The alarm goes off.

Snooze.

Repeat. Maybe several times.

Then the day starts off, usually in a whirl and doesn’t stop until you plop down on the couch 12 or more hours later.

What just happened? Was that a day?

Did you ever stop and realize what you were doing?

Did you take a moment for yourself?

Did your body get a chance to wake up? To connect? To start off the day right? My guess is no. If you ‘re like me, life gets so busy we get in the habit of starting the day with our head when the best thing we can do for the body, and subsequently our mind, is the start the day with our feet.

Morning Connection

Something that I used to do regularly that got slowly phased out without me even realizing it was my morning connection. It took a new puppy and early morning potty breaks for me to realize what I was missing.

I would step outside, barefoot, for just a few seconds, maybe a minute, just to feel the ground. To feel the coolness and hardness of the concrete, the moisture and texture of the grass. I’d feel the cool early morning chill, listen to morning sounds and smell the morning air. Sometimes the stars would still be out and it was calm. Others, the sun was rising, the sky was changing colors and the birds were already awake and chirping. It would only take a few moments, a few deep breaths, for me to connect to the morning.

Then I hopped back in the house and let my head tackle the rest of the day. It was a really powerful exercise in connection and a great way to start the day, particularly if I had a busy day ahead.

You don’t realize what you’re not feeling until you let yourself actually feel it. Specifically, the sensory blast of the morning ground will get your attention and actually help you wake up. The brain loves sensory input and if you can give it a quick dose of natural stimulus it will set a great trajectory for the day. Your feet will come alive and your whole body turns on. You get to feel the air temperature, see the light, smell the air and hear morning sounds. Even if it’s for a just few seconds, giving your body that wake up call can really get it started off right.

Getting outside in the morning is great but doing it barefoot will bring a whole new perspective to your experience. Wearing shoes blunts this and hides much of he experience. Shoes make it just another thing you do during your day. A chore.

Bare feet makes it something you do for you.

Give it a shot and start your day off with your feet. Then your head can truly get to work.

Thanks for reading, have a great day.