Health Tip for May

I have been searching for an inspiring definition of “inspiration”.  In the process, I found a practical definition: “stimulation or arousal of the mind, emotions etc. to special action or creativity”; a spiritual definition: “a divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to receive and communicate sacred revelation”; and finally, a medical definition: “the act of drawing air into the lungs.”  Which begs the question…

What do you do in your life to find Inspiration?  To stimulate your mind and emotions, to fill your lungs with air, and yes, even to experience the sacred, whatever that may mean for you?  However you approach the idea of inspiration, it is undeniable that we require inspiration to live, be healthy and thrive.  We require fresh air, mental and emotional invigoration, and some sense of reverence or awe for the world around us. Children have it – they experience inspiration every day on so many levels (and what is the first thing they do when it happens?…drop their jaws and gasp for air) - they are sources of inspiration unto themselves.

But we get older, life gets busier and the world spins faster.  It is still possible however to maintain that sense of wonder.  A smidge of inspiration a day can keep the doctor away.  To go too long without invites fatigue, depressed spirits, higher stress levels and increased incidence of colds and flus.  This malaise can eventually become habitual and lead to depression, anxiety and withdrawal. But when we take the time to breathe – physically and psychologically – to give ourselves space for repose, it can add vigour to our days and vitality to our spirits.  So how do we find it?

Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, recommends a weekly “date” with oneself (by oneself) – an hour or so that we devote each week to entertaining our sense of whimsy, imagination and play.  What would you most love to do if you could drop everything and skive off work or your normal routine for an hour (a cheeky pint doesn’t count!) without anyone being the wiser?  Sneak into a movie (and buy that gummy candy you used to love when you were five)?  Browse a used bookshop for hidden treasures?  Go for an ice cream?  Visit Hamley’s and actually play some of the games at the stalls?  Kick a football in the park?  Walk along Regents Canal and feed the swans?  Or maybe just curl up in bed and read a book on a topic you know nothing about – Quantum Physics, Poker, Gardening, Travel Books on faraway places.  By the end of that cheeky hour, you will remember what it was like to see with the eyes of a child, to experience wonder and revel in it.  You’ll feel like a noble truant for good reason.   You will have fed your soul a healthy dose of inspiration.  I invite you to explore this exercise, especially now that the days grow longer and the sun graces us with glimpses of Spring.

To start you off, here are a few of my favourite literary sources of inspiration (I’ve linked them each to Amazon for those who wish to take the plunge).  Find your favourite local coffee shop, a park bench, garden or terrace, pour a cup of your favourite warm drink and curl up to the inspirational journeys these offer:

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living by HH Dalai Lama & Howard C. Cutler

Perfect Health by Deepak Chopra M.D.

A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living by Joseph Campbell and Diane K. Osbon (Editor)

My Grandfather’s Blessings by Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D.

Letters on Life by Rainer Maria Rilke and Ulrich Baer (Translator, Editor)

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

Simple Abundance, A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach

Poem for the Day, One by Nicholas Albery and Peter Ratcliffe (Editors)

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene

A Hedonist’s Guide to… Travel Series (pick a city you’ve always wanted to visit!)

It takes just an hour a week.  Let May be the month to find your Muse!

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