How to Wake Yourself Up in the Morning: 7 Tips From a Buddhist Yogi
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Last night I stayed up til two in the morning talking to a dear old friend of mine. This friend is a bit of a Buddhist yogi - he has spent over six years doing solitary meditation practice in a cave in India. Over this time he has become more gentle and loving and has picked up some really practical tips for making one’s day more mindful.
Last night I asked him how to wake yourself up in the morning when all you seem to want to do is sleep. After the popularity of this post I thought I would share his tips here because it seems like a lot of us are struggling to wake up fresh.
How to wake yourself up in the morning: tips from a buddhist yogi
After a brief contemplative pause my yogi friend gave me a few tips that I found really down-to-earth and very experiential. See if one of them works for you.
1. Go to bed earlier
His first response was imbued with a little bit of humor. “If you want to get up earlier you have to go to bed earlier,” he said. While this seems pretty simple it is something I often fail to remember. I stay up until one or two in the morning working and then wonder why I struggle to get out of bed at six. I think I need to go to bed earlier.
2. Do yoga
My friend says that he always starts his day with something active. He does 10 minutes of yoga postures in order to wake himself up and get his mind on the right track. When I asked him what he meant about getting his mind on the “right track” he replied that it is important to do something (anything) to snap your mind out of the “I’m sleeping” stage and into the “I’m awake” stage. For him it is yoga as yoga is a very mindful and meditative practice.
3. Get clean air
Another tip my friend mentioned is that he always found it really useful to go outside or to a window and take a few really deep breaths of clean, cool morning air. Over night the bedroom fills up with carbon dioxide and it is important to get some fresh stuff in your lungs if you want to fully wake up. Breathing is extremely important to buddhists.
4. Remember your motivation
Buddhists hold motivation to be the most important thing in the world. They believe that everything we do should be imbued with the motivation called “Bodhicitta” which is the wish that all sentient beings be free from suffering. My friend told me that on the mornings when you really can’t wake up you need to bring to mind this motivation and get up with the aspiration that you are going out into the day to help all sentient beings. If you can genuinely bring this to mind you will be able to wake yourself up much faster.
5. Don’t be too warm
His next tip was that being too warm will cause you to fall back in to a drowsy state. He said it was important to be comfortable but not so warm that you feel like you are back in bed. A little bit of a cool edge is good. If you struggle to wake yourself up in the morning try going into a cooler room or going outside for a few moments. The cool air is not only good in your lungs but good on your skin.
6. Realize that sleepiness is part of the path
One tip that really struck a chord with me is the fact that sleepiness is part of the path. It is an obstacle. If you can see it as an obstacle and not something that will last forever or take hold of you then you will be able to pass through that stage of the day without being affected. He told me that the best thing you can do is look at your mind when you are tired and see where the tiredness is coming from. When you do that it suddenly loses it’s grip on you.
7. Experiment
The last thing he said was that everyone is different. The buddhist scriptures have hundreds of pith instructions for waking up and making your mind alert but not all of them work for everybody. Each day try something new and see what works for you. It might be one of these tips or it might be something completely different and unique.
Tips from the readers
If you have any personal tips on waking yourself up like my yogi friend I would love to hear them. I’m sure some of our readers would be very grateful so leave a comment below and let us know.
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Hey Daily Minder!
Awesome post!!
I have one that works well when I actually do it. If I have a “good motivation” when I go to sleep, that seems to affect the way I wake up. For example, if I have been arguing with my wife, and I resolve to let go of my side of the argument and be really kind to her when I wake up.
JB - love your comments as always.
I think you are right. I remember when you and I were sitting with Changling Rinpoche and he talked about how the great Dzogchen Yogi Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche told him to sit on the edge of his bed each night and think about all the positive and negative things that he’d done during the day. Then take a vow not to do any negative things in your sleep and none during the next day.
Must work!
Good one.
TDM
Another fantastic post. I love these ones that bring your personal experience or stories into the article. I seem to hang off of every word.
I am going to try one of these tomorrow morning. I think the clean air sounds like it could work for me.
Thanks!
Greig
love it love it love it!
your friend sounds like a really amazing person. it is so good to have people like that in your life. they keep you centered and on track and they love you no matter what.
thanks for sharing the tips.
I just found this blog on stumble and really love your writing. I am adding it to my feed reader now. Hope you keep up the good work.
Va1
Thanks for the kind words guys. Glad his tips are helping someone.
TDM
I started running in the mornings right after I woke up, but that means getting on the floor and stretching first. It’s amazing how tight the muscles can be in the morning and stretching them gets me ready (both physically and mentally) to begin the day.
Brice you are right. I always find that running before stretching is a good idea to get the blood flowing a little.
TDM
Well I’ve managed to stumble upon this blog whilst in a particularly groggy mood after a long night of working late hours, and I must admit, it was quite useful. I thoroughly agree that waking up with a purpose is a great motivator for actually getting up, and staying up. Although there’s nothing better than sleeping in (I’ve realized recently that it’s one of my favorite past-times) waking up becomes much easier to tackle when there’s something to look forward to. And as difficult as it is, waking up early is actually incredibly gratifying, because you have time to relax and have some coffee and toast. There’s nothing like watching early morning TV.
Kates - you are right about having something to wake up to. As for the morning TV there isn’t much good on where I live. What do you watch?
TDM
Nice post Dailyminder!
For the past few months, I’ve been waking up early and using the first couple of hours of the day for an early morning run, pranayama and a bit of hatha yoga. This has made a considerably positive impact on my lifestyle and my mental peace. I feel energetic, positive and mindful throughout the day. In fact, starting the day in this manner, has made me more productive - because I seem to use the rest of the day in a more aware, mindful manner.
Initially, it was a struggle. But over time, it has become a part of my daily routine and there are very few days that I don’t get up feeling fresh.
Pranayama has been the trigger for these life changes. Ten minutes of breathing exercises in the morning will make a world of difference to the way we wake up and feel fresh throughout the day.
Hi Sai.
I have been doing Hatha Yoga for about a year now as a way to improve my meditation and get a little bit healthier. I would love to learn some Pranayama. Where do you do this? Does your teacher have a link?
TDM