I LOVE mornings. I am the quintessential morning person, usually bouncing out of bed before 6am. I love exercising in the morning, am generally very cheery and don’t need coffee to get me going.

I know this isn’t the case for everyone, so whether you are a morning person or a night owl, I invite you to experiment a little with mornings over the next few weeks.

Mornings are such a magical time. It is quiet, your emails for the day haven’t started, and if you can be disciplined enough not to check your phone, you really can have quite a peaceful time.

Here is what I propose:

Go to bed a little earlier. My husband, who is most definitely not a morning person, has been going to bed at 9pm with me. We read a little in bed – no iPhones – and then drift off to sleep when it suits us.

My alarm goes off at 5am, 5 mornings out of 7. Now, that is very early, but we have to get up that early to beat our two children who wake up around 6.30am. We brush our teeth and do a barre class together at home now that we live in Byron Bay and we aren’t near a studio.

As hard as if feels sometimes for him to get out of bed, we finish our hour-long barre class feeling amazing and our energy and mood is lifted for the day ahead. My favourite thing about it is that you tick something off your “feel good about yourself” to-do list before the day begins. To be honest, it’s quite a lovely, smug feeling knowing you have already worked out.

Depending on how much time there is left before the onslaught of children, I will make a cup of tea, sit on the veranda and practice 10 minutes of mindfulness or maybe do a gentle yoga flow or some yin yoga postures on my yoga platform. It is truly my favourite time of the day and a morning routine like this, tailored to suit your lifestyle, will change your mornings and your life. I promise.

If you are super time poor in the mornings and plan to fit your exercise in later, just try to get up 10 or 20 or 30 minutes earlier and create a little morning routine for yourself. It might be a simple as reading the paper or drinking a cup of tea or taking 1 minute before you get out of bed to practice gratitude and set an intention for the day. All of these things will add magic to your day.

Try it and see how it affects your life, your mood and your body.