How To Wake Up Feeling Fresh, Happy, Relaxed, And Productive

Do you fight noisy alarm clock for at least 10 rounds?

Resisting that force of hitting the snooze button will only make it worse.

That action creates resistance and you find yourself have to drag yourself out of bed in the morning. Whatever you resist will only push back.

The way you start the day sets the tone for how your day will unfold. Have you ever noticed after a rough morning it seems your whole day goes that way?

I see a lot of blog posts on Pinterest and personal development podcasts talking about morning routine to wake up feeling fresh to increase your productivity. Yes, they are helpful…

…but in my personal opinion, it becomes another knowledge that generates more resistance, especially when you don’t heal the root cause of feeling doomed.

Today I want to talk about the morning routine I implemented years ago that changed my life. 

When Waking Up With Anxiety…

I used to wake up feeling…doomed. Life was relentless. I was tired. I hated everyone in my industry.

Don’t get me wrong. I really love what I did and I felt a sense of accomplishment, appreciation, even thrill from taking on a work project and seeing it through to its completion. If you’re wondering, I used to be a best-selling author, fashion editor, brand stylist, and all the dream jobs that make people say, “Wow, that would be a really cool job to have.”

…but my heart used to feel hurt — literally — when I woke up. So I kinda blamed the external world for my experience. (GUILTY, I know… 😅)

Waking up with anxiety and feelings of stress and worry is not fun.

I was experiencing a blend of emotional stress and the stress-induced sensations in my chest — muscle tightness, increased heart rate, abnormal stomach activity, and shortness of breath. You know…, those kinds of physical and emotional pain all at once.

Everything literally hurts in the morning and it’s not just because you slept in a wonky position or on a lousy pillow.

Grow From The Pain

A few years ago a group of doctors at Johns Hopkins University reported a rare but lethal heart condition caused by acute emotional distress. The problem is technically known as “stress cardiomyopathy,” but the press likes to call it “broken heart syndrome,” and medical professionals don’t object to the nickname.

We all know that life is going to bring with it lots of ups and downs. Some situations are out of our control, which can make it difficult to deal with. Some of these situations leave us with hurting hearts. It could be from the loss of a relationship, the death of a loved one, or situations that didn’t go exactly like we thought it would.

I was proud that I have developed higher levels of resiliency. I can continue moving forward and past the situation that caused me emotional pain.

But…

I was stuck in the pain, sadness, anger, and depression.

If you ask why, I think that’s because I tried to be strong and I didn’t acknowledge the pain. I ran away from my feelings by being productive and doing good work to feel happy. When I wasn’t productive, I felt crappy.

There have been times in my life when I believed all my happiness revolved around how busy I was. I admit I used to have a serious productivity addiction. I believed that if I was busy, I was using time wisely.

The feeling of busyness created the illusion that if I was busy, I was proving to myself that I was valuable. If I was busy, I was creating the possibility of a better life in the future.

I’m talking about writing 30 books each year, published 18 of them (that’s because my editor couldn’t edit all of them because she had to work with other authors), had at least 3 different photoshoots every day, and even on my vacation, I tried to have another photoshoot and created something from them.

It went on for at least ten years!

Any threat to my productivity was a threat to my sense of safety.

The problem is not about busyness. Busyness is not a bad thing necessarily and that’s not the problem. The problem is because pushing anxiety down and running away from emotions are the most harmful things you can do with a feeling.

Waking up with anxiety happens to me less now that I understand that it’s just a feeling. Feelings are only feelings, feelings are not who we are — and we can easily let them go.

It’s like dry, itchy skin. I don’t get down on myself for that; I just paint on the lotion. (Or, scratch till I bleed. Yup, too lazy for lotion.)

Choosing to let a feeling go frees us to perceive what is actually here, to act or refrain from acting, accordingly.

This translates into an ability to handle life — to make stronger, clearer choices. It allows us to act in ways that support us in achieving our goals as opposed to sabotaging them.

As a result of letting go, I become happy, calm, and focused, no matter what is going around me.

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

I’m also able to crawl out of my anxiety faster – sometimes within minutes – now that I know what works for me. Maybe something here will work for you, too.

How To Wake Up Feeling Fresh, Happy, Relaxed, And Productive

The best technique I use to deal with anxiety is to notice the feeling I have as soon as I open my eyes. (that means not checking phone and social media first thing in the morning.)

I use The Sedona Method to do that.

The Sedona Method is a unique, simple, powerful, easy-to-learn, and duplicate technique that shows you how to uncover your natural ability to let go of any painful or unwanted feeling in the moment.

Here’s what I do (and you can try this technique too):

Step 1: I make myself comfortable and focus inwardly. My eyes may be open or closed.

I allow myself to feel whatever I’m feeling in this moment.

Note: This doesn’t have to be a strong feeling. You don’t need to wait for a feeling to be strong before you let it go. In fact, you can even check on how you feel about this exercise and what you want to get from it. Just welcome the feeling and allow it to be as fully or as best you can.

If you are feeling numb, flat, blank, cut off, or empty inside, those are feelings that can be let go of just as easily as the more recognizable ones.

Simply welcome the feeling the best you can. The more you work with this process, the easier it will be for you to identify what you are feeling.

Step 2: I welcome the feeling and allow that to be here in this moment. I ask myself: “Could I welcome this feeling?”

And then, I also welcome the sensations that are arising along with the feelings to be there. I ask myself again, “Could you allow the sensation to be as it is?”

You can ask yourself one of the following three questions:

• Could I let this feeling go? 

• Could I allow this feeling to be here? 

• Could I welcome this feeling?

These questions are merely asking you if it is possible to take this action.

“Yes” or “no” are both acceptable answers. You will often let go even if you say “no.”

As best you can, answer the question that you choose with a minimum of thought, staying away from second-guessing yourself or getting into an internal debate about the merits of that action or its consequences.

All the questions used in this process are deliberately simple. They are not important in and of themselves but are designed to point you to the experience of letting go, to the experience of stopping holding on.

Go on to Step 3 no matter how you answered the first question.

Step 3: I ask myself this simple question: “Would I let this go?”

In other words: Am I willing to let go?

Note: Again, stay away from the debate as best you can. Remember that you are always doing this process for yourself — for the purpose of gaining your own freedom and clarity. It doesn’t matter whether the feeling is justified, long-standing, or right.

If the answer is “no,” or if you are not sure, ask yourself: “Would I rather have this feeling, or would I rather be free?”

Even if the answer is still “no,” I go on.

Step 4: I ask myself this simpler question: “When?”

This is an invitation to just let it go NOW.

You may find yourself easily letting go. Remember that letting go is a decision you can make any time you choose.

Step 5: I repeat the preceding four steps as often as needed until I feel free of that particular feeling.

You will probably find yourself letting go a little more on each step of the process.

The results at first may be quite subtle. Very quickly, if you are persistent, the results will get more and more noticeable.

You may find that you have layers of feelings about this particular topic. However, what you let go of is gone for good.

I also do the process before I go to sleep as well along with saying “thank you” for the day. Letting go and gratitude are magnets for miracles.

This simple change in habits leads to a change in my life. I start to wake up feeling fresh, happy, and relaxed. I’m still very productive, but I become more effective because I only do what I need to do.

Letting go using The Sedona Method really works!

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TRY THE SEDONA METHOD FOR FREE TO LET GO FOR GOOD

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Want More Help to Wake Up Feeling Fresh, Happy, Relaxed, And Productive?

When we go through a difficult situation in life, it opens a door for us to help others that are going through the same situations or ones that are similar.

I take a big step forward when I take my focus off myself and use my time and energy to help someone else.

My teacher, Lester Levenson, used to say:

Because I went through that painful situation, I use my experience to encourage others to continue moving forward.

Want more help letting go of your anxiety and be more productive? Book your free breakthrough session with me now!

BOOK COMPLIMENTARY BREAKTHROUGH SESSION NOW

Now you.

What is one good morning routine that fits your style and helps you wake up feeling fresh to reach your goals?

I’d love to hear about that in the comment below.

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