid. When I became an adult, I implemented the “all things in moderation” mentality. This is mainly because one year I’ll read a study about the oh so bad effects of caffeine in coffee beans. Then a few years later I’ll read another study that totally debunks that warning study and explains the positive effects of caffeine in coffee beans. Over it.
What I have noticed is that intuitively I become drawn to doing something and later ascertain that it’s a good thing to do. One example of this is drinking espresso before exercising. One day, I decided to have something warm to drink before exercising and that warm thing was an espresso. I explain how I discovered the benefits of drinking espresso before working out. It’s these moments of discovery that have changed my life for the best. Simple changes that lead to great results. Shortcuts aka hacks that improved my life and made me excited to share them with you!
1. Make Your Phone Work For You Unless it’s to go to the airport, the gym, or brunch, I’m not thrilled about waking up early in the morning. I like my mornings to be casual with messy hair, sweats, and at least of a cup of coffee (or matcha). I like being productive in the afternoon and nighttime. After all, I am a night owl! Also, how you wake up will determine your day. If you wake up being in a bad mood, then you’re going to spend some time getting in a good mood. There goes time you can’t get back. For those reasons, I make sure I implemented several steps to shift my perspective of the morning. Those steps are an app that sends me morning notifications and proper alarm setting.
- Danielle LaPorte’s Truth Bomb app Danielle’s app has quotes from her and her book, White Hot Truth. You can set a notification to receive a message at any time. The app is free and you can save your favorite quotes. Imagine waking up each day before working or going to school and you get a White Hot Truth empowering quote or a candid note from Danielle!
- Alarm Tones Drake and Future wake me up each morning. My alarm tone is Big Rings. Yup, it’s pretty much a party. I love it. I actually do a little dance in bed. This is an INSTANT shift in mindset. Why? Cause I have a really big team and they need really big rings. Okay. Okay. But, seriously, this song energizes me and reminds me that it’s a great morning (and day for that matter) because I’m doing big things and I have a great team on my side. What’s a song you can wake up to?
- Alarm Messages I think we can agree that, for the most part, the first thing we see in the morning is our phone. If you see the alarm go off on your phone, what’s the first thing you look at? It’s most likely the time and then you may think to yourself, “Ugh. Is it that time already?” What if you switched that to your alarm goes off and you see a personalized message before you see the time? That’s exactly what I did and I think about the message (You know. After I do a little dance to Big Rings!). I start to envision that message. One of my alarm messages is that I run multiple successful businesses. All you have to do is make the name of your alarm the message. So instead of having alarm 1, alarm 2, and so on, you replace that with your personalized message. This helps to program your mind to think and vibe at a higher level and it’s super easy to do!
2. Shaken, Not Stirred Matcha Green Tea Hands down, one of the easiest green drinks to make for the busy Spiritual Trailblazer! In addition, matcha is like the superman of healthy green drinks. I will dedicate an entire post to matcha in the future that will go into detail about the origins and benefits of drinking matcha. For now, per matchasource.com, here are some of the benefits of drinking matcha on a regular basis:
- Is packed with antioxidants including the powerful EGCg
- Boosts metabolism and burns calories
- Detoxifies effectively and naturally
- Calms the mind and relaxes the body Is rich in fiber, chlorophyll, and vitamins
- Enhances mood and aids in concentration
- Provides vitamin C, selenium, chromium, zinc and magnesium
- Prevents disease
- Lowers cholesterol and blood sugar
Matcha is plant-based. It originated in China and made it’s way to Japan. Now, it’s here in the States and I’m super grateful. Matcha can be purchased as a powder by itself or with green tea. I get the matcha with green tea powder and mix it with coconut milk, making a matcha latte. That’s it! Oh, I have that on the rocks. I tried stirring it via my Ninja. Ugh. It’s a totally different taste than when I just shake it to mix it. Funny how that happens. It takes less than 2 minutes to make. After roughly two weeks I’ve noticed the difference in how I feel. I’m also fuller longer and burn more energy at the gym.
3. The Senses You may have noticed a theme with each wellness hack. With each hack, I address one of our senses. For sight, I suggested to name your alarm with a personalize motivational message. For hearing, I suggested to make a song your alarm tone. For scent, I’m suggesting having a flower or essential oil located somewhere in your room. One night, I fell asleep on the couch. When I woke up, it was such as gradual and sweet event because I smelled the aroma of the flowers that were on the coffee table. It was a settle scent but delightful. I think the only other scent better than that is waking up to the smell of eggs and bacon!
Why is waking up to a subtle but delightful scent a hack? Because the time frame of us waking up is such a sensitive time for us. It needs to be relaxing with a hint of motivation. I know some mornings I’m not ready to talk to people. I’m in my own space building my personal bubble to deflect negativity! If flowers and essential oils aren’t your thing, you can wake up and spray your favorite perfume and just lay in bed for a few minutes, yes I have done this too!
3. Watch Videos of Dogs and Puppies I swear I get an instant boost of love and compassion in my life when I watch a dog video. My Facebook feed is filled with videos of dogs or other animals doing something funny because I watch so many of these videos. I love dogs. I’m the person who speaks to the dog first before I speak to their human! It a boost of endorphins! More importantly, when I see a puppy learning how to go down the steps it reminds me of the innocence that still exists in this crazy world. Who couldn’t use a boost of endorphins?
4. Espresso Before Working Out As I stated earlier in this post, I kind of stumbled upon discovering the benefits of drinking espresso before working out. I want to also say that I have a higher tolerance than most people I come across regarding espresso shots. Also, if you have a heart condition you may not want to drink espresso before working out. Please consult your doctor before drinking espresso and exercising. There’s a Starbucks located next to my gym so I’ll get a tall espresso with nothing extra in it or a grande cinnamon macchiato with whole milk and add nutmeg. I noticed that I sweat easier and my endurance increased, I’m doing more reps on the weight machines. However, I do get mad thirsty. I’m drinking more water afterwards. Per Men’s Journal, here’s how coffee gives you a boost in your work out:
- Accelerates fat loss
- Increases performance
- Improves focus
- Decreases muscle pain
- Prevents disease
6. BONUS Crystals On The Spiritual & Empowerment Living With Tia podcast episode #146: 5 Crystals You Need In Your Life- Pronto!, I discussed 5 crystals (& some bonus crystals) you want in your life to assist you in areas from stress to intuition. Carrying a clear quartz crystal, whether it’s in my bra or pocket, is a great way to amplify my energy that I work on in the morning. Imagine all that positive energy being magnified throughout the day, helping you in your ventures!
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get all the hacks. Life happens! Some days we will oversleep, run out of coconut milk, or become sick. The point of the five wellness hacks is to have some baseline for you to start the morning off right.
- It may take a couple of weeks for you to get into the groove. Nothing works overnight. If it did, the person who discovers that will be a trillionaire…overnight. Give yourself time to pick the right song, figure out if you should drink matcha in the afternoon as opposed to the morning, or discover that the coffee thing before exercising isn’t your thing.
- This is meant to make your life easier. Please don’t go overboard with downloading apps and having multiple songs per alarm.
- Monitor your changes. One of the sure fire ways to know if the five wellness hacks work for you is to monitor your progress. You can implement one, several, or all at the same time.
- Continue doing research. I cited a couple of sources about the benefits of match and coffee but be your own advocate. Everyone is different. Always consult your doctor if you have medical issues and monitor your body. Matcha is stronger than coffee and it may be too much for you.
What are some of your wellness hacks? Which one of the hacks above will you implement today? Let me know below in the comments! Sign up for the newsletter image and receive transformative spiritual & personal growth goodies!
Love this! Super helpful
Waking up to music is my favorite!!!! Loved all these tips.
xx,
Eda
http://luxeandlinen.com/polka-dots-for-spring/
Woot! Woot!
So many wonderful ideas! I definitely need to start my day with a balanced meal to get my energy levels up and a nice cup of tea. Being active and exercising is also a huge element to my own personal wellness. It keeps me focused and feeling great 🙂
Whenever I eat breakfast and exercise I feel so much better. Soemtimes, I can skip lunch and even dinner. But breakfast is a must and a strategic workout plan.
Some great ideas. I have to say though, I prefer pandas over dogs & puppies, but same effect!
Haha it’s all good!
This was such a great post! I especially loved the crystal’s part. I use crystals with Reiki and I completely believe in the power that it has.
Yes, my fellow Reiki sister! Crystals are the best. I love using them during Reiki.
loving these hacks, especially drake and future wake-ups! I name my alarms as well and try to use something funny so they’re not so harsh at 6am!! xo
http://www.jillianrosado.com
That’s what I’m talking about! Make waking up fun.
I love the idea of crystals. I’d love to add an amethyst crystal to my bedside table.
Another thing that helps me is keeping my bedroom an electronic free zone. We keep our phones in a “charging station” centrally located. We can hear the alarm (which I have set to play a soothing sound gradually increases in volume). It feels like it wakes me up gently & because I actually have to get up to turn it off, I’m not tempted to get back in bed.
Ooo I like your hack! That’s great discipline too!
Going to download that Truth Bomb app RIGHT NOW!
It’s truly the best. Danielle is so down to earth.
Some great ideas! (I’m obsessed with macha green tea.) I also loved your idea to “make your phone work for you.” I’ve been recently researching different apps and ways to utilize smart phones for better mornings for my own blog. I am not big into using phones, but I have discovered so many useful apps because of it.
Awesome sauce! Finding the right apps can be nerve racking.
I love idea of alarm messages! I’m going to try that!
Woohoo! Go forth and do great things!!!
I’m definitely going to try the Matcha. Great suggestions.
Sounds like a plan!
Love these! Will definitely try making my alarm a little more interesting… I hate hearing my alarm tone… I’ve never thought about how much I hate it and how that could start my day off badly!!
Yeah. I used to have whack tones. It just made me NOT to get out of bed that much more. Lol
Great tips! I especially liked the one about giving yourself nice little messages when your alarm goes off… I’m off to give it a try!
Hip hop hooray!
I’m interested in checking out crystals. Also love the idea of the truth bomb app!! What fun!
Crystals are amazing! The Truth Bomb app is delightful.
These are some really good tips for life, especially the alarm messages. Will surely start using this hack, btw thank you for sharing them 🙂
Thank you and you’re most welcome, Shruti!
Matcha! I hadn’t thought of that and what an easy addition to make to a routine. Thanks for sharing that tip!
No problem! Enjoy.
Ooo, I love the idea of waking up to essential oils. And yes, I want my phone to do all the work for me! I’d like to find an app where it can manage all my social media posts, lol 🙂
Haha when you find that app, let me know.
I love that you name your alarm something positive to look at. Definitely going to use this wellness hack for myself!
It’s really a game changer. Have fun!
I don’t know much about crystals and never thought about the energy it gives. Thanks for giving that insight. I’m luckily learning to be a morning person so waking up isn’t becoming much of a big deal. Thanks for your insight
My mother got me into crystals recently. I love having them around. They look pretty at least! 🙂
#3! How can you possible be in a bad mood after that?
Shaken, Not Stirred Matcha Green Tea — SOLD!
I love Matcha but too lazy to make it.
Thanks for the tips!
Carrie
https://www.cafecarrie.com
Haha I’m too lazy to make most things but this is uber simple to make; I promise!
Love matcha powder! I like adding it to my oatmeal 🙂
Now, there’s a thought, Annie! I may have to try that in the future when I get oatmeal!
I love how you wake up to your pump up music. You are totally right that it sets the mood for your day! I find I am more efficient when I work with music on, so I always have some form of it on in the background.
I also found the same thing you did with espresso but with matcha. I love my matcha in the morning and if I have it before working out, my energy is at a good spot without being jittery.
Waking up to music has definitely been a game changer for me. It’s just better. Matcha without the jitters is the best thing since slice bread.