Headstrong challenge: week one
Welcome to the Headstrong challenge, which will guide you through the art of mindfulness over the next 4 weeks. Did you know that mindfulness can help to improve your mental and physical wellbeing?
Welcome to the Headstrong challenge, which will guide you through the art of mindfulness over the next 4 weeks. Did you know that mindfulness can help to improve your mental and physical wellbeing?
For the first week we’ll be concentrating on mindful breathing. Mindful meditation focuses on breathing as way of paying attention to the moment. This calms the mind and the body and can help us improve our mental wellbeing and resilience.
So, how do you do it?
The goal for this week is to build up to 10 minutes per day of mindfulness. Ease into it by following these simple steps...
It's best to start by sitting upright, away from the back rest if you can.
Slowly breathe in through your nose to the count of four (1 - 2 - 3 - 4) and out through your nose to a longer count of six (1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6).
Repeat regularly throughout the day if possible, and take time to contemplate how each repetition of the exercise makes you feel and how it has affected a specific task.
Next week, we'll explore the body scan exercise, explaining how it can build on the final stage of mindful breathing we've just discussed.