How I made it to the 5 AM Club

I turned 29 this April and never in the 29 years of my existence had I been a morning person, until two months back. All my life I had been one of those people who go to bed at 11 PM, scroll through Instagram for hours and finally fall asleep at 2 AM. I knew it was unhealthy and it wasn’t like I didn’t try to fix my sleep schedule, in fact I did try multiple times, only to see myself fail. I even signed up for fitness sessions in the morning (online and physical sessions) so that I could find motivation to get up. However, within a few weeks the motivation would fade away and I would be back to my normal ‘go to bed at 11 PM and sleep at 2 AM’ schedule.

Starting my 5 AM club journey

A month since I was nearing my 29th birthday, I started noticing things that my body could and could not do. I was starting to realize the increasing need to include some form of exercise in my schedule but I was extremely skeptical, given my past relationship with early mornings. So unlike the other times, I decided to start small this time.

Understanding Habit Formations

My first step was to mentally prepare myself for forming not only one, but two habits — the habit of getting up early and the habit of exercising. Next I had to build self-accountability. How did I do that? I signed up for a personal yoga training session, so that if I get lazy in the morning and think of skipping, I know that someone else is waiting for me. Moreover, I cut down on my travel. I didn’t sign up for a training which required travelling. Luckily, I found a neighbour who was a phenomenal yoga instructor.

How the Practice Changed My Life

While all of us know the prolonged list of benefits that yoga offers, here are some initial observations that I had:

1. I started seeing gradual changes in my strength, my stamina and overall body toning. All the unhealthy weight that I had put on with those cheesecakes and pastries, now started getting channelized into energy.

2. 15 minutes from my yoga session are dedicated to breathing exercises. While we’re reflexively breathing throughout the day, the benefits of mindful breathing are immense, and I honestly cannot stress enough on this. Reflexive breathing is breathing from the chest but mindful breathing is breathing from the belly. Try doing a couple of belly breathing rounds consciously and you’ll know the difference. Belly breathing ensures that the body gets increased oxygen. It also helps cleanse the toxins. How did that help me? I’ve been suffering from major anxiety since the last 13 years. Never in these years did I go two months without experiencing an anxiety attack. Ever since I started “breathing”, I haven’t had a single episode, something which hasn’t happened in the last many many years. If there’s one thing that I’ve learnt from this is that there is no problem that breathing can’t solve.

3. Improved Focus — Doing asanas requires a lot of balance and to balance your body, you require focus. When I am doing asanas, there’s no other thought that I have in mind. The only thought is to focus on balancing. This has in turn also improved my overall focus where I can now auto-filter the thoughts which are not related to the task that I am working on.

I could do all this, just in a span of 2 months! Imagine the potential that this practice has!

Ripple Effects

Being a part of the 5 AM club has brought me back to my reading habit, where I spend some time reading and sipping on my green tea once I am back home. I usually share the articles that I read with my family and friends, which helps me keep in touch with them through these conversations.

Lastly but most importantly, I have around 5–6 hours from the time I get up to the time I start work and that gives me a lot of time to start my day (not to forget the me time that I get in the morning) instead of just rushing into my day, which I used to do earlier.

What I learnt?

If you have the willpower to win over your snooze button, you’ve already won half your day’s battle. And this willpower is like Rome, doesn’t get built in a day. It gets built by starting to do what you set out to do. Doesn’t matter whether you start small or big, just start — that’s where the real power lies :)