Wellness Waypoints #1
Box breathing to reset, digitizing my journalling, and levelling up my diet
Welcome to Wellness Waypoints — a mini-letter series where I share actionable wellness tips and the small discoveries that support my journey to living well. Each edition highlights one simple micro-practice or mindful discovery that’s bringing more ease and intention to my daily routine.
Trading grocery bags for airtight containers
I’ve been experimenting with a keto diet for two weeks now. One of my most fascinating physiological changes have been the suppression of hunger. The more I consume a diet high in fats and protein, the less hungry I become.
Nuts and seeds in particular have been key to this diet. A perfect snack for mid-day breaks, a salad companion or to tie me over before dinner. What’s most fascinating is that in my research of its health benefits, I learned that they’ve been valued in human diets for thousands of years due to their dense nutrition. A nut and seed-heavy diet has helped me consume more essential fatty acids, high-quality protein and other nutrients like vitamin E, fiber and other minerals than I have ever had.
The biggest upgrade to my kitchen stack? Investing in air tight storage containers for my ever-growing nuts and seed collection. There’s nothing more frustrating than having to undo the twist ties each time, just to twist them again. There are a ton of airtight containers on the market today. The key is that they’re properly sealed to block moisture and nutrient loss.
Box breathing to reset
Whenever I need to manage stress I always turn to pranayama—an ancient practice originated in India—which involves controlling your breath. Box breathing is a simple yet powerful breath regulation technique that involves inhaling, holding, exhaling and pausing for an equal count of four seconds. Rooted in ancient yogic traditions, box breathing even has a name: samavritti pranayama, also known as “equal breathing”. Box breathing is my favourite breathwork technique because it’s so easy to remember and simple enough to do anywhere. And that’s when it counts anyway, right? Anything too complex will not be remembered and not leveraged to its full potential.
How to do it:
Box breathing can be done almost anywhere and requires no equipment:
Find a comfortable, quiet space and settle into a relaxed, upright posture
Soften your gaze if it helps with focus
Inhale slowly and deeply through the nose while counting to four (4-3-2-1)
Hold your breath for the same count of four
Exhale steadily through the mouth for a count of four
Hold again for the last count of four before starting the next breath cycle
Repeat this sequence for several minutes, adjust the count as needed so all four phases remain equal in length
Homework for life
I first heard about the Homework For Life journaling approach through my friend and co-founder, Angel Zheng. Check out her publication below.
I was still experimenting between physical and online journals but never found one that stuck. As someone with a chronic memory loss (my friends like to joke about my goldfish memory), a journalling habit—surely—will help with my recall?
Enter Homework For Life—an approach developed by someone named Matthew Dicks in 2012. This practice doesn’t take long each evening and involves me going through my Notion Template and answering three questions about my day. At the end, I get to rate my day and include a photo for memory! It’s fun, reflective and a cute way to digitize my journal in cases where I want to reflect on my day outside of my Paper Republic journal.
My prompts:
Rate your day from 1 to 10
What were the little joys in your day?
What went well?
What would you have done differently?
What have you learned today?
Although I do appreciate the help in preserving my memories, I also thoroughly enjoyed taking time for deeper reflection. I’ve built up a habit around this each night and if I forget, I’ll do it in the morning. Many of users of this journalling approach have reported that it “slows down time” because it creates space for greater appreciation of personal growth across weeks, months and years, which I adore!
More next time,
— Terri x