Nature Therapy

It's silly to think that something so simple, which happens every day, can have such an impact on me, but it does.

There are plenty of studies linking watching the sunrise/sunset to better mental and physical health.  If you like scientific studies, google can help you find them.  I've always been more of a "I know this is true because I've experienced it" kind of person.  

Being in nature always has a positive effect on me.  If you've ever watched the sunrise/sunset, gone for a walk, hike or just sat in the sun, you definitely know what I'm talking about.  

Is it easy to get up early?  Not always... In fact, it's very easy to hit the snooze button or push off my nature plans when I am the only one who benefits from them (and when I look at my giant to-do list).  But think about it this way...when you cancel plans with yourself, you are devaluing your word.  And how you do one thing is how you do everything, so, if you can't keep your word to yourself, how will you keep it to anyone else?  

Keeping my word to myself has a positive snowball effect on literally everything else in my life.  When I get up at the time I planned, it's basically a little win that sends positive feedback to myself.  I don't know about you but when I get up and realize I hit snooze and now I lost an hour of my morning, it does not make me feel good at all.  I also have a hard time just going on with my day after my plan is derailed, so it has a long negative effect on my day.  

Being productive also puts me in a good mood.  I like to feel like I've accomplished something in my day.  I think most people are like this.  It actually gives me anxiety to look at the clock in the mid-afternoon if I haven't started my day early.  I feel like I've wasted time.  So, getting up to watch the sunrise starts my day on a positive note.  The more positive feedback you give yourself, the more likely you are to form a habit out of it.  Life is a combination of habits.  When you decide what kind of life you want to live, you can reverse engineer to figure out what little wins can help get you there.

Trust me...make time to go outside every morning, even if it's putting your face in the sun for 1 minute.  You will not regret it.