Are you vitally alive? Would anyone describe you this way? What would it even feel like to have an inner fire that lights your eyes, your skin, your very being?

Maybe you’ve taking small steps in this direction for years and are looking to fully commit yourself to achieving optimal health or maybe you are simply looking for a starting point from which to turn your health around…

Well what are you waiting for? The vibrant wellbeing and energy you’ve been searching for can be yours, and it all starts with one small step.

To help you decide what that first step will be, here are nine tangible actions you can take today.

1. Go barefoot

Take an hour or so to move around without shoes. Whether this means a run, a stroll in the grass or simply walking around your house, going barefoot is one of the easiest ways to reconnect with your surroundings and gain some strength along the way. In addition, what could be more freeing than running around like a barefoot wonder? When barefoot, life instantly becomes less serious and movement takes on a newfound sense of playful spontaneity.

2. Spend Time in Nature

When is the last time you spent time in the woods?

Modern humans have never been more thoroughly disconnected from the natural world than we are today. The average american teenager spends a whopping 31 hours online every week! This kind of existence is incredibly harmful to our mental and emotional wellbeing… Think about it: until a mere 100 years ago, people spent nearly every waking hour outdoors: hunting, foraging, farming, moving. Time spent in nature is absolutely essential to our overall health and wellbeing. Even spending a mere twenty minutes a day in a natural setting will drastically increase your energy and clarity of mind.

What if I don’t have access to a natural setting?

Work with what you do have. Go to a park or take a trip outside the city. The key is to unplug yourself from the “media vortex” and spend time outside doing things that feed your spirit.

3. Cancel Your Gym Membership

Just like every other aspect of American society, exercise has become commercialized. Big, expensive fitness centers have manipulated the American public to believe that they need Stair Masters, leg extension machines, and treadmills to get in shape. What bothers me most about this mindset is not the ineffectiveness of working out in this way but the popular belief that exercise is a hassle–Not something to be enjoyed, but simply completed for the sake of our health. Exercise doesn’t have to be a pain. In fact, it can be one of the most inspiring and enjoyable pieces of your life. Instead of jumping on the bandwagon and exercising in a sweating gym full of televisions and stale air, get outside and start moving in fun, effective and natural ways. Cancel your gym membership today!

4. Fast

In the past, people ate when there was food, simple as that. If you killed an animal or found some berries, you ate. If you didn’t, you didn’t.

Today, food has never been more readily available, and most of us eat out of habit more than anything else. Breakfast, lunch and dinner day after day… Packing ourselves full of food (and unhealthy, unnatural food at that). Never giving our bodies the chance to thoroughly digest and cleanse our system. By practicing intermittent fasting: alternating between periods of eating and fasting, we can cleanse their systems, improve our digestion and feel cleaner and clearer.

However, intermittent fasting is not for everyone. For people who are still growing or are extremely active, intermittent fasting might not be a good idea. The key is to listen to your body. You can tell if something feels right or not, and the only way to know is to give it a shot.

5. Generalize

Most people practice only one type of physical exercise. They are either a runner or a weightlifter…a swimmer or a rock climber, performing the same workouts day after day.

Why not mix it up?

In the spirit of Georges Hébert and the Methode Naturelle, here at Wild Movement we work towards becoming generalists instead of specialists. We work towards developing strong, versatile, extremely resilient bodies that excel across a broad range of activities. Start today by challenging yourself with a workout routine you aren’t used to. If you typically run, do a strength workout. If you typically lift weights, go for a swim. Not only will this make you a fitter, more capable person, but it will also add a newfound sense of life and excitement into your fitness routine.

6. Climb a Tree

What better way to initiate your transformation than by climbing a tree? Not only is tree climbing incredibly fun, but it’s also extremely effective exercises for building ripped, fully functional muscles. Click here for information on how to get started.

7. Eat Close To The Earth

Even more destructive than our cultural stagnation is our eating habits.

In the past 100 years we have forced our bodies to adapt to unnatural, refined and processed foods that are bodies simply are not designed to consume. In my opinion, this unnatural diet combined with our lack of physical movement is the primary cause of our widespread disease and unhealthiness.

How do you know what to eat?

When it comes to diet, people tend to overcomplicate things, and what is considered healthy changes every day. In reality, eating well is simple and comes down to one simple question: Does this come directly from the earth land or sea? Virtually everything that grows, walks, or swims on this planet contains healthy and useful nutrients and help our bodies function properly. It’s when we introduce refined, unnatural, and biologically engineered foods that all hell breaks loose. Humans are not designed to consume refined sugar, artificially sweetened beverages, and cheetos.

Don’t overcomplicate things. Eating well is easy.

8. Cultivate Presence

Modern humans are lost in our minds, caught up in our incessant thought patterns and attached to the beliefs and thoughts we mistake for our true selves. The ability to differentiate between our thoughts and the unwavering consciousness behind the thoughts and cultivate presence in our daily lives can be extremely liberating. Be it through meditation, or simply making a conscious effort to be present to experience your life, cultivating presence and inner stillness can make a remarkable difference in your state of mind and life in general. Start today by forming a routine that will instill greater peace and clarity in your life.

9. Do Something Awesome

Sometimes it takes dramatic, seriously powerful action to initiate real change.  Do you feel stuck in your daily routine? Like you have hit a rut and are struggling to get out?

Do something that scares you or simply make you feel alive.

Stand up to someone, travel, go skydiving, run in a downpour, swim in the ocean. Practice what I call “living all out.” Don’t hold back, don’t settle for mediocre, if you want something, go for it :)

Final Thoughts

Wild Movement is more than a training methodology, it’s a way of life. Total wellbeing is broad but certainly attainable. However, change cannot come all at once, we cannot form ten habits in a week. Instead of trying to tackle every aspect of health at the same time, pick one or two. Whether it’s eating better, spending more time in nature, or running barefoot, commit to developing one or two healthy habits that will move your towards your goal of total wellbeing and stick to them until they become part of your daily life.

I’m no expert and I certainly don’t have it all figured out, but one thing I do know is this: Any real change begins with one conscious step. Just like you, I’m on a journey towards greater wellbeing and fulfillment in my life and am working on developing habits that serve me and give me the energy I need to show up fully each and every day and be as vitally alive as I possibly can be.

So here’s my question to you…

What one step are you going to take this week?

Leave your answers in the comments section below, I’ll start.

Decide to better yourself, your relationships, and the planet by making a positive shift in your life today.

To your health and happiness,

Logan