Immune Builder Tonic + Morning Rituals for Health

We all pull ourselves out of our cozy beds and into the world each morning a little differently. Maybe a lot of us have done the same morning rituals and routines since we can remember. If you know that you already have a few of these that work well for you, these are great things to hold on to. On the other hand, maybe you're looking to adopt some new self-care and self-love practices, particularly those that can assist you with rising and shining! It's time to evaluate what we do each morning so that we can best prepare for each day, with care and with love.

There are a lot, and I mean A LOT of different health practices circulating out there right now, and it can be so fun to experiment and find what works best for you. I believe that we all can benefit from being a little more conscious about what we nourish our bodies with in the morning. From the standpoint of a nutrition professional, most of us awake each morning in a ketogenic state. This means that our carbohydrate stores from the day before have been processed throughout the night and we are now low on energy. Ketones are produced by the liver in this low carbohydrate state, which disperse throughout the body creating inflammation. Repeated exposure of this kind of ketogenic inflammation or prolonged carbohydrate restriction can cause permanent damage to our liver. If our body has no carbohydrate stores, we turn immediately to fat stores in order to keep creating energy that's used by the body, or ATP. These are all big reasons that most of us can benefit from eating a full and well-balanced breakfast. Breakfast can also be a great way to sit with ourselves and meditate on how our energy levels feel, our mood, and how we want to set the day mentally.

From the standpoint of an ayurveda practitioner, the morning can be one of the best times of day to give ourselves a little extra love. Ayurdeva philosophy has been in practice for centuries and offers many options that can help benefit you, such as self-massage or abhyanga, tongue scraping, oil pulling, turmeric lattes, mediation and more. These are just a few of my favorites. Do some research from a reliable source to learn more about your dosha and the practices that couple well with that state of being.

From the standpoint of a yoga practitioner and teacher, stretching each morning can move energy around within the body and relax the mind in a truly impactful way. Allow yourself a few minutes of playful and gentle stretching or moving before you get out the door every day. Favorites of mine are child's pose, gentle supine twists, baddha konasana lying on the back, exercises that fire up your core, and of course a few basic sun salutations.

Here's my favorite tonic for the morning that I incorporate with as many self-care routines I can fit in, depending on the day :)