This text is written in the first person and draws on a reader's experience: name changed, details kept. It is a story, not a medical recommendation.
My mornings used to start with the phone. I woke up already feeling that the day had begun without me: other people's news, other people's plans, anxiety before breakfast.
Everything changed because of a broken alarm clock. I woke forty minutes early, went out for bread and simply walked two blocks. Back home, I realised that for the first time in a month I had not opened the phone before breakfast.
Now it happens almost every morning: fifteen to twenty minutes, no headphones, the same route. Nothing special occurs. It is just that before the day starts making demands, I have time that belongs only to me.
There are weeks when it does not work out. I do not count that as failure: the next day I simply go out again.
A useful question for tonight. Which morning do I want to remember in a month?
When a walk is not enough. If morning anxiety does not lift and interferes with sleep or work, talk to a specialist. For urgent symptoms call 103 or 112.