There’s a simple ritual I honor every morning, no matter where I wake up, under the stars with my tent pitched in some forgotten valley, on a remote trail after a long ride, or even in the middle of a city st
opover. It’s this: I look at the sky before I look at a screen.
We live in a world where the first instinct is to grab the phone. Notifications, emails, news, they hijack your attention before you’ve even stood up. But that’s not how I want to live. My mornings are sacred.
When I open my eyes, I give my mind the gift of silence and the vastness of nature. I step outside the tent, breathe deep, and let my eyes drink in the morning sky. Sometimes it’s burning red, sometimes heavy with clouds, sometimes impossibly blue, but it always reminds me that I’m alive, that the day is a new adventure.
Then comes my routine: movement and sweat to wake up the body, a slow coffee, and at least one full hour of reading. I touch the phone only in the late morning, after my workout and an entire hour of reading. That’s my morning routine.
The psychology behind it
The science is simple: your brain, in the first minutes after waking, is in a fragile state. It absorbs whatever you feed it. If you throw in chaos from a glowing screen, you wire your day for distraction. If you start with sky, movement, and words that matter, you wire your day for clarity, discipline, and joy.
Why nature wins every time
Light reset: Morning sunlight stabilizes your circadian rhythm and boosts your energy.
Mental focus: Looking at the horizon gives the brain a calm anchor before diving into tasks.
Emotional balance: Air, movement, and the natural world release the chemistry of happiness.
Sky before screen = better life
This small shift changes everything. It’s not just about less phone time, it’s about starting the day on your own terms. Your subconscious fills with calm instead of chaos. You train your brain to prioritize reality over noise. And slowly, you shape a life of discipline, clarity, and presence.
So tomorrow morning, wherever you are, in your bed at home or under a wild sky, try it. Look up before you look down. Choose the sky before the screen.