Once I am up and about for the day, or night, I could pick up a flute whenever, and play whatever I like, or at least try to. However, and this apparently reverts to my training, after waking from sleep I routinely strike a tuning fork, to treat my ears, and then go about a routine of flute studies, including tones, and scales, and other, more technical studies, before initiating any play.
OK, so, what do you do?
I assemble my flute and play the first tune that comes to my mind.
Ditto. I do this until I notice something really messed up in my playing, (usually happens pretty quickly), and then I might veer off into exercises to address the issue. Mostly I just play tunes, though.
I eat a bowl of Cheerios, have a cup of tea, then play whatever tune I had in my head when I woke up. I always seem to have a tune playing in my head…I’ve tried drinking it away, but that just makes it worse…
Usually I have at least one tune running through my mind as I sleep…when I wake up, the first time I get to pick up a flute I’ll usually play whatever that tune is.
I don’t have a warm-up routine, by the way: my flute teacher in college believed that flutists should be able to “play cold,” and that becoming addicted to a warm-up routine is a Bad Thing.
–James
I second that. I once heard a story about a piper who fell asleep during a session, slept for some time, woke up and started to play seconds after he was back in this world.
When I pick up my flute, I always noodle round in the first octave, working my way down to C. I just love how the flute sounds when it is totally dry and the low tones just sing out!
Then I launch into the first tune that comes to mind.
My teacher has me warm up by playing a very familiar tune. Then it’s right into the new tunes I’ve been working on.
I have to have my coffee first. I won’t really be awake until then. I can’t pick up the flute before that has been taken care of. Then I start off with that one handed scale which wakes up the old embouchure in about ten minutes and now with everything awake and alert it is off I go to the tunes I have memorized and after that, to the ones I am trying to memorize. All the time I am trying to listen to get at the tone I think I want. That is pretty much it every morning around here.
Jim
Playing is fairly physical.
I think we can all agree that the health of your fingers, hands, wrists are vital.
No one with any sense would do any serious physical exercise with the rest of ones body without any stretching and a little warm up.
There is no difference.
Do a little stretch and extension of your fingers, wrists and arms.
Please.
The young’ns may notice yet should do it, but us older pups… well, its even more important.
I can claim no expert status as a flooterist but I have thirty good years in as a fencer.
A little warm up is key.
Basically, it’s a habit, but it does serve two good ends. 1) It’s a warm up, which works to my advantage, and 2) it’s my official time of day when I do the things I sometimes really would not like to do, but feel I should do anyway, sort of a “eat your spinach, it’s good for you” time. The amount of time I put into it can vary, as little as fifteen minutes or so, to hours, depending.
You mean some of you play in the morning??? 
I have fallen asleep in sessions and carried right on playing without either myself or anyone else really noticing! That requires a lot of hard living as a warm up!
I like coffee, but it puts my nerves on edge, so I usually go with fruit juice.
Get up. Feed cats, (while still half asleep), coffee (de-caff), muesli, play guitar to wake my fingers up for about half an hour, then a few easy tunes on my flute…in that order, and hopefully, by that time, my fingers AND mouth are awake and moving how they should, and I’m not blowing bits of muesli into my flute!
Cass.
Herbal tea can be good, too.
Phew, doesn’t anyone just jump out of bed and rush off to work?
Actually, I don’t rush anywhere, but I do check in with my clients first thing in the morning.