One of the greatest marketing catchphrases ever created. Well, guess what? It’s actually quite normal to wake up a few degrees off-centre, simply because you haven’t fully woken up yet.
Your system doesn’t just flick a switch and go. It has to reorient itself—particularly to the gravitational field—while re-engaging your anti-gravity musculature and re-establishing coordinated sensory-motor flow. That takes energy. A lot of it.
There’s a commonly referenced idea attributed to Roger Sperry that a substantial portion of brain activity is devoted to organising the body in relation to its environment. Whether you want to argue the exact percentage or not… the principle stands.
Orientation is everything.
What I find incredible is how easily people become offended by how they feel when they wake up and then make a decision about their entire day based on that initial state.
“I feel terrible… this is going to be a long day.” And just like that—it’s locked in.
I’ve seen this for years in the clinic. Patients arrive already attached to how they felt when they got out of bed, carrying it forward as if it’s a fixed condition rather than a transient state. My job is to meet them there… and then guide them out of it.
Children, interestingly, experience the same thing—but they tend to just get up and move on. Adults, on the other hand, often negotiate with the feeling… lie back down… and reinforce it. That rarely ends well.
The Energy Mismatch Problem
Metaphorically speaking:
Negative meets negative → no movement, no exchange
Positive meets positive → same outcome, just a different flavour
But when a composed positive meets a negative state, something shifts. Energy is exchanged. Movement occurs.
This is where people often go wrong. They try to overpower the negative with exaggerated positivity—and it doesn’t hold. What actually works is meeting the negative state square on, with composure, clarity, and direction.
Not fighting it.
Not submitting to it.
Working with it.
The Morning “Chemistry Lab”
Waking up is not just a feeling—it’s a full neurochemical transition. Your brain is literally shifting gears:
Light hits the system → the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) registers it
Melatonin drops, cortisol rises
Orexin activates the arousal systems
Histamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin ramp up alertness
Acetylcholine engages the cortex
Adenosine clears, reducing sleep pressure
In simple terms: you are moving from a sleep-dominant state to an arousal-dominant state. That takes time. So judging your entire day based on the first few minutes is like judging a marathon from the first step out the door.
What I Tell My Patients
Don’t try to force how you feel to change. Instead, work with it. Let the system express where it’s at… and then guide it forward. Without fail—within 10–15 minutes—the shift occurs. The session flows. Energy redistributes. Clarity returns. And as they leave, I remind them: “Don’t do Groundhog Day to me tomorrow.” Because now they know. You cannot force a rose open. But you can create the conditions for it to unfold.
So next time you wake up feeling tired, cranky, or lethargic… don’t panic. Don’t label the day. Just recognise you’re mid-transition.
Give your system a moment to find its centre… and then move. And yes—if you ever want to become wealthy… just design something and ask, “Do you wake up feeling tired, cranky and lethargic?” You’ll have customers lining up.
I do hope this gives you a little more insight into yourself and helps you unchain that better version waiting to come through.
Please share if you feel others will benefit.