Breathe Your Way Out Of Bed

The alarm clock pierces your dream!!! Your feet hit the cold floor and you are flying 0-to-60 in six seconds! Your brain, heart and spine are still in deep sleep mode. This shot-from-a-cannon wake-up leaves you vulnerable to back pain or even a heart attack. A jolt of caffeine slaps the body “awake.” If you take meds for heart or blood pressure, it has been many hours since your last pill.

This flying leap out of a sound sleep is acceptable only if Freddy Kruger is coming through your bedroom window.

Allow your heart, brain and spine to wake up naturally. Take three deep slow breaths, eyes still closed. Three deep slow breaths, eyes open. Curl into a fetal position with your knees at the edge of the bed. Push yourself slowly upright with your lower arm and swing your feet over the edge to the floor. Stand up slowly and stretch. It takes only a few extra seconds and you will feel better all morning.

Try this little trick: as you are drifting off to sleep, command the brain to awaken you five minutes before the alarm is set to go off. You need to be almost asleep for this to work. And here is a wonderful bonus: brilliant ideas will bob up from your unconscious for just a few seconds during that SLOW wake-up stage. These wonderful bits of data will dissipate almost instantly and are never even noticed when you fling yourself out of bed as if your jammies were on fire.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.