Kathy Dewet: This is my morning routine. I get up a little bit
early and start my day by getting outside, taking a
breath of fresh air,
getting some exercise, and connecting to the
natural circadian rhythms. The sun came up a
little while ago but it's foggy today. Yet there's
still a lot going on. So as I walk I turn off the
cell phone, disconnect from the distractions of
electronics, stay away from that computer.
There'll be enough of that later. I look around
and I also like to find places where there's a
little bit of diverse terrain whether it's sand or
a rocky trail just to give my body some more
natural stimuli. So let's connect to nature and go
for a little walk.
This morning's walk started over by the Channel
Islands National Park headquarters in their native
plant garden. And I've made it now over to the
coast. And one of the really great things you can
do on a walk is what we call "earthing" and that's
kicking off your shoes and letting the soles of
your feet connect to the earth.
It's great to have a nice sandy beach to walk on.
But you can also practice earthing by walking on
the grass lawn which might be much more available
to you.
So this is what we call "beach wrack." Seaweed, kelps,
seagrasses naturally shed or sloughed, and wash
ashore. A lot of times at beaches they groom this
because people don't like all the little bugs that
it attracts. But these little critters little
flies, kelp flies.
Little tiny sand crabs and whatnot. They actually
create a lot of food. And this little sort-of
roughed up area and the sand is where birds have
been feeding. You can see the little holes, where their
beaks have gone in and they've been eating all
these little critters that are attracted to
natural washing ashore of kelp and seagrass.
Here's a little something I like to do when I find
a really nice stringer of kelp. I create a shape
of a heart in the sand and then hopefully that
brings a smile to the next person who passes by.
Another little thing I do when I'm out on my walks
is I do use a tracking application. Not only does
this allow you to track your activities. The one
I've chosen to use has a beacon so that I can send
my information to a friend or family member about
my whereabouts. And that just adds another layer
of safety if you happen to be out in a rural area.
So I'm on my way back to where I started my walk
today. And I was just thinking about how often
people tell me I can't make time to get outside
and take a walk. And my thoughts about that:
There's so many things we can't control right now.
Can't have our classes on campus, and many of the things
that we're used to and bring us pleasure.
But truthfully we can choose to get up a little
early and to get outside. And isn't that cool that
we have the power to make something happen?
I think that's just great.
And whether you're walking into outdoor space like
I am along Ventura coastline or walking around
your neighborhood there truly is beauty all around.
Sometimes we have to seek it out. But most of all
we just have to choose to recognize it when we see
it.
So I'm just about to the end of my walk this
morning.
I saw a lot of interesting things, got a lot of
fresh air, and about six miles of walking exercise
in, which feels great. Along the way I saw some
people that I see nearly every day. Smiles were
exchanged from a distance. I even saw some new
people and we had some conversations. And though my
objective wasn't to think about work at all, I did
receive some inspiration from being out and about.
Hope you'll get outside and give it a try.
The more you practice it the easier it gets to
make time. And I can almost guarantee you the
better you'll feel.