A Pranayama Practice for You

This week I received an email from facilitator and storyteller Seher about perfectionism and how it prevented and postponed the start of her newsletter. It motivated me to reflect on my own psychotic perfectionism. I find that my need to be perfect prevents me from so much. It prevents me from starting projects because I convince myself I need every detail to be pinned down to even start. It prevents me from joy. It prevents me from relationships. It prevents me from simply allowing myself to exist. We know that the need to be perfect is a symptom of white supremacy, and has an extremely corrosive effect on culture. It keeps so many people from simply beginning. 

I live next to a very loud train. It's unfortunate in my line of work: it's not particularly meditative to have the overground barrelling through just as I tell you to relax into your body and take a deep breath. Living next to this train was an excellent excuse for not recording meditations. If conditions aren't perfect, why even attempt it? The other week I was forced to find a solution to my predicament because I had to record some meditations for a client. And I figured it out, as humans often do. Necessity is the mother of invention: no train in the recording. And I got to do something I love to do. I avoided it for so long because I was fearful that I couldn't make the recording perfect. Sure, I can always do better. But simply by beginning, it made me realise it's far more important to start and keep going than sit in inaction. The purpose I feel when I have the opportunity to share with others is so much more important than sitting in fear.

I'm writing this today to invite you to start something you've been meaning to for weeks, months, years, even decades. Start where you are and keep going. Your perfectionism may creep in like the unwelcome gremlin it is. But you may find unexpected delight in taking action. You may surprise yourself. You may even find a new or hidden talent. What would you do if it didn't have to be perfect? 

With that said, I've recorded a pranayama practice for you this week (sans train rumblings). You can download it and keep it in your back pocket for when you need it. I especially recommend trying this before bed and notice whether it has any effect on the quality of your sleep.