Here’s the 1-5-5 on OSU health challenge
- Laurie Sidle, OSU Extension Wayne Co.
- January 26, 2024
- 586
Starting healthy habits in the new year can be as simple as challenging yourself with three numbers: 1-5-5. That’s one minute of gratitude, five minutes of positive reading or listening and five minutes of light movement.
I learned about the Buckeye Eye Opener 1-5-5 Challenge in a campus email from the Ohio State University. The email included a call-to-action message from Bernadette Melnyk, vice president of health promotion and the university’s chief wellness officer.
“Every day when you get up, commit to one minute of gratitude,” she said. “That’s what I like to call ‘taking vitamin G.’ Gratitude is one of the simplest evidence-based practices that improves our mood and decreases our stress.”
For five minutes, read in a positive book or listen to music or a positive podcast. Practicing positive thinking and optimism can have many benefits, from a more positive outlook on life to an improved outlook on health.
Among the resources accompanying the 1-5-5 challenge is a video that talks about the importance of taking time each morning to settle our minds and bodies, instead of jumping out of bed and rushing into the stress of what needs to be done. It’s a matter of taking time to realign our brains to positivity and thinking about what is good in our lives right now.
The remaining five minutes of the challenge involves movement. The type of movement “is your choice,” Melnyk said. “You can do jumping jacks. You can dance, do stretching. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as you move.”
And don’t give up.
“It takes 30-60 days to break or make a new habit,” she said.
Throughout the day, Melnyk recommends micro recovery breaks to help with wellness.
“Beware of the chair,” she said.
For every 30-60 minutes you sit in a chair, you need to get up and move for about three minutes. Take a walk at lunch. Use the stairs. Stand during phone calls. Do stretching exercises.
When stress begins to build and you need to calm yourself, Melnyk has three more numbers to remember. The 5-7-8 breathing technique involves taking three abdominal breaths. Each time breathe in slowly as you count to five, hold your breath and count to seven, and exhale slowly while counting to eight.
“Research supports that the 5-7-8 breathing technique helps slow our breathing, slows our heart rate and decreases our blood pressure,’’ Melnyk said.
She’s a big advocate of self-care.
“Self-care is not selfish,” she said. “Self-care is necessary for us to take good care of ourselves. If we don’t take the time for it now, we will need to take the time later to manage a chronic disease.”
A way to do that is to be kind to yourself.
Each day repeat a self-affirmation, Melnyk said. Some examples are as follows: “I am strong, I’m kind and I believe in myself.” This helps program our brains to more positivity.
Be kind to others.
“Name one person you are grateful for today,” Melnyk said. “Tell that person with specifics. I am grateful for you because … Call and tell them why you are grateful for them.”
For resources to help with the 1-5-5 challenge, visit wellness.osu.edu/initiatives-and-programs/155-resource-page.
If you have trouble getting started on the wellness challenge, look for a motivator — maybe someone in your family, Melnyk said. Then just do it.
Laurie Sidle is an Ohio State University Extension family and consumer sciences and 4-H program assistant and may be reached at 330-264-8722 or sidle.31@osu.edu.