Bite-Sized Self-Care Challenge Day One
Breathe: day one of the QUALITY BOSS 30-day self-care challenge.
Welcome to day one of 30 days of self-care.
If you missed the introduction to this series, please check out:
Remember, the purpose of this challenge is to take some time for self-care each day, aiming for at least five minutes. Each day, I’ll introduce a new self-care tip. Everyone is unique and what works for me, or someone else, might not work for you. So please feel free to participate by doing the suggested activity, or by choosing your own form of self-care.
Also, don’t forget to subscribe or check back tomorrow for day two.
Today’s Bite-Sized Self-Care: Breathe
Breathing is something that many people take for granted. I know I did, despite growing up battling allergies and recurrent sinus infections. A few years ago, I read the book Breath1 by James Nestor. It was shocking to learn how much improper (or restricted) breathing can negatively affect your health.
Humans can live days without food, water, or sleep. And exercise is (almost) entirely optional! However, humans will die within minutes if they don’t breathe.
Today’s Challenge:
Today, I’d like everyone to take a moment and focus on their breath. This can be as simple as counting to 10, starting with 1 on the in breath, 2 on the out breath, and so on. If you have a few minutes, you can start over at 1 after you reach a count of 10.
Some other breathing options:
Box Breathing (sometimes also called square breathing)
Inhale through your nose for a count of four.
Hold for four.
Exhale through your nose for four.
Hold for four.
Repeat.
For extra relaxation, you can alter this for a longer exhale, using a count of six on the exhale and shortening the final hold to two.
4-7-8 Breathing
This is similar to box breathing but without the hold after the exhale. This one is great to do when trying to fall asleep.
Inhale through your nose for a count of four.
Hold for a count of seven.
Exhale through your mouth, making a whoosh sound, for a count of eight.
Repeat for at least four breaths.
Thanks for joining me on day one of this challenge. I hope you’ll join me tomorrow for day two!
Happy New Year!
Brie
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