The last two weeks, I’ve been making it a point that every time I check in with a client’s breathing, to check in with my own. Some days are better than others; some days I’m on my way home before I realize that I haven’t noticed once what my breath was like. Our breath is literally the most important part of our daily lives and it’s pretty amazing actually, that we can go all day without thinking about it. The truth is that at the end of the day, if I’ve checked in with myself or not, I still made it through the day, and I was still okay. But on the days that I was able to check in with my breath, this is what I noticed: when I was done working, I didn’t feel tired, I felt energized. I didn’t feel like I needed to shut myself out from the world to “decompress”. And most importantly, I felt like I was able to give more to my clients without taking from myself- and THAT is a pretty good feeling.
Sometimes it’s hard to remember we need to take care of ourselves first. Sometimes, it’s just much 
easier to make sure everyone around us is taken care of…. because we’ll get to us later. But the reality is, if we aren’t looking after ourselves, we can’t show up for anyone else. Your breath is one of the few things that is ALWAYS with you. Really, you can’t go anywhere without your breath. So, my hope for you, as we go through this holiday season, is to always return to your breath. Sit comfortably, count to 4 as you breathe in, count to 4 as you breathe out. This can be done anywhere-work, home, in your car, the bathroom, wherever. Try doing this once an hour throughout your day, for just a minute. Nourishing ourselves first, and helping others second, is the only way we can truly give wholeheartedly.
♥Ashley
