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As I was sitting in bed not able to sleep in the middle of the night upon the return from my trip, it hit me.....
Now, I think it's important that I start my first blog by saying that I am not a writer, or a blogger for that matter. In this blog, you most likely will notice spelling and syntax mishaps, you will notice familiar vocabulary, and maybe even things written in French if it just makes more sense for me to express myself that way. I wanted this to be a free space to me to be comfortable and not on my guard or judged. If you feel that this might be a problem for you, then this blog is not for you, and that is ok. But I felt compelled and inspired to share this with whomever will read me. I hope that even without very acute writing skills, I am able to make you feel what created this urge to want to write. Hopefully, it reaches you, or at least one of you, in any way that might spark a thought or even a smile.
As I was sitting in bed not able to sleep in the middle of the night upon the return from my trip, it hit me.....
“Something happened on that trip.”
It's in that moment, after a few hours of being awake in the middle of the night, that it hits me. I feel different, I feel renewed, recharged, rejuvenated.....but not like a "spa day" feeling....although it is a great one, it is more than that.
I see the sunlight slowly coming up through my curtains and I feel that I need to get up and get moving. This is the last day of my vacation, it is 6 am, I thought, perfect I will rest take my time, get up whenever I want in my own bed.....but no, all I wanted to do was get up and go for a walk.
I think I was hoping to recreated the morning walks I had been taking on that beautiful beach in Zanzibar. I had been the luckiest over the last two weeks to visit Tanzania and it's beautiful island of Zanzibar. Oh such beauty and richness I saw there, if you have never been, it needs to be on your bucket list. But anyways, as I am getting up to get ready for my walk, I make a decision. I decided that I am going to commit to doing that every morning before starting my day. I was already going on walks prior as I have been stuck with a hip injury that has kept me from be able to do my daily jog. I had replaced it with walks, whenever I could or felt like it, but wasn't very consistent with it.
I also make the conscious decision not to take my cellphone with me on this walk. I want all my senses awaken and to be fully present in the moment, like I did on most of my walks at the beach. I start walking with a strong feeling of pride, but also nostalgia as I am obviously not barefoot in the white sand of Zanzibar's beaches. But then I realized that I don't miss it or want it, I really loved it and enjoyed the moment but that I am absolutely ok with not being barefoot in the sand....and then I understood.....what I actually loved about that walk is not the sand and the sunrise on the ocean, (although now that I am writing it like that...it's a hard scenery to beat) it's the freshness of the day before the world wakes up. There is just something about the first hour of the sunrise, it's just a vibe. You have to be there, fully present to feel it. But anyways, I am full on feeling it and loving every second of it.
I start noticing everything, the little squirrels running after each other, the birds flying into the beautiful sunrise sky, the air just still from no cars or trucks moving it around. It smells different, it looks different, it feels different.
As I keep walking, I start seeing a few people out and about, also enjoying a walk by themselves, or with their dog, or a jog. I also noticed how every single person I crossed paths with just smiled and was genuinely happy to say good morning. Well apart from my grumpy neighbour walking his pugs, but I just feel like that is his permanent face, maybe the pugs influenced his look 🤷🏻♀️😅. But when i say people were genuinely happy, it was striking. You could tell they just knew that the day belonged to them.... you know the saying.... the day belongs to those who get up early... aaaalllll of that fully. It made me feel even more powerful in my mission to keep my early morning walk.
It had me thinking about how it is so important to set the day with yourself first. I knew it, and I had been doing some of it in my own way; getting up before my first client to do a few stretches, write my affirmation of the day....and move on and get after it. As a health, fitness and lifestyle expert, I try to lead by example with how I go about my days a keeping healthy habits. But this was a whole new feeling. Just a 20-30min walk around my neighborhood, felt like a whole day at the spa and so much more. It was free and freeing.
Don't ever underestimate the power of a walk....and most importantly... a walk without a phone. It was a walk to remember. I cannot tell you if I will be successful at keeping that sunrise morning walk...especially with the winters we have...but I do have the intention on definitely giving this a try... it's done so much for me already, the benefits outweigh it all!