Waking up at 6 a.m., math teacher Daniel Hahn typically has a busy schedule in the morning. Specifically, he attends a Pilates class before school to prepare himself physically and mentally for the day ahead and to build the energy needed to teach advanced math to multiple classes every day.

Pilates, which is a dynamic type of body exercise, combines strength, stability, and flexibility to create a mind-body connection. Because it’s a popular rehabilitation technique, Hahn first began Pilates around four years ago while recovering from a ruptured Achilles and injured back from lifting weights. At this time, his son was two months old, and when Hahn came across a Pilates ad with dads crawling with their infant children on the ground, he decided to sign up at a Pilates studio. Surprisingly, he found that his back pain had improved with Pilates.

In the mornings, Hahn puts his items for the day into his gym bag along with a change of clothes, school supplies, and lunch. After leaving his home by 6:40 a.m., Hahn goes to his Pilates class from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., and then heads to school to teach.

At his studio, Hahn does multiple types of exercises that focus on training his core strength and flexibility. He uses a machine called a reformer apparatus that has springs and other appliances attached that aid him in his movements.

“We’re just doing a variety of exercises, like pushing, pulling, squats and stretching,” he said. “There’s a chair with springs on it and a TRX (Total Resistance Exercise) strap, but the main (equipment) is the reformer.”

Hahn appreciates his wife for taking care of their son in the morning while he attends Pilates class.

“A lot of the time, as I’m waking up, (my son) is also waking up,” he said. “I do my own thing and my wife is the one that cooks him breakfast and takes him to school, so I’m really grateful for that.”

Hahn finds that waking up early for Pilates class and exercising in the morning has improved his general quality of life. He also has rebounded physically after his injuries and improved his strength.
“It puts me in a better mood, and if nothing else, I feel accomplished,” he said. “It gives me more energy, and I’m (also) glad that my back doesn’t hurt as much. I’m not as physically strong as when I lifted weights, but I definitely see results. I’m a lot more flexible, and I feel like my core is stronger and lost a little bit of weight.”

In order to make progress physically, it is also important to stay consistent. Hahn has used this mantra for his Pilates classes for four consecutive years, making sure to attend every day to stay in shape.
“As long as I go consistently, I don’t get sore, but if I take a big gap, then I start, I get sore again. So it’s a lot more painful if I stop and start,” he said. “It’s also just my personality to go every day, (because if) I went two or three times a week, then on a Tuesday, I (would think), ‘Oh, I could just do it on Wednesday.’ I’ll just push it off, and then I’ll start being inconsistent.”

It’s 5:30 a.m., the sky still a dusky blue-gray, the world outside is silent and serene, and English teacher Diane Ichikawa is awake and ready to start her morning routine. Waking up early is natural for her, so she fills her morning hours with grounding activities to create enjoyable and fulfilling mornings.

Most, if not all, of her mornings start with a prayer to her parents and ancestors at her Butsudan, a home altar important in Japanese Buddhism, where she gives a daily offering and converses with her elders before going about the rest of her day.

From there, Ichikawa’s morning diverges into two options. On Wednesday and Friday mornings, she has English department meetings and can’t fit in a longer morning activity. On these days, she savors the extra time in bed with Moxie, her gray tabby cat.

“I’ll wake up and I’ll just lie in bed for a little bit, or maybe I’ll read,” she said. “I’ll have a slower morning (and) cuddle with my cat a little longer. She’s cute. She’s a little bit of a stinker, but she’s cute.”

On other mornings, Ichikawa kicks off the day with a walk at the Stanford Dish, a routine she began this year to increase her daily movement and capitalize on the good weather before school.

“On the days that I get to go for a walk at the Dish, it’s really nice because I tend to see some of the same people, and it’s almost like there’s this little community,” she said. “(We) get to have these bite-sized conversations, little by little, day by day. It’s really a nice connection.”

These short and sweet interactions are an integral part of her mornings, helping her start her day on the right foot. On one special day, after six months of crossing paths with one walker, they stopped to talk and introduced themselves.

“After a few more exchanges, we figured out that I taught his son back in 2007, so I got to reconnect with his son and just catch up,” she said. “(I found) out that he’s married and living in Spain with two children — It’s lovely. There are these really great little connections that you can have even at seven in the morning.”

Whether it’s tea or coffee with an apple or a slice of toast for breakfast, Ichikawa puts on a stylish outfit — set out the night before — and gets ready for the school day. The smoothness and serenity of her mornings come from enjoying these simple moments.

“As I was getting started with the walk at the Dish, it was really beautiful to be able to see the first rays of the sun coming up over the hills,” she said. “There’s definitely some tranquility in that. I often listen to either a podcast or a book as I’m walking, but for the first bits of it, especially when the sun is just coming up, it’s really nice to experience the quiet. And you know, you might see a coyote or a deer cross your path. It was just really nice to have some silence and peace.”