Same Route, Different Time: Adapting My Walking Practice for November

Discipline means forcing through. Wisdom means adapting to context. Here’s what I’m changing this week.

Tomorrow morning at 7:30, I’m starting a new walking practice.

Not because my old one was wrong. Because the season changed, and I’m adapting instead of forcing through. For months, I’ve walked in the evenings, but evening walks in November mean darkness, anxiety, and that ancient fear I can’t quite shake.

So I’m switching to mornings.

Morning walks are an excellent way to start the day, a combination of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual grounding before the daily demands arrive. They give me something evening walks don’t: the certainty it will happen. It’s too easy to put things off when you wait too long and get into the day’s routine.

Same route, different time.

I’m walking from my street, literally from home. I like hiking paths, but if I have to drive somewhere, it becomes a disincentive for daily practice. I’ll need winter gear soon, because it’s November and cold is real.

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I feel lighter this week than last.

The retreat planning that weighed on me is finally done, finally priced, and finally ready to share tomorrow. That lightness makes this shift possible. This will last until the holidays, when work and time commitments shift again, and I’ll adapt again.

There is no “right for everybody”—there is only right for you, right now, in this season.

Some people will say “just force through and keep your routine.” That’s discipline, and discipline has benefits. But discipline doesn’t account for changes in season and changes in light, both of which greatly affect us.

Adapting your routine to context isn’t weakness—it’s wisdom.

Tomorrow morning, 7:30am, I’m starting a new practice. The practice isn’t the time of day—the practice is showing up in the way that actually works.

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Are you adapting any practices for the dark half, or forcing through with summer routines? What needs to shift for you this week?

Reply and let me know. I’m starting this new practice tomorrow morning.

Walking into the light (at 7:30am),
Jeffrey

P.S. Tomorrow I’m announcing the details of my September 2026 Le Puy Camino Contemplative Walking Retreat—the planning that’s finally complete. If you’ve been curious about what contemplative walking actually looks like, or about joining me on the ancient pilgrimage route through France, tomorrow’s post is for you.