Perfect makes practise

I haven't been in the blogosphere for a while and I think this morning I worked out why - perfectionism! I want my blog to be perfect before it is published. I want to be perfect at the guitar before I play. How often have we stopped ourselves from trying something new because we're afraid of not being perfect? We know that practise makes perfect, but I say let's adopt another approach. Perfect makes practise. Let's practise for the sake of practising. Give it a go.

Shunryo Suzuki-Roshi says in the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few. Julia Cameron in her book The Sound of Paper says that some of our adventures require the courage to be a beginner. She invites us in one of the exercises to fill in the blanks and answer the question, "If I didn't have to do it perfectly, I'd try...?" This week, a couple of my blanks would be:

1. If I didn't have to do it perfectly, I'd try playing the guitar every day
2. If I didn't have to do it perfectly, I'd try updating my blog regularly

So this week my friends, I invite you to fill in your blanks. Perfect your practise with a beginner's mind and while you're doing that, listen to Bugge Wesseltoft & Sidsel Endresen Try.

Feng shui your mind

You may be familiar with removing clutter from your house for good feng shui, but what about clutter from your mind? We hold a lot of thoughts in our conscious and our subconscious minds and these can weigh us down and clutter our inner houses.

Caroline Myss in her latest book Defy Gravity, asks us to answer this question: What psychic, emotional, or mental weight am I carrying that is unnecessary to my journey? Why am I carrying this?

Checking in with yourself regularly can have a profound effect on your mental and emotional health. Sit for a while in silence and see what comes up for you, and remember as Thomas Merton says:

We have what we seek, it is there all the time, and if we give it time, it will make itself known to us.

Wishing you love and light until we meet again in the blogosphere.

Success

I have a quote on the wall in my clinic that says Success not found in what you have achieved, but rather in who you have become. I like this approach. It is being, rather than doing. Focusing on what is rather than what isn't. I sometimes get lost in my larger longer term goals often forgetting the small yet still significant steps that it takes to get there. Each one of these is a success and I continually remind myself to enjoy and acknowledge these. I find it helps to write down 5 things that I have achieved in a day, no matter how small.

Lori Radun has written an interesting article on success. She suggests that rather than focusing on success as achieving some future improved condition that we take another approach:

1. Be the best you can be
2. Create an action plan for what you want in the future
3. Enjoy all that life has to offer right now

For more on this approach, read Lori Radun's article: A New Definition of Success.

May you be and enjoy every success, big and small.

Strawberry Fields Forever

It is a little oxymoronic to start a health blog with a hangover cure but here goes something.I understand that we do tend to overindulge in the good things in life from time to time. One of my vices is red wine. Experts say that one glass a day is good for you. However too many glasses can lead to a sore head the morning after.

The Chinese believe that instead of reaching for the Red Bull or one of those concoctions usually involving tomato juice, you should eat a punnet of strawberries. That’s right, an entire punnet in one go. I’ve tried this and it works. You can feel all of the happy antioxidants working their way through into your cells and absorbing the alcohol. Strawberries are also rich in vitamin C and silicon and good for lubricating the lungs and strengthening the spleen. So grab a punnet today.