Have you ever woken up feeling anxious? You know the feeling. Your alarm clock goes off in the morning and you get that pit in your stomach. You look over at your clock and see that you’ve slept through two alarms and might be late for school. Thoughts start filling your head of all the negative things that happened the day before. Plus, you forgot to do your homework or chores last night! Suddenly, you start to feel dizzy and sick to your stomach, and begin wondering, “Should I even go to school today?”
Have you ever felt this way? If you have, you’re not alone. In fact, most people will experience morning anxiety at some point in their life. The good news is that you can learn how to stop these feelings with a little knowledge and some practice.
Why do I feel this way?
To begin, it helps to understand why you are feeling anxious when you wake up. One of the best descriptions of why people feel this way in the morning was written by Lynne Twist:
“For me and for many of us, our first waking thought of the day is “I didn’t get enough sleep.” The next one is “I don’t have enough time.” Whether true or not, that thought of not enough occurs to us automatically before we even think to question or examine it. Before we even sit up in bed, before our feet touch the floor, we’re already inadequate, already behind, already losing, already lacking something.
Thoughts = Feelings
Do you ever wonder why you feel certain ways throughout the day? The answer is your thoughts! Every thought you think creates an emotion in your body. The same is true in the morning when you first wake up: the thoughts you think in your first moments will determine how you’re going to feel. If you start off your morning thinking, “I didn’t get enough sleep. Why do I have to go to school? Why can’t I just stay home?” chances are you’re not going to feel very good right off the bat.
How can I feel better?
Start telling yourself (1) before you go to bed and (2) when you wake up, that you are enough, that today is going to be a good day, and that you are thankful for what you have. By changing the thoughts you think before bed and first thing in the morning, you will start feeling better about yourself and will eventually get rid of morning anxiety.
Need more positive statements to say to yourself? We have a list of 101 positive phrases!