Honestly, I have no idea what you think I’m doing when I disappear into the forest at this hour. Every. Single. Day.

But I’ll tell you.

I’m not out hunting for breakfast. I’m not hugging trees (I would never do that this early in the morning). And no, I don’t have secret meetings with vampires or werewolves. What I am doing is making sure I don’t start my day the wrong way.

I’ve been an early riser for decades—voluntarily. No alarm clocks. Waking up early is just how I set myself up for the day, and after years of practice, it’s effortless. Depending on when I go to bed, I usually wake up between 3:15 and 4:45 AM. So when I talk about being in the forest at 4 AM, it’s not always to the minute. Sometimes it’s earlier, sometimes a little later, depending on how much sleep I got. The time itself doesn’t matter—what matters is that I’m there before the world wakes up.

In mid-January, I started spending 15 to 20 minutes in the forest every morning. And for the foreseeable future, it’s staying in my routine. While I’m there, I do four things: I breathe deeply, I listen to nature, I center my body while standing, and I spend about five minutes doing slow face stretches. To some people, that might look a little… eccentric. But luckily, the only ones around to witness it are the occasional owl or deer.

For me, this is the best, gentlest way to wake up my brain before I start my day. It ensures I ease into the morning before my fingers hit the keyboard. Since June 2024, I’ve been living right next to a vast woodland, after moving to Austria’s second-largest national park. Honestly, I’m surprised it took me more than six months to start this 4 AM forest-bathing ritual. I should have done it from day one. But that’s how it goes, right? We often have something valuable within reach, yet we don’t bother to take advantage of it.

You might not live next to Austria’s oldest beech forest. But I bet there’s something within your reach that you’ve been neglecting to make use of.

So, what’s stopping you from changing that?