Apr 13, 2025

Me vs Morning Anxiety

Morning Anxiety has plagued me for a long time. My Anxiety is an Anxiety with a capital ‘A’. I rarely wake up feeling peaceful. However, when I see threads like this one on reddit, I feel less alone about my condition.

I have tried a lot of things to deal with morning Anxiety. Two things that stuck for me and have helped a lot -

I make sure I have somewhere to show up every day.

On weekdays, that is to the cafeteria at my workplace. I get a coffee, savor that first sip and then dive into the chaos of the day. During weekends, I wake up and show up to the coffee shop down the street. I stretch, walk and show up to the coffee shop and then plan what I need to do. Thankfully, I am able to afford that fancy latte while I sit and journal or read. At the cost of sounding cheesy, I will say this is a form of privilege too and it is better to make the most of what I got.

I do 5 pushups most mornings, right after I wake up.

I have tried to get myself to do 30-45 mins of exercise in the morning but it is too much for me and I get anxious trying to stick to it. But five pushups is doable. Heck, even a 10 second plank goes a long way on some days. I pull out my yoga mat that I place at the foot of the bed, and stretch a little bit. Feeling the ground below me grounds me literally and figuratively. It helps. I feel slightly stronger and my heart rate elevates in a good way before I get going.

I wish this killed the Anxiety altogether but no technique does. When the world is spinning crazy, the only thing I can do is to try to be a little less crazy for a moment.