Before I meditate, I start every morning with 20 oz of water, ½ lemon, and a pinch of pink salt. I first read about big-wave legend Laird Hamilton doing this, but never really understood the reasons. There is the clear need to hydrate the body. But what was less obvious to me was the hydration of the brain. Drinking this in the morning immediately gets my thinking working. The water I drink is filtered through carbon, which also removes most of the minerals. According to Lisa Mosconi, for the water to be useful to the brain, it needs some minerals. This is where the salt comes in—just a pinch. The lemon is for its alkalizing benefit, and it tastes fresh first thing in the morning.
This is one of those simple lifestyle habits that I notice the moment I haven’t done it. I try to drink water throughout the day, but easily forget that for some reason. By drinking this big amount of H2O first thing, I know I’m about 1/3 of the way through what I will need for the entire day.
Over years of studying how to optimize my body and my mind, I have come to find that mostly, it’s quite simple. Really, how difficult is it to drink a couple of glasses of water in the morning? Routine is important, and the times when it seems unimportant are probably the times when we most need to pay attention to what we should be doing.
