Be a Morning Person

You don't have to be a naturally early riser to enjoy all that the morning has to offer. With the right perspective and a few small adjustments, you can turn your morning into one of the most relaxing and energizing parts of your day.

"The morning has incredible potential," says Alison Novie, senior yoga instructor at Kula Yoga in Manhattan. "I think of the new day as a new year -- a whole new life. If you could modify just a few things about your morning, it would change the way you see your day."

To some degree, you don't have much choice about how you feel when the sun comes up. Not everyone is born a morning person. But that doesn't mean your mornings can't change for the better. It's worth tinkering with your natural inclinations to reap the rich rewards.

Quiet, full of expectation, yet uncluttered by conversation and untouched by the demands of the day, the morning presents an opportunity for you to find joy, peace, and strength -- or at the very least, the chance to ease into the flow so that you aren't thrown into your day headlong and half awake.

Reset Your Natural Alarm

First things first: You'll never enjoy the morning if you don't get a good night's sleep. For some people, that means a solid nine hours of uninterrupted slumber; for others, seven hours of shut-eye will do. Sleep expert James B. Maas, Ph.D., author of Power Sleep, notes that eight hours of sleep is the average -- but only an average, not a rigid goal. When you're not getting enough sleep, you're the first to know.

Make a gradual shift. If you find it hard to fall asleep at night, take things slowly when it comes to establishing a new time for bed. Try hitting the hay five minutes earlier each night, and in less than two weeks you will have shifted your bedtime by one hour.

Start with Awareness

Rather than lunge out of bed, yoga instructor Alison Novie suggests waking up slowly. "Spend a few minutes just becoming conscious of the sensations of your body. Awareness is such a beautiful way of entering your day." Once you're up, resist the temptation to check your e-mail, flip on the radio, or do any of the other countless things that draw you out of yourself and into the concerns of the world. Instead, keep the focus inward.

Find a comfortable spot. Practice five minutes of meditation anywhere you like (the bedroom floor, a favorite chair) except the bed, where you may fall back to sleep.

Wake Up Your Body & Connect with Nature

Expose yourself to bright daylight. This is one of the best and most effective things you can do to wake yourself up, says Maas. By opening the curtains and the windows or getting outside, you cue your brain to repress the production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep. Natural daylight works best, but if you get up before sunrise or simply can't get enough natural light, consider using a sun-mimicking device as an alternative.

Mornings are sacrosanct for Reiki master and energy healer E. Barrie Kavasch, a descendent of the Cherokee and Creek tribes and author of more than 15 books on Native American culture, including The Medicine Wheel Garden. "Our own internal wisdom knows this," Kavasch explains. "We come from origins that tell us we should be up and about."

Step outside and connect with nature. In many ways, getting outdoors provides the best way to get your mind and body in sync with the morning. "The first thing I do each morning is get up and go out for a walk. I fill my lungs with the morning air," says Kavasch. Even if you don't have time for a walk, simply stand out in the morning light to get connected with the world around you.

Open a window. If you can't get out, bring the fresh air in. Pull open the blinds and open a window to let in the light, smells, and sounds of a new day.

Simple Exercises to Open up the Body & Get Your Energy Flowing

Together, movement and breath will increase circulation, stimulate your nerve centers, and bathe your body in the oxygen that it needs to feel alert. You can't hurry the process of getting the body ready to move in the morning, however. According to Maas, your internal temperature is lower in the morning and can't support intense aerobic activity right away. Rather, go with simple exercises designed to get your energy flowing. Adds Novie, "The goal is to align your breath with your body by making movement and breath simultaneous."

Breathe with abundance. Active breathing uses a faster paced, more intense breath, says Novie. "This method of breathing is said to purify the blood. It gets the fire going in the body." Novie suggests beginning with three rounds of bellows breathing, in which the length of the inhalation equals that of the exhalation. Start out slowly if you're new to this kind of breathing, gradually working up to a faster pace. Try for 15 breaths, but stop if you feel light-headed.

Open up the body with a cat/cow exercise. Begin on your hands and knees. Moving slowly and carefully, lift up your head, sway your back (like a cow's), and take a deep breath through your nose, filling your lungs with air. Then drop your head and round your back like a cat, pulling your belly in and exhaling. Return to cow position and then slowly drop back on your heels and exhale into Child's pose, resting your torso between your knees, forehead on the floor. Return to your hands and knees to inhale, and repeat.

Stretch out with a half sun salute. Begin in Mountain pose, standing with your feet together and arms by your sides. As you inhale deeply, bring your arms up over your head. Then as you exhale, bend your torso forward, sweeping your arms down until your fingertips rest on the ground just in front of you (or on your calves if you can't reach comfortably). Now straighten your spine and look up, taking a deep breath in; then exhale and drop your head down again.