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Kathy Dewet: This is my morning routine. I get up a little bit

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early and start my day by getting outside, taking a

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breath of fresh air,

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getting some exercise, and connecting to the

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natural circadian rhythms. The sun came up a

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little while ago but it's foggy today. Yet there's

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still a lot going on. So as I walk I turn off the

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cell phone, disconnect from the distractions of

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electronics, stay away from that computer.

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There'll be enough of that later. I look around

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and I also like to find places where there's a

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little bit of diverse terrain whether it's sand or

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a rocky trail just to give my body some more

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natural stimuli. So let's connect to nature and go

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for a little walk.

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This morning's walk started over by the Channel

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Islands National Park headquarters in their native

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plant garden. And I've made it now over to the

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coast. And one of the really great things you can

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do on a walk is what we call "earthing" and that's

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kicking off your shoes and letting the soles of

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your feet connect to the earth.

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It's great to have a nice sandy beach to walk on.

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But you can also practice earthing by walking on

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the grass lawn which might be much more available

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to you.

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So this is what we call "beach wrack." Seaweed, kelps,

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seagrasses naturally shed or sloughed, and wash

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ashore. A lot of times at beaches they groom this

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because people don't like all the little bugs that

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it attracts. But these little critters little

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flies, kelp flies.

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Little tiny sand crabs and whatnot. They actually

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create a lot of food. And this little sort-of

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roughed up area and the sand is where birds have

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been feeding. You can see the little holes, where their

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beaks have gone in and they've been eating all

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these little critters that are attracted to

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natural washing ashore of kelp and seagrass.

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Here's a little something I like to do when I find

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a really nice stringer of kelp. I create a shape

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of a heart in the sand and then hopefully that

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brings a smile to the next person who passes by.

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Another little thing I do when I'm out on my walks

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is I do use a tracking application. Not only does

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this allow you to track your activities. The one

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I've chosen to use has a beacon so that I can send

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my information to a friend or family member about

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my whereabouts. And that just adds another layer

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of safety if you happen to be out in a rural area.

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So I'm on my way back to where I started my walk

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today. And I was just thinking about how often

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people tell me I can't make time to get outside

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and take a walk. And my thoughts about that:

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There's so many things we can't control right now.

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Can't have our classes on campus, and many of the things

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that we're used to and bring us pleasure.

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But truthfully we can choose to get up a little

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early and to get outside. And isn't that cool that

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we have the power to make something happen?

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I think that's just great.

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And whether you're walking into outdoor space like

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I am along Ventura coastline or walking around

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your neighborhood there truly is beauty all around.

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Sometimes we have to seek it out. But most of all

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we just have to choose to recognize it when we see

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it.

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So I'm just about to the end of my walk this

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morning.

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I saw a lot of interesting things, got a lot of

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fresh air, and about six miles of walking exercise

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in, which feels great. Along the way I saw some

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people that I see nearly every day. Smiles were

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exchanged from a distance. I even saw some new

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people and we had some conversations. And though my

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objective wasn't to think about work at all, I did

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receive some inspiration from being out and about.

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Hope you'll get outside and give it a try.

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The more you practice it the easier it gets to

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make time. And I can almost guarantee you the

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better you'll feel.