The Dr. Hyman Show - The Perfect Morning Routine for a Longer, Sharper Life | Dr. Mark Hyman

Episode Date: June 1, 2026

Morning routines have become one of the most talked-about topics in health and wellness—but it’s not just about productivity or checking boxes. How you start your morning has a direct biological impact on your brain, your energy, your metabolism, and even how well you sleep at night. Yet, so many people inadvertently sabotage their biology first thing in the morning with dopamine hits, sugar, and stress. In today’s episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on my morning routine to share the science-backed, foundational habits I use every day, including: What morning sunlight, hydration, and movement actually do to reset your internal clock and regulate your hormones A step-by-step breakdown of my personal daily flow, including electrolyte rehydration, full-spectrum light glasses, qigong, and meditation The exact longevity ingredients I put into my morning "medicine shake" How to maintain consistency on the road with non-negotiable travel habits A powerful morning routine isn’t about creating a perfect, complicated schedule—it's about doing the right things consistently. The key is starting simple with just one or two small habits that compound over time, giving you the grounded foundation you need to show up as the CEO of your own health. Visit ⁠functionhealth.com/mark for 160+ lab tests at just $365 a year. Use code mark 2026 for $50 off. Want to learn how healing your body can help heal your mind? Sign up for the Brain Shaping Academy HERE. Have a question you’d love answered on Office Hours? Submit it here

What if brain fog, anxiety, and mood swings aren't simply all in your head? What if the health of your mind actually starts deeper in your body, in your gut, in your hormones, metabolism, and your immune system? Well, let me tell you, the connection is real, and it affects how you think and you feel every single day. And that's why I created Brain Shaping Academy, a six-week program that shows you how healing your body can help you heal your mind. Brain Shaping Academy relies on the same targeted nutrition and lifestyle strategies that I've used

for 30 years to help my patients improve their mental, emotional, and cognitive health. So if you want to feel calmer, clear, and more in control, and stay sharp and protect your brain as you age, check out Brain Shaping Academy at Dr.heimann.com, 4.com slash brainshaping. That's Dr.heimmon.com, for slash brain shaping. Welcome to office hours. This is our dedicated one-on-one space to go deeper, get clear, and explore what truly moves the needle for your health. I'm Dr. Mark Hyman, and each week we're going to pull back the curtain and share the insights,

the research, the lessons that don't always make it into our conversations with guests. Because at the end of the day, you are the CEO of your own health. And for many of you, your family's health too. And you might not feel it all the time, but you have far more power in agency than you realize. I'm glad you're here. But this episode is brought to you by Function Health, empowering you to live 100 healthy years with over 160 lab tests for just $365 a year and use the code Mark 2026 to get $50 off your membership.

Morning routines have become a big focus in health and wellness, and it's not just about productivity or check-in boxes. How you start your morning has a direct impact on your brain, on your energy, your metabolism, even how well you sleep that night. Because your body is constantly taking cues from your environment. Light, movement, food, stress, and those early signals, well, they help set up your internal clock. They regulate your hormones. They shape how you feel for the rest of the day. Things like getting morning sunlight, moving your body, creating consistent rhythm, and not just habits.

They're biological inputs that affect everything from your focus to your mood to your long-term brain health. So today, we're going to break this down in a very practical way by walking through my actual morning routine, what I do, why I do it, and how you can apply these same principles in your own life without over-complicating it. I built my morning routine by doing the things that are scientifically proven to make a difference. And the first thing I do when I wake up is I go to the kitchen and I have a good at least 16 ounces of water with electrolytes to get rehydrated from the night. And then I'll go outside if it's a nice day or I'll sometimes use a full spectrum light

glasses if I'm not able to get sunlight for about 20 minutes. And light's so important because it's how your body resets your circadian rhythms and it's how your brain comes online. It's how your hormones start to regulate. It's how you set yourself up for a good sleep that night. So getting 20 minutes of morning sunlight is a really important. It helps cortisol timing, sleep quality, and all those things are really, really essential if you want to have a healthy, balanced sleep and also circadian rhythm. Then I'll do my breath work just to get my system going in the morning for probably 10, 15 minutes.

I'll do some chigong, which is gentle movement and getting blood flowing and energy moving in my body, and then I'll do a meditation after that for anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. and that's kind of how I get started right at the beginning. And then I'll usually, if I have time, I'll journal just to kind of get my thoughts out and kind of consolidate my memories and metabolize my experience. And that helps me just stay emotionally and kind of spiritually healthy. And usually after that, I'll work out. And I'll go to the gym. I'll do a workout.

I didn't start strange training until I was in my late 50s. And I didn't really know what I was doing. And I didn't want to hurt myself. So I thought it was important to find a trainer to learn, the skills and to have someone watch me. Also, I've had a lot of back surgeries and I have to be very careful. So I want someone supervising me. Not everybody needs that. There's plenty of free online trainings and apps and YouTube videos. So you don't actually need a trainer. You can do body weight. You can use bands. You can use weights. It doesn't matter. But it's important to get started,

whatever it is and to do it right. Part of the reason to get a trainer is to make sure your form is right, because people often will do the wrong form and actually get up in trouble, or do the wrong form and end up not actually getting the benefit of the exercise. If you don't have a trainer, you want to make sure you at least get some basic guidance. And there's, again, many online tools or resources. If you can have someone to work with you a few times just to kind of teach you the basics, it's important because people can get in trouble. And I think movement is so key. It's so key for everything. The more you move, the better you're going to be. We're all meant to be moving. It helps your cognitive function, brain growth, prevents Alzheimer's just walking every day.

Lymphatic system circulation depends on movement. It helps boost your energy. You know, often when I'm tired, by exercise, I'll feel better. So it's not necessarily just something you only have to do when you feel amazing. You can do it as a way to reshift and shake up your energy. So after I do my basic foundational things to get my nervous system set in the morning, gather myself, and get grounded, and after my workout, and usually around eight, nine, I'll have a protein shake. And I usually do a 14 hour overnight fast. So if I eat dinner at, you know, six o'clock at night,

I can eat it eight in the morning, and that's a 14 hour fast. And my go-to breakfast is typically when I have all my stuff with me at home, I'll have a shake. Usually I use goat way, put in creatine, put in ulythine, spermidine, these ingredients that help with longevity, and also put in some pre-biotic

fibers. I might put in some probotics. I make a kind of a medicine shake for me, really, because I can get it all done in one. And then I'll have that shape with the rest of my supplements to help the absorption of those supplements. So most supplements really require fat and food to absorb. So I'll have a multivitamin, my fish oil, my vitamin D, and my omega-3s, I use a very specific kind. And I'll take other cocktail of things, depending on what's happening and what I'm working on in my health. But often I'll take a cocktail of mitochondrial. Supplements, I'll use endicelocysteine to help glutathione, lipoic acid also helps just as a great booster for detoxification as an antioxidant. And if I'm out and about and I can get a shake, I'll do it.

And if not, I'll have eggs and protein and fat for breakfast. Really important, avocados, tomatoes, eggs, olive oil, omelet, not sugar for breakfast. I think most Americans eat sugar for breakfast, cereal, pancakes, muffins, bagels, you know, french toast, sweetened yogurt. it's sugared coffees. I mean, these are just disasters for your metabolism and shouldn't be what we're not eating for breakfast.

So don't eat dessert for breakfast. Have protein and fat for breakfast. I will also say I travel a lot, but for me there's certain non-negotiables. Like I make sure I have always with me at least a day's food in my backpack. And that could be protein sticks. I have Maui-Nui Benison sticks.

I have nuts, like macadamia nuts, very calorie dense, very nutrient dense, very high in fat, very high in protein. I don't have sugary snacks in my back. I'll eat those. Really important because you don't want to be in a food emergency. I have my supplements packed in little packets so I can carry with them with me and travel with them.

And I always carry bands with me because sometimes I can't get to a gym where there's no gym where I am, so I'll have bands that I use for working out. So I can all I need is a floor and a door, which I can usually find. And that's kind of non-negotiable for me. And so those are really important things. And I think I just keep those consistent and that just makes all the difference when I travel. Even meditating one minute is better than meditating no minutes. Even exercising five minutes is better than exercising no minutes.

So consistency really matters. And it's like compounding interest. If you do it every day, you'll just get in the habit and it becomes much easier. Now, sometimes you can, your routine's off, you're traveling, whatever happens, fine. But it's important to not just use that as excuse to kind of screw off and never do it again. So I think I try to do those things when I can when I'm traveling, obviously if I'm changing time zones or I can't always do it. but I always, when I get somewhere, I always like go right to the gym, I work out, I have a sauna, I try to get a massage, and that kind of resets my system. So really important to try to get your system

reset when you're traveling. I mean, over time I'll change it, depending on new things I'm learning, or new practices I have, or different breathwork practices, or different types of meditation, or different kinds of fitness routines I'm doing. But it's basically the same structure, and I'll adapt it depending on, you know, what I'm doing in my life and where I am and where men in the world. There is something about summer that makes people feel free. If you're outside and moving, there's added travel, late nights, more alcohol, and more heat. But here's what your summer actually does to your cardiovascular system. Your heart works harder just to keep you cool and alcohol impacts blood pressure and recovery while sleeping disruptions can derive inflammation, and flights and

events can double the stress on your body. If your APOB is already elevated, HSCRP is running high, and fasting insulin is already strained, you're not starting from baseline. You're starting. You're from a burden. The season didn't create the risk. It exposed it. And the people who find out about cardiovascular risk in July often laid the groundwork in January. It's time to stop guessing. Check your health with function. Function gives you access to over 160 lab tests every year, including advanced lipoprotein testing. It's time to stop guessing. Check your health with function. Go to functionhealth.com slash mark. And if you're one of the first 1,000 people this week, use the code mark 2026 for a $50 credit toward your $365 a year membership.

That's functionhealth.com slash mark and use the code Mark 2026 today. I know my routine may sound like a lot to some people and may even feel overwhelming, but if you're overwhelmed, just start simply with some simple practices. You know, everybody can try to get outside for 10, 15, 20 minutes in the morning. Take a walk, very simple, hard to kind of make that complicated. Make sure you drink a good glass of water. every morning when you wake up. You can't put a little bit of electrolytes in it.

Easy to do. Not hard to do. These things stack on each other. And if you can, you know, listen to a meditation app for 10 minutes. It doesn't have to be a long time. Just simple, even five minutes. It can be a lot. So five minutes meditation.

If you don't have five minutes to meditate in the morning, there's something wrong with your life. You better figure it out. And then movement, you know, do what you can. If you can just do 10 jumping jacks between phone calls, do that. You don't have to be rigid about it. start building these habits and you'll find over time your health will improve, your well-being will improve, and you'll just be better for it. The other thing people do is, you know, get on their phone before they go to bed and get on

their phone as soon as they wake up. And I think a good rule of thumb is keep your phone in another room. Put it out of the bedroom, keep it in your office or keep in the kitchen or somewhere else, charge it there, and don't look at it first thing in the morning. Don't look at it last thing at night. You know, we don't need to, and it's good to gather yourself for yourself, into yourself, so you can be more grounded as you go through life rather than being immediately pulled into the dopamine hits of your phone.

If I just wake up and go right to work or I go right into stuff or jump on email, I typically don't feel like I have as good a day. When I start the day grounded and when I start today with my practices, with breathwork, with meditation, with journaling, and exercise, it just sets me up for the whole day to have a great day. And I don't end up having dips in energy. I stay motivated.

I stay connected to myself. And it just provides me a foundation. for my life. We all live such a crazy stressful life, and so I find it really important to incorporate things to help regulate my nervous system. That includes breath work, meditation, and there are different techniques. I used to do TM when I was younger. I studied Buddhism. Mindfulness, breathwork is a really simple practice that you can use. You know, my stress reduction training from John Kappitzin. There's a million different varieties. It doesn't really matter. Whatever works for you. And that really has tremendous amounts of science in terms of how it affects

the immune system, your cardiovascular health, your immune health, your brain health, your risk of diseases, chronic pain, it's so many different things. So it helps sleep. It's one of those foundational things that we tend to ignore, but it's just important as eating or breathing or sleeping. Let me go through a few kind of key questions that people are asking about. Coffee, should you have it before, after food? Coffee and empty stomach is how most of us drink it. It's probably not the best thing to give yourself a jolt of caffeine and adrenaline before you eat. So having it with food is probably a better idea. What's the best five-minute habit that you can do in your life?

Well, probably just a five-minute breathwork meditation. Just slow into the count of five, hold for five, out to the count of five. Do that for five breasts. Super simple. I call it take five. It's really, really easy. The biggest mistake people have in the morning is just not taking a little bit of time for themselves to establish their day. And I mean, just simple practices that are so simple that

everybody can do, whether it's just five minutes of meditation, a simple stretching routine, a glass of water, you know, making sure you have the right breakfast. These are the really important things. And I think people just skip over these things and kind of rush right to life, but it's important to really get grounded into some good habits in the morning as a foundational practice for your health. So as you can see, a powerful morning routine isn't about doing more. It's just about doing the right things because those early moments in your day are when your body's most responsive to light, to movement, to rhythm, and those signals shape everything that follows, your energy, your focus, your metabolism, even how well you sleep that night. But the goal here

isn't to create a perfect, complicated routine. It's to start simple, to get some morning light, to move your body, to just create a little consistency because those small inputs done consistently, they can have an outsized impact on how you feel, and over time, they compound. So don't feel like you need to overhaul your entire morning tomorrow. Start with one or two, things and build it from there. Let your routine work for you. So if you found this helpful, share it with someone who's trying to feel better, think clear, or just start their day with more intention. And we'll see you next time on office hours. What if brain fog, anxiety, and mood swings aren't simply all in your head? What if the health of your mind actually starts deeper in your

body, in your gut, in your hormones, metabolism, and your immune system? Well, let me tell you, the connection is real and it affects how you think and you feel every single day. And that's why created Brain Shaping Academy, a six-week program that shows you how healing your body can help you heal your mind. Brain Shaping Academy relies on the same targeted nutrition and lifestyle strategies that I've used for 30 years to help my patients improve their mental, emotional, and cognitive health. So if you want to feel calmer, clear, and more in control, and stay sharp and protect your brain as you age, check out Brain Shaping Academy at Dr.heimen.com, 4.S. Brain Shaping. That's Dr.hyman.com for brain shaping. Thanks for office hours. I love

diving into these topics with you. Remember, you are the CEO of your own health. And every choice you make can move you closer to healing and vitality. I want to keep these episodes as relevant and useful as possible. So tell me, what do you want to explore next? What questions are you wrestling with? What breakthroughs are you chasing? Share your ideas in the comments. on social media or through the link in the show notes. I'm listening. Until next time, keep taking charge, keep asking questions, and keep showing up for your health.

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And don't forget to check out my YouTube channel at Dr. Mark Hyman for video versions of this podcast and more. Thank you so much again for tuning in. We'll see you next time on the Dr. Hyman Show. This podcast is separate from my clinical practice at the Ultra Wellness Center, my work at Cleveland Clinic, and Function Health, where I am chief medical officer. This podcast represents my opinions and my guest's opinions. Neither myself nor the podcast endorses the views or statements of my guests.

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