8 Practical Tips to Overcome Morning Anxiety

Inside: Morning anxiety is a common phenomenon in anxiety sufferers. It’s anxious feeling upon waking or within a few hours after waking.

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The thought of another day, along with its presence, sets the tone of the day.

A bad start follows through to a bad day.

My alarm beeps, and I fly out of bed to turn it off. As I stumble into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, I do a mental scan of my whole body noticing anything out of the ordinary.

As I shower and get dressed, I feel not quite myself. I feel tense, maybe even a little jittery.

Because I know this feeling all too well, I sigh under my breath– another day filled with it. The”It” my anxiety.

What I thought would be a good day, now turns into a repeating day of anxiety.

I become frustrated; when will it leave?

Morning Anxiety Isn’t Rare

Morning anxiety is a common phenomenon for anxiety sufferers. It’s an anxious feeling upon waking or within a few hours after waking.

Experts say there can be many reasons for this early morning anxiety:

• Going through the night without eating can cause blood sugar to plummet, and the anxious bodily feelings can be simply due to low blood sugar.
• The same goes for low hydration; not drinking for the whole night can also cause symptoms similar to those of anxiety.
• Poor sleep isn’t conducive to feeling our best, and tension and extra stress can be present when we’ve been up more than we’ve slept.
• What we eat can also make a difference with anxiety symptoms.
• Being tense could also be due to the fact that we were in a relaxed state of sleep and now are jarred awake without a slow transition.
• Cortisol can also have an effect on our body in the morning.
• Negative past experiences can also cause anxious mornings.
• What we eat can affect us also. Caffeine and anxiety don’t mix well.

So the reality is: if you’re anxious in the morning, there might be many different scenarios going on.

The Whole Day Isn’t a Bust

It’s important to realize that waking with anxiety doesn’t mean the day is as good as done because this is not the truth. Perhaps we didn’t drink as much water the day before, and our body is alerting us to its need.

In the past, this would happen to me. I’d have a slew of good days only to be woken and have morning anxiety. From there, my mind worked itself up in a never-ending anxiety cycle for the day.

Then the self-defeating thoughts would multiple: I’ve never going to get better. I don’t understand why this won’t go anyway.

The secret to overcoming this morning anxiety is to make sure that we are taking care of our bodies and pay close attention to what we focus on when we wake up.

What To Do When We Awaken

• We accept the anxious symptoms for what they are; don’t read farther into them, and don’t create a mountain out of a molehill.
• Trying distraction and a change of focus.
• Practice thankfulness for the blessings in our life.
• Think about what a successful day we will have.
• Eat right away to curb low blood sugar and drink to raise hydration.

These change in habits can help us overcome morning anxiety, but an even better focus is on Jesus.

We have the promise that every day God loves us and is with us to help us get through this anxiety and have a good day.

(Lamentations 3:22-23, NLT).
22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.

Practical Application in Morning Anxiety

These practical application tips will help you manage your morning anxiety so it doesn’t affect you in great ways any longer.

We can overcome morning anxiety by:
1. Reading inspirational Bible notes, verses, and prayer
2. Walking in nature
3. Listening to worship music
4. Putting your worries on paper the night before and waking up to a less jarring alarm clock
5. Preparing for your morning the night before
6. Writing in a gratitude journal
7. Switching out herbal tea for your coffee if caffeine is making you anxious
8. Eating more protein to keep your blood sugar balanced.

When we suffer from anxiety, we need to be more vigilant about our self-care. When we have anxious mornings, it doesn’t mean an anxious day.

We can overcome our morning anxiety when we make our mornings intentional and when we focus on something other than the anxiety.