How To Wake Up Early In The Morning? – 10 Ayurveda Tips

What is the Right time to wake up? 

There is a famous proverb in Hindi 
तीन बजे जागे सुयोगी, चार बजे जागे सुसंत ।
पांच बजे जागे सो महात्मा, छह बजे जागे सो भगत ।
बाकी सब ठगत ॥

This means that the person who wakes up by 3 am is a good Yogi, a highly spiritual person. The person waking up by 4 am is a saint. The person waking up by 5 am has a great soul and by 5 am is a devotee and rest all are swindlers. 

Ayurveda explains 
ब्राह्मे मुहूर्त उत्तिष्ठेज्जीर्णाजीर्णं निरूपयन्|.. Ashtanga Sangraha, Sutrasthana 3rd chapter, 2nd Shloka. 
One should wake up in the Brahmi Muhurta, after observing that his digestion process is completed (feeling lightness of abdomen, urge to pass bowels etc). 

Brahmi Muhurta: 
रात्रिर्चतुर्दश मुहूर्तो ब्राह्मी मुहूर्त: ।  
1 Muhurta = 48 minutes. 
Day and night, both have 15 Muhurtas each. 
The 14th Muhurta of the night, i.e. 96 to 48 minutes before sunrise is the ideal time to wake up. 
It means, if the sunrise time is 6 am, then you should wake up between 4:30 am to 5:15 am 
Read: Best Medicine For Obesity, Allergy, Rheumatoid Arthritis etc – Wake Up Before 6 am

If you open any Ayurveda text book, the first advice that you will come across is to wake up early in the morning. Ayurveda advises to wake up in “Brahmi Muhurtha” that is about 45 – 90 minutes before sunrise. While we all dream of enjoying the calmness and elegance of early morning hours, setting up our daily routine to achieve this task consistently needs some effort. Here are a few tips. 

Ayurveda tips to wake up early

Get to know the benefits: We have already learnt about the benefits of getting up early. It is beneficial both for your mind and body.

Set up your target: Decide the time in mind and fix it as your aim. 5 O’ Clock, 6 O’clock, 6:30 ? Fix the time and concentrate all your mental energy to gather enough determination to target the time that you’ve fixed for yourself.

Switch off the TV and laptop at night. TV and Laptop are the two big obstacles that delay your sleeping time at night. Be determined to switch them off at least by 10 pm.

Do not announce it to your family and friends. If you discuss it with others, they may make fun of you and doubt your abilities. You have to believe in yourself.

Eat light at night – Do not take heavy food at night. Avoid sweets, heavy, oily food stuff, frozen food stuff etc. Why? Having a light stomach is crucial for feeling light in the morning, which helps you wake up easily. Read more on this – watch what you eat at night.

Drink half a glass of water – This way, your bladder will be full early in the morning and you will be forced to wake up. This advice is not suitable for diabetic patients, and people with frequent urination problem.

Keep the alarm at a distance from your bed. So as to avoid hitting the snooze button.

After the first half an hour, it will be very easy. – Initially, when you get up at the determined time, you may have dizziness, heaviness of head, and laziness etc. At that time, instead of going back to bed, at least, try going to the bathroom, brush your teeth, read some news paper, warm up for your morning dose of exercise or yoga and keep yourself awake for the initial half an hour with some effort. After first half an hour, it will be amazingly easy.

Take cold water bath  – Having cold water bath will improve your alertness and concentration. Read more – hot water or cold water bath.

After waking up, do not stay in bed for long. Soon after you wake up, get out of the bed and stay away from it. Do not give excuses for yourself by planning the day in the bed. It may put you back to sleep.

Do not have unreasonable target. If you were usually getting up at 8 o clock, do not set yourself a target of 5 o clock, instead, target 7 o clock and improve gradually, week after week.

Remember – all the difficulties that you face in the initial days are only temporary but the mental health benefits that you enjoy will be permanent.

Why You Should Wake Up Early In The Morning: 10 Reasons

Getting up early is what everyone’s granny would recommend. For some it is quite difficult to practice, but if it is incorporated, it will have huge health benefits. Here are a few good reasons why every health seeker should wake up early in the morning.

1. Active Vata Advantage: According to Ayurveda, if we divide night into three parts, the last part of the night is dominated by Vata Dosha. So, if you wake up early in the morning, you will have the active Vata advantage.

What active Vata advantage means?
Vata Dosha is responsible for body movement, flexibility, functioning of sense organs, enthusiasm, mental activities such as understanding, recalling, etc, proper secretion and release of hormones, enzymes etc. A well-balanced Vata keeps the body and mind in optimal condition. Hence getting up early injects enthusiasm into the mind and stimulates all the body organs.

2. Best time for gym: According to Ayurveda, morning is the best time for gym and exercise . Hence the enthusiasm derived out of getting up early can be well-directed and utilized through gym, exercise, Pranayama and Prayer.

3. Brahmi Muhurta :Ayurveda explains “Brahmi Muhoorta” as the time to wake up. This is the early morning period (last 48 minutes of the night).  This time is very auspicious and Satwik in nature. Hence, if one wakes up early in the morning, the mind will be filled with all the positivity and energy during this period. Each Muhurtha is 48 minutes long. 12 hours of night has 15 Muhurthas. So, the 14th Muhurtha, – 50 – 100 minutes before the sunrise is the ideal time to wake up as per Ayurveda. This is called Brahmi Muhurta. This falls between 4 – 5:30 am.

4. Body clock: The natural body mechanism has a virtual clock inside. This is known as the biological clock. All the activities of the body such as secretion of hormones and enzymes are pre-scheduled. The body is naturally accustomed for sleeping during the night and being active during day time. Hence maintaining a fixed time schedule for sleep and getting up early in the morning is very essential for healthy maintenance of organs and systems of the body.

5. Cortisol hormone: Early morning is the time when cortisol hormone secretion is maximum. Hence waking up early in the morning helps proper stimulation of all body organs.

6. Plan the day: Getting up early in the morning gives you time to arrange your daily activities more elegantly. It also helps in lessening the stress.

7. For students, Brahmi Muhurtha is the best time to start studying, as it enables maximum concentration.

8. For Prayer, Yoga and Pranayama there is no other time as good as early morning.

9. Shastra Pramana – Ayurveda is considered as a Shastra – a wholesome treatise. Ayurveda recommends to get up early, hence it is best to wake up early.

10. Free silent time – If you wish to get some works done quickly in a silent atmosphere, especially when kids are at home, early morning is the best time, when rest of the family members are sleeping and you are concentrating hard on your tough work.

Hence waking up early in the morning  not only has health benefits, but also social benefits. So let’s wake up early, kick-start every day with huge energy & enthusiasm and  make everyday successful, healthy and happy. 🙂