7 Morning Activities That Are Definitely Bad For Your Anxiety

A rushed, stressful morning is never a goal but is often a reality for many folks.

However, if there is ever a time of day when it’s important to prioritize your inner zen, it’s in the morning. “There’s this thing called cortisol awakening response. Our stress hormone — cortisol — actually spikes in the morning. It goes up by about 70%,” said Elizabeth (Birdie) Shirtcliff, a research professor in the center for translational neuroscience-psychology at the University of Oregon.

“Right off the bat, mornings are tough. And our body looks at every morning as a stressor,” Shirtcliff explained.

So even if you are following a healthy routine — like eating breakfast, drinking water and getting some sunlight, for example — you’re still bound to feel some morning stress and anxiety.

What’s more, therapists say there are daily habits that make you feel more anxious in the mornings — and you’re probably unknowingly doing some of them. Here’s what they are and how to cope:

Waking up and going to bed at vastly different times each day.

“The way to make that transition from being asleep to being awake a little bit easier is to make the morning less unpredictable,” Shirtcliff said. “Getting up at very different times of day can be really tough on your body because, usually, this cortisol awakening response is going to gear up in anticipation of you waking up.”

In other words, your cortisol awakening response doesn’t start as soon as you stand up. Instead, it’s happening before you even open your eyes. So if you wake up at 5 a.m. one day, 8 a.m. the next day and 10 a.m. the day after that, that preparatory cortisol surge can’t properly happen.

“And that leads to a huge feeling of fatigue and burnout because your body is not prepared.