okay morning and evening routine to stop watching porn I'm Dr Trish Leigh in your 30-day challenge
welcome back okay so when we teach our brains to ease into the day and ease out of the day our days
are better we don't have that hyper arousal or your brain kind of the energy going up up
up up up across the day what happens is the energy smooths into the day of course it's going to go up
across the day but then in the evening you let it come down before it's time to get into bed and so
what that does is it helps your brain move through what's called circadian rhythms circadian rhythms
all of us have them our brains will speed up and slow down throughout a 24-hour cycle so what we're
trying to do is to facilitate that so that not only do you feel and perform better in the day
you can get to sleep get an amazing night's sleep where rest in recovery and cell regeneration
happens when we're sleeping so this not only is going to improve your sleep but it's also going
to make it so that your brain doesn't get into that hyper aroused state that needs to go into the
screen to take the edge off so it works like this when you wake up do not go on anything electronic
for at least one hour yes i said one hour i know it's going to feel like an eternity at first but
it's going to become your favorite routine ever trust me so what are you going to do in that hour
in that hour you can make yourself some hot water with lemon if you're not into teas you
can make chamomile tea or herbal teas that make your brain feel soothed and good and easing into
the day then you can move on to coffee if you love coffee like i do yes coffee's a stimulant but you
know what the human condition is a difficult one and if you're going to try to use all your
adaptive behaviors you might might as well have a little coffee while you're doing that right so if
you enjoy coffee make some coffee too but after you've let your brain kind of wake up so this is
what you're going to do in that time meditation now that can just be a fancy term for sitting
around doing nothing but if you want you can practice what is called an in the gap meditation
from one of my favorite mentors dr wayne dyer if you don't know of him look him up he's amazing
he's passed on now but absolutely amazing and in the gap training is having a mantra and you might
have heard me say this before because i say it a lot is that my mantra is i'm one with the force
the force is with me yes i borrowed it from star wars y1 and i but the gap is between
the sayings so when i say i'm one with the force gap the force is with me in that gap there's
nothing i'm training my brain to allow gaps of nothingness and i'm not even kidding even just
starting to say that phrase i can feel my brain downshift because i've said it thousands of times
so you can practice an in the gap meditation in the morning just teaching your brain not to think
about anything and to have empty open space while you're awake and practicing that skill over time
is going to serve your brain forever then you can move on to kind of some light thinking thinking
about your day or just letting things come to you not really thinking but letting thoughts flow
any that you think you need to act on you can just put down on paper i always have napkins around i
know there's one on the other side of that monitor because in the morning i usually have a napkin
sitting next to me yes for my coffee and so then i will put down thoughts like if it pops into my
brain something i need to do i'll just put it on the napkin and just let the thoughts flow
then brain training i'm going to talk about this in an upcoming video training your brain
with technology is one of the most powerful and easiest ways to bring it out of these extremes
into that middle speed brain training in the morning once your brain is awake and alert is an
amazing habit to build because what it does is it changes your baseline of hyperarousal every single
day so having brain training in that morning once your brain's woken up can really really serve you
having quiet time you know being the parent of so many kids in the morning it's like
quiet is the most delicious thing ever i sit there and it's quiet it's amazing
giving yourself that empty time and space where there's nothing and you can just sit
in that space will teach you to ease into your day doing the same thing in the evening in the reverse
will teach your brain how to come down off of thinking and going and being and doing
it can come down sitting on your couch doing nothing doing another meditation doing brain
training again but making sure you're doing it at least two hours before bed now here's another one
putting your electronics in a different room and making sure you don't go on them for at least
an hour i know you're thinking what am i going to do in that hour you're going to do the same
thing in reverse you're gonna go low lighting and you're going to teach your brain it's going to go
through these circadian rhythms a book is a great thing you know if you want to watch tv tv to me is
different actually science shows too that it's not as bad for you as computers or phones so
if you watch a show on the tv something slow like jerry seinfeld's comedians and cars getting coffee
something real chill that has a beginning a middle and an end and then you turn it off and you don't
click hole into something else something with story structure then reading a little bit of a
book laying in bed and just letting your brain and your mind wander and come down that can
help you ease in and out of your day all optimal performers do some version of that not having your
electronics in your bedroom putting it somewhere else going old school on an alarm clock can really
serve you sleeping in a dark cool room with no distractions not falling asleep to electronics all
really good things for you okay rock out a morning and a nighttime routine now you know what i'm
gonna say next right your action step for today is to plan it we're not going to leave this to chance
map it out put time frames on it teach yourself to do it and then it will become something that you
look forward to every morning when i get up the thing i look forward to the most is that morning
routine and even when i'm running late i do it i sacrifice other things i preserve that i protect
that that morning routine is what allows me to feel good throughout the day and i know it's going
to do the same for you so go rock it out and until tomorrow control your brain or it'll control you