Morning Routine to Balance Hormones Naturally

If you’re struggling with fatigue, mood swings, or cravings by 3:00 PM, your morning routine might be the culprit. In this post, I’ll show you the exact steps I take in my morning routine to balance hormones naturally, so I can say energized, clear, and calm all day long.

Your Morning Routine Sets the Tone for Your Whole Day

How you wake up when you eat.

What you do affects your day-night cycles. Remember, your hypothalamus sets that circadian rhythm. The first thing that happens when you wake up is your melatonin levels fall. Your hypothalamus senses the amount of glucose in your bloodstream.

Usually, it’s a little on the low side since you haven’t eaten all night long, so the hypothalamus produces dopamine, which turns down nocturnal prolactin, and then corticotropin-releasing hormone to stimulate adrenal cortisol production. The adrenal glands, the production of cortisol, then releases stored sugar, and now the hypothalamus can do its job.

It is really important that you get this morning cortisol surge, and we know that cortisol surge is instigated by the hypothalamus. It sets the tone for your energy, your metabolism, and your mood.

So, how you wake up in the morning and what you do first affects the rest of your hormones. Estrogen, progesterone, thyroid hormone, insulin production, how your immune system functions, and how your brain chemistry functions, everything.

Get Up with the Rising Sun

So to ensure that my hypothalamus has the best opportunity to do its job well, the first thing that I do in the morning is get up with the sun. I’m very sensitive to the light, and my bedroom window faces east. So the rising sun wakes me up in the morning.

Getting up with the sun helps my hypothalamus make an adequate amount of dopamine first thing in the morning. It helps my melatonin convert over to serotonin. It helps my cortisol surge naturally. If you don’t naturally wake up with the sun or have adequate natural daylight, then an alarm clock using blue light will help.

Usually, I wake up hungry because my insulin and blood sugar levels are low, which they should be in the morning. It’s a good sign that you don’t have insulin resistance.

Take Genesis Gold® and Sacred Seven®

The second thing I do is take my Genesis Gold® and Sacred Seven®. I keep it right by my coffee pot to make sure that I never miss it. As I take it, I say my morning loving kindness prayer, blessing myself physically, emotionally, mentally, and then I bless all of you who are taking Genesis Gold® with me, so you have optimal health and hormonal harmony, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

And then I pour myself a cup of coffee. I like it black. I like it hot. I use a special Nana Cup and I go and sit by a window to absorb early morning light. Drinking coffee is meditative for me. I don’t really need it for caffeine. I’m not affected that much by caffeine. I drink coffee because it forces me to sit down. Sometimes I’ll have tea, sometimes hot lemon water, but coffee definitely gives me a sense of calm. I know that sounds funny because most people drink coffee for the caffeine to wake them up. But coffee reminds me of my nana, and it was the only time that she would sit down with her cup of coffee.

The thing is that all through my life, I’ve never been much of a sitter. I move around quite a bit. So, forcing myself to sit down with a hot cup of coffee is part of my morning meditative routine. And I journal while sipping that hot coffee, feeling the depths of my emotions, exploring my dreams, setting intentions, taking time to be with me. This ritual helps to keep my cortisol from spiking too high. I’m active but relaxed.

Move Your Body

Then I like to get my body moving. If I don’t take a walk in the morning, I go to an exercise class, conditioning dance, or yoga. I make sure that I do some type of aerobic activity, a minimum of 30 minutes every day. And I prefer early morning for active exercise.

Later, for meditative activities like hiking and horseback riding, mountain biking, and swimming. There have been studies that show that early morning exercise keeps your metabolism high all day long. I do notice that my energy is much better all day if I exercise early in the morning versus exercising later. I’m a big believer in not exercising very late after dark because it actually brings your cortisol levels up to an unnatural circadian surge.

A Breakfast High In Protein

Then, after I exercise, I have a protein-rich breakfast. I always have protein for breakfast, like cottage cheese, yogurt, eggs, and nut butters. If I have just a piece of fruit first thing in the morning, it’s because I’m going to do a very early morning exercise class, and I need my blood sugar up, and I don’t wanna eat too heavily. So I come back and have a brunch-type breakfast, which is heavy in protein.

I also make sure I have fat for breakfast. It’s usually avocado, always whole-fat yogurt, and whole-fat cottage cheese. Plus, I usually have some type of fiber, like whole grain toast, bran on my yogurt or cottage cheese, occasionally oatmeal, but I always add protein in the oatmeal, like nuts.

And if I’m having eggs, I almost always make them with vegetables. Sauteed greens, onion, mushroom, and zucchini. Sometimes I’ll throw roasted vegetables from the night before into a frittata, goat cheese, feta, or parmesan.

Spiritual Practice

My morning always includes a spiritual practice.

I keep an altar under a bright, sunny window set with whatever items remind me of loved ones, of hopes, of dreams, of others who may need my prayers. I usually set my daily intentions at my altar. I keep my higher self journal there, in which I tap into spirit. My moments at my altar help me choose my theme for the day.

I reflect on my blessings and tap into deeper wisdom. It feels like my ancestors are with me at my altar. Having a spiritual practice that I do every morning really helps to raise my oxytocin levels. It helps me to feel connected to the earth, to my family, and to you. It helps me to feel balanced. Of course, it reduces cortisol, which really helps to balance my hormones.

Never Skip Breakfast

What I avoid in the morning, and I suggest you do too, is I never skip breakfast. Waking up hungry is a good sign that you have a healthy, youthful metabolism. Eating breakfast helps to set that metabolism all day. Eat something, even if it’s just a piece of fruit, first thing in the morning, and then maybe an hour later, eat something a little heavier.

I probably consume at least a third of my calories, if not more, before 10:00 AM. I also try not to doom scroll in the morning. I try not to do any type of work, like checking emails, answering comments. I may go on social media to share my granddaughter’s antics. I want to start off the day in a calm mode, not a crazy mode.

No Intense Cardio Prior to Breakfast

I also don’t do intense cardio before fueling my body. So if I’m going to do an intense workout, I eat a piece of fruit so that my blood sugars are more stable. Then I follow that workout with some higher protein breakfast. If you can track how you feel each day, it helps to optimize your flow, your energy, and what’s happening.

Do you wake up energized or tired?
What’s going on in the afternoon?
Are you sleeping well at night?

Keeping track, you can start to see patterns related to how your energy is compared to what you ate, what you did, what kind of activity, and what kind of stress you had to deal with.

If you’re going through menopause, I highly suggest some type of grounding routine. I find nature to be very grounding, so I spend a lot of time outside. I script almost all my videos outside, walking around in nature. It actually helps me focus, too.

Balance Stress and More

If you’re younger in your thirties, you really need to focus on balancing stress and your blood sugars.

This is the time you’re setting to really get your metabolism humming and make sure you’re not always spiking cortisol and feeding that stress response with lots of sugar. Make sure you’re eating high protein, healthy fats, and lots of fiber.

Then, taking Genesis Gold® throughout your lifespan will help to keep your hormones in balance because Genesis Gold helps your hypothalamus optimize its function. Your hypothalamus controls all your hormones—your sex hormones, thyroid hormone, and adrenal hormones. It controls your gut hormones.

Your hormones respond to rhythms. The way you start off your morning creates that rhythm. Even small changes can shift your energy, your mood, and your metabolism in big ways.

So try my Genesis Gold®, check out my resources in my Hormone Reboot Training, and if you like this post, subscribe to my YouTube Channel for more tips and tell me what’s the first thing you do when you wake up.