Morning mantras: Your ideal morning ritual

Irrespective of what time you wake up, here’s what nutritionists, fitness experts and dermatologists advise for a healthier, and more beautiful, you

What’s one of the first life lessons that’s drilled into us in our growing up years? “Early to bed and early to rise makes one healthy, wealthy and wise.” We repeat it as a mantra, as we roll bleary-eyed out of bed and rush to make it to class in time through the long years of school, college and university life. And then stop short as we enter the professional world and realise that while this mantra may once have been true, it doesn’t work anymore. The “nine-to-five” office clock has long since stopped working and with it the “early to rise, early to bed…” life.

So what happens to the diligent yoga/workout-healthy breakfast routine that we have been told makes for the ideal morning ritual?

No, a late start to the day is not the end of your healthy lifestyle. As pilates master instructor Yasmin Karachiwala says, “In today’s world we live very hectic and very different lives and you cannot say this is the best time to work out, because what is the best time for you, may not necessarily work for me.”

So whether you wake up at 7am or earlier, or at 9am (just in time to rush to work), or slumber for longer, here’s what experts recommend for an ideal healthy morning routine.

Text: Poulomi Banerjee
Experts consulted: Nutritionists Kavita Devgan & Neha Arora, Pilates Master Instructor Yasmin Karachiwala,
Fitness Trainer Kamal Singh and Dermatologist Asheena Mehra