How to start your day as a highly sensitive person (HSP)
A “common” morning routine
Your phone’s alarm wakes you up. That disturbing and irritating sound again. First thing you do is to switch it off and accidentally see all your phone’s notifications.
You get out of bed, go to the bathroom, maybe you check your phone again. Which clothes should I wear today? Perhaps you take a morning shower, have breakfast, check your phone again. Do I have messages to reply? Emails? What the news are today, am I missing out on something? In the meantime, you may need to meal prep for the day and make sure you don’t forget anything.
What the weather is like today? Should I take my umbrella, what type of shoes/ coat…? Should I take my bike or public transport?
It is time to leave home and you are already feeling drained and exhausted, not looking forward to starting your day. Sounds familiar?
Why this may not work for me
The described mourning routine is what most people do in the morning. If it is a normal way of waking up, why do I feel so depleted? What is wrong with me?
If you find yourself overwhelmed and stressed early in the morning even before starting out your day, chances are you may need to change your mourning routine and you may be highly sensitive.
Highly sensitive people (HSPs) have a more refined nervous system that is more responsive to all sorts of stimuli. They pick up more nuances from their environment, but also they are more aware of their own inner processes. Although this is a precious gift that comes with multiple advantages, it can be very draining and overstimulating if self care and boundaries are not taken seriously.
Highly sensitive people are processing more input than most people during the whole day. They also process that data at a deeper level, which takes a lot of energy. If you think of your daily energy resources as an energy bar and imagine it is at 100% when you wake up, you want to start your day slowly and gently so you reserve most of your resources for your most “demanding tasks” of the day. You don’t want to deplete your energy bar by overstimulating your brain and nervous system right when you wake up, and that’s what happens when you bombard yourself with information (notifications, messages, emails, the news, etc).
Quiet, slow mornings have a significant impact on lowering stress and anxiety for HSPs for the entire day.
Preserve your energy by taking a quiet and slow morning
What things give you energy and make you feel good?
Perhaps enjoying a nice cup of coffee or tea with both hands and closed eyes. Mindfully savouring the beverage with all your senses. Or perhaps you would like to train yourself to wake up naturally every day without alarm. Or maybe some nice stretches and slow movement before you do anything else.
Despite of what your preferred morning flow is, there are few things that you should avoid if you want to start your day feeling calm and grounded:
- Minimise multitasking in the morning
- Minimise exposure to news and social media
- Minimise taking decisions in the morning (like what to wear or which route you should take. If possible, try to plan these things the day before)
- Postpone things that get you in your “to do mode”
- Minimise anything that overstimulates your nervous system like intense lights, sounds (you may want to change your morning alarm to a more soothing one), smells, itchy fabrics or funky tastes.
- Minimise stimulants. This one hurts… I know! But Research has found that caffeine can make anxiety symptoms worse)
Here are some ideas you may want to implement as part of your morning routine:
- First and most important, make sure you have enough time to avoid rushing (that might mean sleeping earlier or preparing the night before)
- Meditation
- Reading (e.g. an inspiring book)
- Listening to nature’s sounds or a calming playlist (music at 432 Hz works best)
- Going for a short walk
- Journaling
- Taking the time to mindfully enjoy your breakfast/ coffee/ tea (explore decaf/ herbal tea options)
- Aromatherapy. Try some nice scents, light a scented candle, or diffuse a soothing essential oil while you get ready
- Movement practice that makes you feel good, like yoga, free dance, or shaking.
It might be tempting to grab your phone and mindlessly scroll through social media, but that will only make you anxious and ungrounded. More focus during the morning means more mental energy for more important things during the day!
An idea is to start tracking your energy levels during the day to find out which tasks/ situations/ people make you more drained and depleted. The purpose is to be aware so you can better plan your day and manage your energy in the future.
Another important concept for HSPs is ENERGETIC BOUNDARIES! More about this in future posts.
Morning yoga flow
I have prepared a morning yoga flow for you to kickstart your day with positive energy. It aims to get your blood flowing and unlock your body for a better energy flow during the day.
If you like it or is helpful to you in any way, I would love to know.
What is your favourite morning routine?
What about you? What things you like to do in the morning that make you start your day feeling good and energised?
Let me know in the comments below 🙂