If I had to choose one thing, and only one thing I could do every day that would make a difference to my sleep, it would be this.

Do I always want to get up? No.

Will staying in bed make me feel any better? No.

Do I get up every morning? Yes.

The walk always wins. And for good reason. From all the reading I have done on healthy sleep and building good sleep habits, getting up first thing in the morning and getting a dose of fresh air and sunlight is right up there on all the “Top Tips For Improving Your Sleep” lists.

Benefits:

• getting sunlight helps reset your sleep/wake clock. The early morning light helps tell your brain that the day has started, and this will help you sleep at the right time when you go to bed at night
• a consistent wake-up routine is really helpful for your sleep consistency overall
• regular exercise is an important part of keeping healthy
• walking is a great mood-booster, head-clearer and gets your day off to a positive start
• the longer you fast overnight (from your evening meal to when you start eating food the next day) can also have health benefits, and delaying your breakfast and your morning coffee is even easier if you have something else to do – e.g., gulping fresh air as you skip around the block in your comfy sneakers like the morning walker that you are…

So I want to share with you what setting up a morning walk might look like. Because it may sound like a good idea inside your head as you read this, but as we also all know, it only has benefits if you actually take those first steps and DO IT. So without a plan of action you know that tomorrow morning the chances of getting out of bed for that magical morning walk is highly unlikely.

And that is why I am here to help get you from morning walk THINKER to morning walk DOER.

The success of starting and maintaining a morning walk (or any habit) is to remove the obstacles that will stop the morning walk from happening. Therefore, your first steps are to reduce the decisions that need to be made, and have an easy plan to follow. So here’s my set up.

Alarm.

The alarm takes the decision making out of when to get up.

I use an alarm because I have narcolepsy, and while the chances of me waking up at the same time every morning are very good, the chance that I will instantly fall back asleep is also very likely. So, alarm it is. That said, I have transitioned from a jingle jangle phone alarm, to a vibrate alarm on my watch. It’s a much more gentle awakening than a sing-song jingle jangle and it doesn’t have to wake anyone else.

Walking clothes.

These take the decision making out of what to wear.

I have a whole walking outfit designed to be pulled on, half-asleep, in the dark. It’s only for walking, and it lives in the same place in the wardrobe (easy to find and no decisions need to be made. Just.Put.It.On.). There are layers for different seasons but everything fits with everything else and again, the decision making is limited to set options for set weather/temperature.

Shoes.

The comfy walk shoes are designated and the footwear decision is made.

I have comfy walking shoes and I only wear these for the morning walk. So once the shoes go on, it’s morning walk time. These are set up by the front door, in “ready” position. Because these are my walking shoes and they have no other purpose in life than the morning walk, it would feel wrong not to let my shoes live the life they were meant for and take them out for a stroll every day.

Walking route.

A pre-planned walk takes the decision making out of where to go.

It’s easy if you don’t have to think about where you are going, so pre-design a walking track or two. I like to mix up the scenery a little, but effectively I have about three different walks I go on. All I have to do is decide which direction to kick off in, and then the walk maps itself. Making a decision at every street corner, juncture, or signpost about which way to go makes the walk more of an effort than it needs to be. It’s really relaxing when your body just knows where to go, and you can let your thoughts wander without needing to be alert to make choices.

Attitude.

A pre-determined mindset takes the don’t out of don’t want to.

I wake up and I go for a walk. Non-negotiable. Again, there are no decisions that need to be made. Each morning, I get up with the attitude that the first thing I do is go for a morning walk. Raining? So it is. I will need to wear a jacket. Feeling really tired? Yes, I am. Maybe do the short loop instead of the long loop today. I don’t ask myself whether I want to go for a walk or not, I just go.

Opportunities.

Keeping curious makes the morning walk something to look forward to. No decisions needed.

The morning walk is my thinking and meditating time. There is something so delicious about first thing in the morning – the day is untouched, brand new – and I notice the quiet and stillness. Perfect thought conditions. I also love the opportunity for sunrises. Before I became a morning walk kinda-person I didn’t know what I was missing out on. Now, I wouldn’t want to miss it! One of the other morning delights is noticing your neighbourhood. Walking slows everything down. You might see things you would otherwise have been oblivious to, and there are moments where you can connect (and high-5) with all the other morning walk people too.

Sunrise makes it all worthwhile.